When investigating this story, it is an inevitability that one will eventually come across the conspiracy claims. As it was written in the Gazette in 1909, the story almost begs for such speculation. Why did the story apparently die? What happened to the artifacts that must have been found, some of which were detailed in the article? Was the location robbed of artifacts and then purposefully buried into obscurity? I have even heard people talk of the site as being part of a vast underground alien/government "base". If you are interested in the subject of UFOs and cover-ups, then you must have read such theories of "underground bases". I have not seen any concrete evidence that points to a cover-up or conspiracy to keep the 1909 story from the public. If anyone reading this has such concrete evidence, please do not hesitate to contact me at vrartist@gci-net.com (Jack Andrews) . I will keep your information and your name private if you so choose. I challenge anyone to provide concrete evidence of any such cover-up or heightened security near the cave area The story is posted all over the Internet. I feel that the suspected area of this cave is not guarded or "monitored" as some have suggested. When Steve Wingate and I were at the rim location, we did not see a single soul in four days, other than two friends (and their two dogs) that we invited. (and river runners nearly 4,000 feet below on the Colorado river). The area on the rim is nearly perfectly flat and devoid of any trees or tall vegetation or large boulders that might hide someone. You can see anyone coming or "sneaking up on you" for several miles distant. (clear view). No official in charge of the area even remotely discouraged us from visiting the site and no one, not even a police officer or trooper ever came to check on us. The only people who might have an interest in keeping people away from the location, might be the Hopi who consider much of the area sacred. The Grand Canyon National Park Service ranger I talked to on the phone, actually encouraged me to go to the area, saying it is a beautiful and remote area. She also stated that it was an area they do not patrol on a regular basis, and sent me a "climbing guide" and a letter (below) when I asked about climbing in the area (to get to a cave). This hardly sounds like a federally "monitored" high security area to me. (I have deleted and marked out two areas of the letter below. 1.Marked as "DELETED" in bold lettering which would have named the area we are looking into, and 2. I have obscured the ranger's name for privacy. The area of print that appears to be coming through the paper is a permit application to hike the area on the reverse side of the letter. Again, this indicates that the area is hardly a "high security" area which is "monitored". When I asked for a permit application (for Steve Wingate, as I am disabled), the ranger's main concern was that any hiker was well equipped and educated about the area, because, as she put it: "We hardly ever patrol the area and if you had a problem, it would be difficult for us to know you were in trouble and very difficult to attempt a rescue" - Jack While I do not close the door on the possibility that this cave was part of a conspiracy coverup, I have not as yet seen any concrete evidence of such a coverup. Maybe someone reading this can change my mind: vrartist@gci-net.com (Jack Andrews) - Jack Andrews copyright 2001 may be only used in it's entirety with this notice clearly visible.