I scanned Arctic literature to see if there was any real evidence which might indicate the existence of a Polar Hole. I had read Gardner's ideas and ended up discounting his vague evidence. There was however one thing he and others mentioned which I had not researched and these were issues surrounding cartography. Hollow Earthers claimed that land was placed on maps which was later removed. Entire mountain ranges had apparently been struck off maps. Their argument was that polar explorers were really lost most of the time due to the strange curvature of Polar Holes and this is why they could never find features which others had found.

I was curious about this issue of missing lands. Unfortunately Hollow Earthers hardly ever gave any concrete examples which one could work with. So I scoured Arctic literature to see if I could find anything. Wally Herbert, the most acclaimed polar explorer alive today mentioned in one of his books that Weyprect and Payer, the discoverers of Franz Josef Land, believed that a vast continent existed at the North Pole. Herbert later told me telephonically that at one time almost all polar explorers believed there was a continent at the North Pole. As I went through various literature I was to discover that several geographers were convinced that a large continent lay somewhere near the North Pole. Earlier this century various articles were written in such prestigious magazines as the National Geographic attempting to prove the existence of a continent north of North America.

A Russian correspondent on my Hollow Planets List told me of Sannikov Land. This was a land spotted north of Russia. It was even marked on maps. The famous explorer Nansen went looking for Sannikov Land. Earlier this century the Russians conducted an extensive search for Sannikov Land but they say they never found it...

The most famous missing land in Arctic history is Crocker Land. Some geographers were convinced by tidal studies and other evidence that a land existed somewhere to the north of North America. Then, in 1908, Commander Peary was wandering along the northern coast of Canada when his Eskimos spotted some land out to sea. Later he climbed a hill and saw this land through his field glasses. Some days later he had travelled further along the coast when he again spotted this land even more clearly from the top of a large hill. He now named it Crocker Land and it was marked on maps for many years. Peary was one of the greatest explorers of his time and he had a lot to lose by making false claims. He was already acknowledged as the greatest explorer of his time, so why would he resort to silly tricks?

Then there was Captain MacMillan who set out in 1914 to reach Crocker Land. MacMillan concluded that it was a mirage. But what a mirage! Most people dismiss Crocker Land because MacMillan never reached its surface. However, that does not mean that MacMillan saw nothing. Indeed, MacMillan's own description of his trip is quite incredible. His experiences have over the years been completely glossed over and forgotten. MacMillan's sightings of Crocker Land are enthralling as he tried to reach this vast and mysterious continent which lay far out across the Arctic Ocean.

What sort mirage did they see? Mirages are governed by the Laws of Optics. So I contacted a Professor in Canada who is an expert in mirage simulation and who developed sophisticated computer programs to analyse mirages. Based on papers he wrote and discussions I had with him I concluded that the Crocker Land mirage had to be a mirage of a real object far beyond the horizon. In fact, and this is amazing, when analysed closely, this mirage could be explained in terms of land which exists inside a Polar Hole! Do Crocker Land and Sannikov Land lie at opposite ends of a Polar Hole which lies near Canada? And so I conclude that I have indeed found my first evidence of a Polar Hole and that it exists several hundred miles from the coast of Canada.

And just when I thought I could go no further I discovered more evidence of a Polar Hole in the Arctic. It was triggered by the writings of none other than Wally Herbert. In the next chapter we continue our search for the Polar Hole but this time from a different angle.