In total, Klaus had the support of a dozen or so workers; humble villagers, not craftsmen. I was also looking forward to seeing Patrick again, a larger-than-life friend of Klauss whom I had met on my first trip. Complications ensued, however, when Klaus, who had permits for the entire region, was stopped from excavating by the Mining Department of the Philippine Government. Abcarian: Mask mandates? Slowly putting his ruined life back together, he moved from Reno to Las Vegas . But there was more. Each day after class she dug in the back garden of the schoolyard. Cheatham later testified in the Supreme Court trial. For weeks, nearly a dozen members of Aquinos elite presidential security guard cordoned off the entire fort to keep the treasure hunt a secret and to ensure that the government receives its rightful 75% cut of anything McDougalds group finds. Klaus jumped out of his sidecar. What interests might the United States have that would enable the Supreme Court decision to be ignored? Since there were so many people, everyone was in close proximity to one another. Ill explain, but were not at the bottom yet. The rest, as they say, is history, he concluded, slowly, his speech somewhat impeded by the advanced state of his illness. Andrew Gough. The disease spread quickly. The United States had stumbled upon the greatest treasure hoards in history, including more gold bullion than was known to be in existence, and would use this unfathomable wealth to influence world affairs, win the Cold War, launch a space programme, and create a new world order. The United States had stumbled upon the greatest treasure hoards in history, including more gold bullion than was known to be in existence, and would use this unfathomable wealth to influence world affairs, win the Cold War, launch a space programme, and create a new world order. The United States could not risk the truth about the gold and treasures that the Japanese had buried in the Philippines coming to light, especially as a large portion of it was now theirs. His cabin had been burned to the ground. In 2015, IBM UK had their annual kick-off meeting in Los Angeles, and so I took the opportunity to visit Amelia. What convinced you to take this seemingly ludicrous case? I enquired. Curtis, who is now in the Philippines but insists that McDougald act as his spokesman, says that he and 10 other Americans successfully conducted a similar treasure hunt under the regime of Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1975 but fled for their lives after locating a huge buried Japanese vault on the outskirts of Manila that McDougald said contained $8 billion in bullion. 0000001447 00000 n
I soon learned what Klaus was doing in the Philippines, and how he had ended up there. Andrew Gough, Henrys father with the famous detachable buddha head photo Back on the surface the cameraman filmed various objects that Klaus had found in the tunnel backfill: symbols such as seashells, leaves, gold dust and other assorted items that should not exist at that depth in the earth, and certainly not with man-made cement and gold dust embedded in them. Andrew Gough. The director was beaming with approval. If they had happened, and I had known about them, I would have punished the wrongdoers severely. That book was followed in 2003 with Gold Warriors: America's Secret Recovery of Yamashita's Gold which told how the Americans got ahold of some or all of it, and added to a similar gold treasure taken from the Nazis, formed a secret fund called The Black Eagle Trust Fund and have been using it ever since as a black fund to fight Communism. 0000000016 00000 n
The plane landed with a thud at Heathrow airport, and normality soon ensued. The incredibly ambitious, albeit cruel, initiative was overseen by Japanese princes, most notably Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu, the brother of Emperor Hirohito. Klaus interviewed him on camera, and afterwards we took turns examining the artefacts. Heres a list, Greek transportation minister resigns over train collision that killed at least 36, Ohios senators to unveil rail safety bill in wake of East Palestine derailment, After months of pounding, Ukrainian official says military may pull back from Bakhmut, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, Shocking, impossible gas bills push restaurants to the brink of closures, Elizabeth Holmes cites her new baby as a reason she should avoid prison for Theranos scam, What time is it on the moon? The book is full of errors that could easily be corrected by a second-year student of the language Another author, Donald Gillin, felt compelled to devote an entire book to debunking the Seagraves' version of history. Is this what Klaus should expect to find in his treasure chambers? Marcos had whet his now insatiable appetite for gold and the riches and power that it brought. Death was one idea that neither Burchfield nor the Dead shied away from. Out of that inquisition Cathcart identified a number of people, still living, who might validate Roxass story, and his team pursued them with vivacity. This was going to happen. The site has been targeted by treasure hunters in the past, but nobody is patient enough to see it through. His team went and searched and dug but never found anything. Roger ROXAS and The Golden Budha Corporation, a foreign corporation, Plaintiffs-Appellees/Cross-Appellants, v. Ferdinand E. MARCOS and Imelda Marcos, Defendants-Appellants/Cross-Appellees. I examined it closely. Pi
$@Z%">Nq. Klaus had briefed me as to what the sites would be like. Roxas may have been a beaten man, both literally and figuratively, but he was no fool. Now they moved with a kinetic energy I had never experienced before. To come this close and not visit it would be such a shame, I thought. The smell of decomposed bodies was palpable and they halted work while the disconcerting gasses subsided. I stared at the inexplicably responsive dowsing rods in silence. Is that really necessary? He said that Roger only came out of hiding in 1988, shortly after President Marcos had fled to Hawaii while under house arrest. Andrew Gough. Whatever I had expected a Japanese tunnel system to be was wrong or at least greatly miscalculated. Curtis got plugged in and unexpectedly became far more than a mere key cog in the gold-hunting wheel, overseeing not only the retrieval and sanctifying process, but the site discovery process as well. I inspected it closely and from all angles. Even when I held the dowsing rods, they were charged. I was also disappointed to learn that the History Channel had made a reality TV series about a team of questers seeking Japanese treasure in the Philippines, after every channel and production house informed me it was a bad idea. It was clear, however, that as brilliant as Jose was at Second World War history, he was pretty much winging it with the rest. I knew what it was, but I could not believe my eyes. She shared how he had been stressed and run down in the time leading up to the trial. Yes, thats correct, Klaus replied pensively. He is even said to have approached the Japanese about entering into a partnership to extract the gold together, to which he was coldly informed not to bother, for it would take a hundred years to unearth what they had deposited in the Philippines. startxref
They picked the fort, he said, because it was a high-security location, off-limits to all but military torturers and the unfortunate Filipino prisoners destined for death. Fortuitously, Cheatham took a photo of himself with the golden buddha. Shannon Quinn is a writer and entrepreneur from the Philadelphia area. 0000005640 00000 n
Intriguingly, the alleged body of Marcos was later reburied in the Cemetery of Heroes in Metropolitan Manila in a ceremony shrouded in secrecy. After all, they are man made; Japanese made, I muttered to myself. The cobra-infested rice paddies Marcos quickly confiscated the booty. Prospective buyers took their turn examining the buddha, including Joe Oihara, a Japanese man who, on 1 April 1971, visited Roxas and shared the worrying detail that he was staying at the home of Ferdinand Marcoss mother, Josefa Edralin Marcos. Andrew Gough. Phil never returned from his trip, so the police were called. Hunter died Monday at his Northern California home with his wife, Maureen, at his side, former Grateful Dead publicist Dennis McNally told The Associated Press on . I know nothing, he said humbly. My interest in the story had been rejuvenated, albeit under the most peculiar of circumstances. Roxas was more convinced than ever that a great treasure was buried near Baguio Hospital, and who could blame him? The town had been occupied and governed by General Yamashita in the early 1940s. Ten days later she was cured. 0000003280 00000 n
At a depth of approximately two hundred and twenty-five feet the Japanese had created the largest and most valuable treasure vaults. Years after his disappearance, he was assumed to be dead. One day, he got into his car and drove away. It could have happened to General MacArthur, you know. The massive and disproportionately large cemetery under construction in Klauss humble village He was dazed, and yet actually excited about what he believed had caused it. Privacy Policy. I unambiguously felt them probing around beneath the surface of my skin. The more cameras the better, he chuckled. Night fell, and Billy never returned. The Seagraves seminal whistle-blowing book, Gold Warriors. Families of the victims pleaded with the governor of the local area to do something. Andrew Gough, Patrick interviews Roger Roxass son, Henry No autopsy was performed, despite Cathcarts request, and the official cause of death was ruled as tuberculosis. 56 0 obj<>stream
They chose to go on a day when it was 46 degrees Celsius (115 F), but they didnt bring their cell phones with them. If found, 75 percent of it goes to the government. Absolutely not, the healer said. It read, I understand you met with my brother, Henry, in Baguio. At a hearing Friday by the Philippine Senate into the treasure hunt, McDougald said that his group is using a sophisticated detection device that pinpoints the depth and density of buried metals. You climb down and back up each of these sites twice a day? I asked in disbelief. His gun was found a few feet away as if tossed to the side. About us | Our programming | Become a supporter | Privacy. My spare time was spent editing the Heretic Magazine with my friends Mark Foster and Beth Johnson. What is worse, it triggered a political backlash. Few would persevere and dig that deep, especially after finding so many valuables at the intermediate level. Roxas had been caught out. It was not clear if they even knew they existed. One year later, after an extensive search-and-rescue effort, all three bodies were finally recovered. Bob Curtis. Remarkably, Roxas never revealed the location of his treasure site, for he knew that doing so would result in his death sentence. Never-before-seen photos of authentic Black Eagle Trust bank statements, representing but a small portion of the wealth acquired from Japanese gold. xb```Vvk>c`0p s*9yZJa`Xl Q|bg7633;,3i The intimidating entrance to the tunnel shaft New York: Verso, 2003. Hours later, on the plane back to London, my brain was in overdrive. They had written a message that said, We have found a fine prospect. None of their valuables were taken. All six bullets had apparently been fired at whoever or whatever had killed him.[2]. Emmanuel Soriano, Aquinos national security director, offered a note of realism. The director simply said, whenever you are ready, and he proceeded to speak uninterrupted for over an hour. Klaus confided that he was working on four different sites and shared the many clues and symbols that he had discovered in each. Ballinger had photographed the Japanese ship, Huzi Maru, which was masquerading as a hospital ship, unloading boxes northwest of Manila, in Subic Bay. The healer, operating with nothing but his fingers I had contributed to the first five series of Forbidden History and was excited to have the opportunity to return to the Philippines for the sixth. Scientists competed in their attempt to somehow prove that a soul left the body at the time of death. His conviction was supported by four first-hand accounts and multiple treasure maps given to him by eyewitnesses. Later that day I drove to Klauss village. Local authorities never explained where they found the bodies or what they believed was the cause of death. The old woman was sensational and described how she and her family had hidden in the hills as the Japanese processed by with an ox pulling a cart that contained what appeared to be a heavy box. Parts of it appeared carved. Roxas was seeking damages, not only for the torture he had endured (and, of course, the golden buddha and its concealed precious stones and all the miniature gold bars that accompanied it), but also for the large quantities of gold that Marcoss men had recovered from the tunnel system that Roxas had discovered. In fact, treasure hunters die each week in the Philippines, mostly due to the accidental release of cyanide capsules hidden along the tunnel walls. Holes are being dug in virtually every one of the 73 Philippine provinces by treasure hunters like McDougalds group, all of whom believe that fleeing Japanese generals left behind billions of dollars in booty when Gen. Douglas MacArthurs forces retook the islands in 1945. Torturing surrendered military leaders was a war crime, but those of minor rank were considered fair game. Their relationship was complex to say the least. Many treasure chambers were sealed with explosives, trapping the workers who constructed them inside. Roxas was cautious of Oihara and his fascination with the golden buddhas neck. See Photos. When his body was finally discovered in 2012, it was 11 meters (35 ft) off the ground inside a crevasse on the edge of a cliff. He heard of what the locals called Second World War ghost ships; large Japanese freighters that arrived in the evening and, after unloading countless boxes into a tunnel system, had disappeared by daybreak. Programming | Become a supporter | Privacy was working on four different sites and shared the clues! Buried near Baguio Hospital, and he proceeded to speak uninterrupted for over an hour soon ensued the. His death sentence appetite for gold and the riches and power that it.... 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