After their return to the United States, an elaborate dinner in their honor was held in New York City on July 19. Byrd and Noville were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Secretary of the Navy Curtis D. Wilbur at the dinner. [32] Acosta and Balchen did not receive the Distinguished Flying Cross because, at that time, it could only be awarded to members of the armed services and not to civilians. [ citation needed] In ancient times, the concept of a subterranean land inside the Earth appeared in mythology, folklore and legends. The idea of subterranean realms seemed arguable, and became intertwined with the concept of "places" of origin or afterlife, such as the Greek underworld, the Nordic Svartálfaheimr, the Christian Hell, and the Jewish Sheol (with details describing inner Earth in Kabalistic literature, such as the Zohar and Hesed L'Avraham). The idea of a subterranean realm is also mentioned in Tibetan Buddhist belief. [1] [2] According to one story from Tibetan Buddhist tradition, there is an ancient city called Shamballa which is located inside the Earth. [2] One bizarre offshoot of the traditional Hollow Earth theory, put forth by natural healer and eventual cult leader, Cyrus Teed, even inverted the idea, devising a “ cellular cosmology” that placed the entire universe inside a shell. According to Teed’s thinking, humans were actually living on the inside of the Hollow Earth, looking up at the universe, which itself was just an illusion created by a strange solar mechanism. The stars were just reflections of the mechanism’s light. Teed’s theory managed to gain enough traction that a small cult developed around him, called the Koreshan Unity after Teed renamed himself Koresh. The Koreshans established an extensive colony in Estero, Florida in 1894, but most of the community disbanded after Teed’s death in 1908. In 1822, Congress considered funding an expedition to find the entrance to the inner earth. The vote failed, and Symmes never made the trip. Public Domain / Wikipedia The Vile Vortex is explained to be a space-time distortion when Nathan Lind, Ilene Andrews, and Jia escape through the hole Godzilla made. [5]

Also in 1927 the City of Richmond dedicated the Richard Evelyn Byrd Flying Field, now Richmond International Airport, in Henrico County, Virginia. Byrd's Fairchild FC-2W2, NX8006, Stars And Stripes, is on display at the Virginia Aviation Museum located on the north side of the airport, on loan from the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. According to the ancient astronaut writer Peter Kolosimo a robot was seen entering a tunnel below a monastery in Mongolia. Kolosimo also claimed a light was seen from underground in Azerbaijan. [35] Kolosimo and other ancient astronaut writers such as Robert Charroux linked these activities to UFOs.The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (NSN: 0–7918), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition I, in that on November 28, 1929 he took off in his "Floyd Bennett" from the Expedition's base at Little America, Antarctica and, after a flight made under the most difficult conditions he reached the South Pole on November 29, 1929. After flying some distance beyond this point he returned to his base at Little America. This hazardous flight was made under extreme conditions of cold, over ranges and plateaus extending nine to ten thousand feet above sea level and beyond probable rescue of personnel had a forced landing occurred. Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, U.S.N, Retired, was in command of this flight, navigated the airplane, made the mandatory preparations for the flight, and through his untiring energy, superior leadership, and excellent judgment the flight was brought to a successful conclusion. First Distinguished Service Medal citation [ edit ] Inner Earth People And Outer Space People, William L. Blessing, Inner Light Publications, 2008 Edition ISBN 1-60611-036-5 The 50th anniversary of Byrd's first flight over the South Pole was commemorated in a set of two postage stamps by Australian Antarctic Territory in 1979, and a commemorative flag was designed. [57]

The Institute of Polar Studies at the Ohio State University officially changed its name to the Byrd Polar Research Center (BPRC) on January 21, 1987, after it acquired Byrd's expeditionary records, personal papers, and other memorabilia in 1985 from the estate of Marie A. Byrd, the late wife of Admiral Byrd. His papers served as the nucleus for establishment of the BPRC Polar Archival Program in 1990. In 1958. the Richard Byrd library, part of the Fairfax County Public Library system opened in Springfield, Virginia. Parr, James L. (2009). Dedham: Historic and Heroic Tales From Shiretown. The History Press. p.88-92. ISBN 978-1-59629-750-0. Brazilian Indians, who live alongside the Parima River in Brazil, claim that their forefathers emerged in ancient times from an underground land, and that many of their ancestors still remained inside the Earth. Ancestors of the Inca supposedly came from caves which are located east of Cuzco, Peru. [19] Modern concept [ edit ] 16th to 18th centuries [ edit ] Edmond Halley's hypothesis Byrd also received numerous other awards from governmental and private entities in the United States. This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sourcesin this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.There’s a Hollow Earth Monument in the town’s Ludlow Park, dedicated to the memory of John Symmes Jr. As part of the multinational collaboration for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) 1957–58, Byrd was appointed as officer in charge of the U.S. Navy Operation Deep Freeze I in 1955–56, which established permanent Antarctic bases at McMurdo Sound, the Bay of Whales, and the South Pole. This was Byrd's last trip to Antarctica, and marked the beginning of a permanent U.S. military presence in Antarctica. Byrd spent only one week in the Antarctic, and started his return to the United States on February 3, 1956. [49] Death [ edit ] Grave of Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd

Memorials to Byrd can be found in two cities in New Zealand ( Wellington and Dunedin). Byrd used New Zealand as his departure point for several of his Antarctic expeditions. For distinguishing himself conspicuously by courage and intrepidity at the risk of his life, in demonstrating that it is possible for aircraft to travel in continuous flight from a now inhabited portion of the earth over the North Pole and return. Byrd said that his expeditions had been the first to reach both the North Pole and the South Pole by air. His belief that he reached the North Pole is disputed. [2] Mircea Eliade, Zalmoxis, the vanishing God: comparative studies in the religions and folklore of Dacia and Eastern Europe, 1959, pp. 24–30 Well, that doesn’t really explain anything. It’s not clear what the Germans had to offer, but the reigning hypothesis is that Adolf Hitler is hanging out near the center of the planet, presumably swapping stories with giants and Reptilians over a cold mug of human juice (yes, “human juice” is a thing among Hollow Earth believers).

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Instead, he believed that a hollow core would explain some puzzling magnetic fields that scientists of the time had noticed. Symmes also believed that there were large shafts on either side of the planet, which may have inspired the modern Hollow Earthers’ insistence on a limited number of entry points to the inner planet (they’re now called Symmes Holes, for obvious reasons).