Camp Gagnon - Finding Agartha: The Secret, Inner Earth Civilization Living Inside Hollow Earth

Episode Date: May 8, 2025

Today we talk about every hollow earth speculation and we even debunk the theory. WELCOME TO CAMP! 🏕️Shoutout to our sponsors: Cymbiotika, Morgan & Morgan and BluechewGo to https://partners.cymbiotika.com/CAMP for 20% off your order + free shipping👕🧢 GET YOUR CAMP DRIP HERE: https://campgoods.co/🏕️ Get Today In History Email Here (Free): https://camp.beehiiv.com/🎟️ 🎫 Comedy Tour Tickets Here: https://markgagnonlive.comTIMESTAMP:0:00 Intro0:57 Everyone’s Favorite Guest Is Back!!!3:32 What Is Hollow Earth?4:22 Edmund Halley’s Theory6:55 Ancient Cultures Underworld Beliefs9:18 John Symmes Theory13:00 Hollow Earth Led To The Discovery of Antarctica 16:09 Journey To The Center of The Earth17:23 Operation Highjump + Admiral Byrd25:10 Nazi’s Obsession With Hollow Earth26:57 Hitler’s Escape To Inner Earth32:38 Agartha42:28 The Deepest Hole On Earth + Center of the Sun45:42 Scientific Numbers + Custom Cell Phone Numbers49:47 Is The Moon Made of Cheese?

Hollow earth. Now this is just a good old-fashioned conspiracy theory. And trust me, this one has got everything. Here's what it is. Some people believe that the earth is not solid, but actually completely hollow. And not just hollow, but home to a robust civilization of superhumans or aliens or even Satan himself. And today, we're going to explain where this theory comes from. Why do people believe this. Everyone from sci-fi writers to even the Nazis had an unusual fascination with Antarctica and the center of the earth. And finally, I'll tell you what I think about this, bizarre, and strange theory. So if you are a fan of the weird, quirky, and unusual, explained in a, you know, fun way, you're in the right spot. So sit back, relax, and welcome to camp.

What's up, people, and welcome back to camp. My name is Mark Gagnon. I'm joined. I'm joining. by my good friend and long time friend of the show, my good friend Miles McCreary. How are you, buddy? I'm back, everybody. He is back. This time off camera and I think playing chess on his computer. So you have no concern of any quips or any reincarnation stories that you don't like.

Anyway, today we have a fascinating, fascinating story, a fascinating topic. Again, if you're not familiar with this show, this is my tent where I jump into the most interesting, fascinating, controversial things, stories, and ideas of all time through all history right here in one place. And today is no different. Today we're talking about hollow earth. If you don't know anything about me, know this. I was homeschooled by a conspiracy theorist until the fifth grade. And then I went to a very small conservative Presbyterian school, which as a Catholic was controversial. But that was my upbringing. I was raised by a conspiracy theorist. I was at home arguing and debating with her about freemasons and predictive programming in Lady Gaga music videos as a child.

So, of course, that is going to, you know, change my perspective and taint the way I look at the world. And so I have a fondness for conspiracy theories. I find them fascinating. I like to dive in and look at them and analyze them because I do find that there's oftentimes little threads of truth. Sometimes it's just, you know, an interesting story or sometimes intentionality put on someone that you can't actually prove, but, you know, it kind of makes sense or it's all retroactive. Maybe it's looking for, you know, trying to make sense of the randomness of the world and it actually makes you feel better to know that there's, you know, some type of evil force that's making everything go along.

Who knows, right? It depends who you ask, right? My mom and I, we've debated this at length. But I like conspiracies because I think they're just fun to dive into. It's interesting to hear, like, oh, this is actually how things work. And Hollowarth is no different. It seems like a lot of conspiracies these days, they get a little serious, you know? they get a little dangerous.

They start making it feel not so good. That's why I like to jump into the old conspiracies, the OGs, the classics, and Hollowarth is a classic, classic conspiracy theory. Not one I particularly subscribe to, but there are all sorts of interesting intersections where this ties in with science and mythology and literature and spirituality, and the Nazis, of course,

are always tied in with all this weird shit. So without further ado, let's dig in. That was Miles's joke. So if you didn't laugh, just let's get a fuck Miles in the comments. Anyway, so what is the hollow earth theory? Great question. Just at its core, okay, no pun intended.

The hollow earth theory is suggesting that at the center of our earth underneath our feet is not some type of molten core, you know, with lava and all that stuff. No, it's actually completely hollow. And not only is it hollow, but this vast interior space is a home for hidden civilizations, ancient advanced beings, aliens, or potentially even ecosystems, animals, all sorts of stuff. Some versions of this theory propose that there are entrances at the North and South Poles, and apparently the Nazis were interested in. There's all sorts of fascinating, fascinating theories that go along with Hollow Earth.

Where did this come from? Where did someone, who thought of this in the first place? It goes all the way back to 1692 with the astronomer Edmund Halley or Haley. I'm assuming it's Haley. I always pronounced it Haley's Comet, right? Miles agrees. No, no, no, no. You missed the boat.

I didn't miss the comet. So the story begins in 1692 with the famed astronomer Edmund Haley. You probably heard of this guy. Haley's comet flies around, you know, every 100-something years. So this guy, Edmund Haley, he's trying to explain the magnetic variations and some strange atmospheric phenomena, okay?

Just from an astronomer's point of view, he's working and doing his astronomy. But there's these aberrations in the magnetic field, and he doesn't know why. And so he proposes this idea that the Earth consists of several concentric shells rotating at different speeds around this hollow core. And this theory, obviously, you know, it seems crazy today.

But at the time, it represented like a real attempt to explain this phenomena that people, you know, and scientists were stunned by that they couldn't explain. But what's interesting about this fantastical theory is that Edmund Haley was not the first person to, you know, sort of think about what was at the center of the earth. No, not at all. All righty. Don't skip forward, guys, because I am. on the road, world's fastest ad read, coming at you. I'm going to be at Strodsburg, Hoboken, Indianapolis, Buffalo, Raleigh, Poughkeepsie, Portland, Oregon, Fort Worth, Texas, Austin, Texas, Stanford, Philly, Levittown, Chandler, Arizona, San Diego. I'm also going to be adding

Toronto, Montreal, as well as Washington, D.C., and a bunch of other dates. You can get all that in the description also in probably the comments of this episode. Go see me on the road. Come hang out. I'll be hanging out with everyone after the show. Come shake my hand. Call me an idiot. Whatever you want to do, I will be there. Additionally, I will be doing my one hour of stand-up comedy. I'm very proud of this hour. I'm really excited to share with you guys, and it would mean the world if everyone could come on out.

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Let's get back to the show. This goes all the way back to ancient times in old mythology. That's right. Greek mythology, Hades ruled the underworld. Where is the underworld? It is this subterranean realm where, you know, spirits of dead people and, you know, your grandma, whatever. That's where they would go.

Everybody. They'd all go to the underworld, which is not just some pit of darkness somewhere. It is an elaborate kingdom with rivers, you know, like, sticks, fields of punishment, you know, the blessed realm of Elysium, all sorts of cool stuff. It's like a whole, it was a whole city. It was like a, it was like a, like a subdivision of like a, like a town or something. And the Norse Cosmos, they also had this. They had this place that was known as Svartelphheim. Svartelheim. It's an underground home of dwarves, basically, and craftsmen who make magic weapons and artifacts for the gods, of course.

And where else are they going to live, right? Dwarves are pretty short. So center of the earth seems like a good spot. Eastern traditions, they talked about underground kingdoms, like the Buddhists. They talk about Agartha and Shambala. While modern interpretations place these as like, you know, that they're not necessarily beneath the earth's surface, you know, traditional text described them as spiritual dimensions, but sometimes people say maybe it's not so spiritual da-da-da it's contested you know native americans

even they got their own thing their mythology says that some of the most direct connections to underground worlds happen through the the native culture that's that's how they connect with their ancestors many tribes trace their origins to the emergence of the earth itself so a lot of native tribes like for example the hopi people they believe that there's an existence of of three like previous worlds beneath the current one and humanity is climbing upwards through the hollow tree branch or the hollow reed to reach each new realm after the previous one was destroyed the Navajo speak of the first people emerging from three underground worlds before reaching the current surface world which again just demonstrates how

this concept of this subterranean realm is it's persisted in human consciousness for a very very long time. Fascinating, right? But the modern theory doesn't really take shape until like 19th century. All right? So 1818, you have this U.S. Army officer, this guy, John Cleves Sims Jr. Call him Johnny. He becomes the theory's most like prominent advocate. He's the one that makes it just, you know, go crazy. And he declares that the earth is hollow. And not only is it hollow, it is habitable within, quote, unquote. His idea is known as the Sims Hole Theory, which is hilarious to name a theory after yourself and include hole. This is Gagnon's whole theory. You're like the entire theory.

No, no, no, it's about his whole. And what he proposed in the Sims Hole theory is basically that the Earth is hollow, habitable, and has openings at the North and South Poles, these polar openings, which he then termed, you know, obviously the Sim's holes were about 4,000 miles in diameter. Pretty big. Four thousand miles in diameter. It's like the size of the entire United States. And on either end of the earth, that's a portal to the middle.

He claimed that these entrances, like, just gradually like curved inward, allowing ships to sail effortlessly from the outside to the inside, without ever even realizing that they cross the threshold. It's, I mean, it's just like, it's silly now, obviously, but I don't know, people didn't know. It seems crazy, me. I feel like in 1818, people had some idea, you know? People are like, yeah, that is absurd. Like, who would believe that?

Again, this guy had all these theories. He had it all worked out. And because he was, you know, military, people were like, maybe there's something here. So again, he says at the edges of these openings, there's ice and seasonal weather patterns that, you know, make it impossible to discover. Convenient. The interior of the earth, according to this guy, was not only, you know, hollow but habitable. He suggests that the inner surface gets enough light and warmth from a miniature sun suspended in the center of the cavity of the earth.

And this internal sun creates a temperate climate through the inner world, making, like, animal life and vegetation. It's awesome. He's got this sick-ass, you know, internal earth thing, which would be cool if it existed. You go on vacation to the middle of the earth. It would be awesome. and the atmosphere apparently is like clean and, you know, there's no pollutants from the outside surface. And maybe the craziest part about, you know, Sim's entire theory

is that the Earth consisted of five concentric spheres nested inside of each other, separated by layers of atmosphere. Each of these shells was said to have, you know, its own gravity, and he believed each sphere harbored distinct civilizations and ecosystems. All right. He was crazy. I don't know how else to put it. He puts this whole theory forward and people buy it.

People love the idea that there's a civilization at the middle of the earth. And they're like, dude, this guy's in the military. Why would he lie? Well, so this is where it gets fascinating, right? This guy, Johnny Sims, proposes this theory and people believe it. Kind of. He gains like a cult-like following throughout like Ohio in Kentucky, Ohio, you know, where he's from and goes on these speeches and does these large tours.

Think like a TED talk in the 1800s. And he's just going around, you know, having these conventions talking about hollow earth and people are loving it. Sometimes hundreds, maybe even thousands of people gathering around to hear this guy talk about what he believes is happening at the center of the earth. Of course, it sounds a little crazy.

But what's interesting is that it does spark a movement in a way. And I think touches on something interesting about human beings, that we're interested in the unknown, that even in this time, you know, things, we got flat earthers today, there's always been flat earthers. There's always been people believing in, you know, these insane theories. And at this time in history, it was no different. But what's fascinating is that he inspires a gentleman by the name of Jeremiah Reynolds. Now, again, this guy, John Sims, he's petitioning Congress. He's trying to get Congress to come forward and give him a grant to actually

go to the center of the earth through this, you know, tunnel system, through the place. polls. He never gets funding. The United States government says, no, thanks. We're good. But this guy, Jeremiah Reynolds, this guy is fascinating. So he's a newspaper editor and a public speaker. And he was a true believer of Sims and his Hollow Earth theory. And he toured the country in the 1820s giving lectures basically, the same thing the Sims was doing about the polar regions and about Hollow Earth

and how important and fascinating the polar regions were. And over time, he ended up speaking to more and more people. he ends up kind of changing his perspective away from pseudoscience and becomes an actual researcher that wants to explore the poles of Earth, specifically the South Pole. And so what does he do? He, with his, you know, is a media background, creates this public fascination with polar exploration. He lobbies the government in the 1820s and 1830s, specifically Congress and the Navy to fund a South Pole expedition. and early on he was kind of laughed at and uh you know they they sort of shoot him away but his messages

caught the attention of like naval officers and scientists that were interested in making a name for themselves and so they kind of started putting plans together to actually do a south pole mission it's crazy and reynolds was eventually kicked off the mission due to you know political infighting and just kind of being a crazy person but his relentless advocacy inspires like directly the Wilkes Expedition, which becomes the first major global exploration mission, specifically going to the South Pole. And on that mission, they chart 1,500 miles of the Arctic coast and basically proved that Antarctica was a continent and not just scattered random islands. It was actually a solid, you know, glob. So this one guy, John Sims, basically inspires a movement that discovers Antarctica.

because he was crazy. I shouldn't say he was crazy. I think that's kind of rude to call people crazy. But because he had these fringe crazy theories that obviously were wild, but he did inspire an entire movement to go discover Antarctica. So shout to Johnny Sims,

legend. If you want to go check out his statue, he's got a giant statue in Ohio that is his children put up for him. It's right there right now. Now, these theories from old John Sims and our good friend Jeremiah Rennel, Reynolds get even more popular and actually inspire a movement, a specifically a literary movement.

This guy, Jules Verne, probably heard of him, famous author. 1864, he writes his masterpiece, a brilliant work of fiction known as Journey to the Center of the Earth, which at that point, you know, once this book drops, the entire American public is captivated with this idea of what's at the middle of the earth. And Vern didn't really embrace the traditional like hollow earth concept, of course. His vision of vast underground caverns, prehistoric life, subterranean seas do popularize the idea of these habitable realms underneath our feet. And his careful attention to science, although dated by the standards of today, lent credibility

to this idea of like, well, maybe there are underground civilization. You know, who knows? And not only them, Edgar Allan Poe and Edgar Rice Burroughs, too famous. authors and poets in their own right. They take different approaches. Poe writes the narrative of Arthur Gordon Pim in 1838, using the idea of polar openings to create like this, you know, mystery horror. While Burroughs creates a series that imagines a complete world

on the inner surface of the Earth's crust, eternally lit by this, you know, central sun. Okay, so this is the part in the Hollow Earth story that gets fascinating. So, 1946, you have a little thing known as Operation High Jump. This is awesome. You should absolutely read the Wikipedia page on this. Okay, this is a classic conspiracy. This happens in 46 under the command of this guy, Admiral Richard E. Bird.

And this is basically the largest Antarctic expedition in history. The mission involves like almost 5,000 people, 13 ships, a bunch of aircrafts. And the stated purpose is to establish an Antarctic research base. That's what they're doing. They're going down there. They're making Little America 4. And this is just a spot where they can, you know, test out some military equipment and polar conditions. You know, just in case there's a war with Russia or something.

Give them a little playground. That's freezing. And the scaleless operation is insane. It's larger than any typical research mission ever, right? At this point, like, you know, it's massive. and with these massive expeditions to bizarre and unusual places, of course it is going to fuel a lot of speculation about the true purpose. So, again, there's a lot of rumor and conspiracy and myth with a lot of this,

so I'm going to try to parse down exactly what is real and what's not as best I can. So the expedition, while officially, you know, it's successful in its mapping and research objectives, it ends six months earlier than they planned. Now, if you're wondering, like, hey, how is that possible? What research, what federal research mission ends earlier on time under budget? Never happens. Everything always goes later.

But this one, six months earlier than planned. Official reports cite that the deteriorating weather conditions, and, you know, that's the reason that they had to, you know, pack it up. But this premature conclusion has become a cornerstone of many conspiracies, specifically the Hollow Earth conspiracy theories. Believers suggest that the mission encountered something unprecedented beneath the ice forcing its early termination. They point to all these different scattered reports of unusual aerial phenomena and, you know, UAP's unexplained equipment malfunctions during the expedition. Maybe the most controversial aspect is it emerges from an interview with Admiral Bird published in El Mercurio, a Chilean newspaper where he allegedly, big allegedly, warned about flying objects capable of traveling from pole to pole at incredible speeds. While this interview's authenticity remains, you know, disputed, it has become a foundational text

for those who believe the expedition discovered evidence of, you know, some civilization maybe at the South Pole, maybe in the center of the earth. What's up, guys? We're going to take a break really quick because we have a new sponsor with the show that I'm so excited about that I need to tell you. So listen up. Our food is important. What you eat is who you are. It's how you think, how you feel, how you work out. It basically encompasses everything. But unfortunately, our food doesn't have the nutrients we need to be our best. And that's where symbiotica comes in. Symbiotica is the greatest supplement brand in the world. And here's why. They got all these different supplements. I actually take these every single day. Specifically, the magnesium L3 and 8. I take this before I go to sleep and it helps me sleep better. Magnesium is amazing for helping me go to sleep. Look it up.

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about it. So check it out. Let's get back to the show. Now his alleged experiences during his Antarctic flights have become central to this mythology, specifically this discovery of like an entrance. And according to believers, Byrd's personal diary, published after his death, describes flying, you know, these ice walls of, you know, the Antarctic and this warm, lush region beyond the ice walls, complete with mountains and forests and lakes, where there should only be ice, but instead of ice, it is lush, almost tropical. The most sensational claims involve birds' encounter with representatives from an advantage of an advantage of civilization living in the earth? Yes, this is what people claim. This is allegedly from

Admiral Bird's personal journals. Again, the authenticity of these journals have never been reported. Most people dispute them, and they say that these are falsifications or fabrications. They're not true. They're hoaxes. But according to the believers, this is what they say. The beings express concern about humanity's development of nuclear weapons and warn about the dangers of continuing on this path. While again, no evidence supports the authenticity of the diary, the contents have become deeply embedded in conspiracy culture all over the place, specifically hollow earth stuff. The contrast between Byrd's official reports, which focused on, you know, scientific observations and, you know, mapping and, you know, all the normal stuff you can imagine. And these alleged secret discoveries

highlight the gap between, you know, the documented history, but then also the narrative and the more interesting conspiracy history. While Byrd's actual accomplishments, in polar exploration were honestly, like, amazing, right? He charted, mapped a ton of the Antarctic. He actually was the guy, for the record, that did the first flight over the South Pole. A lot of these achievements have become overshadowed by the idea that he met up with alien Donald Trump

at the center of the earth. Like some type of leader came out and was just like, what's up, dude? We're living downstairs. Can you guys keep it down? Bless nukes. So, again, gets even wilder, right? So even in Sims' time, the scientific community overwhelmingly rejects

all these ideas. They say, this is not true. The hollow earth thing is BS. Newton's law gravity says that, you know, an immediate and insurmountable, you know, basically it disputes all of the Halloworth stuff. He says it's not possible. The mathematical models that Newton proposes demonstrate that any large mass in space would collapse under its own gravitational force. into a roughly spherical shape, with the densest material settling at the center. Not hollow. Not open at the top and the bottom.

We're not going to let that get in the way of, you know, having a fascinating little combo about it, right? The fundamental principle of gravity meant that the hollow planet would be inherently unstable and would collapse. Maybe it's possible there are hollow planets, but then they get collapsed into solid-cord planets. But let me just say, Admiral Bird,

with the, you know, the good old boys in the United States wasn't the only person that was interested in Antarctica and, you know, maybe figuring out this hollow earth situation. The Nazis. Oh, yeah. It always gets to the Nazis, these bastards. They also have a connection to, you know, some version of hollow earth in their own way.

I did a different episode where I talked about the Tool Society. This is this occult group that, you know, had a lot of sway and influence over early Nazi leadership, many of the early Nazis, they were a part of this sort of secret group and they would meet and kind of share ideas. And members of the society maintain that an ancient race of Aryan superhumans originated from a subterranean civilization. Nothing crazy about that. And some of the Nazis allegedly incorporated these beliefs into their pseudo-scientific racial theories. Again, Aryanism being a leading idea within Nazi propaganda.

they assert in some cases, again, it's not like Hitler's out here doing this of the speeches, but, you know, Heinrich Himmler, some of these other guys close to him, are discussing these ideas that perhaps there is a subterranean society of Aryans that will come out once the Germans take over the world. This, I do believe at some point these guys were sitting around drinking, you know, like an ale, like some type of like German big Stein of beer. talking about this stuff. Crazy.

It's like it sounds insane now, but they were, they were trying to find Thor's hammer. They were doing all sorts of stuff. Maybe the most interesting, you know, Nazi hollow earth connection is the theory, perhaps we should phrase it, that the Nazis discovered entrances to the hollow earth during 1938, 1939 Antarctic expedition. I mean, crazy. So if you don't know, the Nazis went down to Antarctic, basically like in the middle, of World War II.

They popped down there, you know, looking specifically, I believe they were looking for whale fat. They were trying to set up whaling stations to get fuel to keep the war going. They were also using it for, you know, trying to find trade routes and all sorts of other stuff. Things you can imagine would be beneficial in war. But there is a theory that they went down there and they discovered an entrance to Hollow Earth.

And they established hidden facilities where they developed advanced technology. These stories gained traction in the immediate, like, post-war period. like people talked about this, they found out about all these projects that they were doing. And it fueled, you know, this real, like, genuine curiosity surrounding these Nazi projects and a disappearance of a lot of Nazi officials and if there was a connection with Antarctica. I mean, there's even, like, I mean, this is crazy. I don't even know if anyone believes this, but it's worth bringing out because I found one guy that actually believed it on Reddit. He believed that Hitler escaped that he didn't die in a bunker.

All right, I'm with you. That's possible. But he didn't go to Argentina. No, he went to Inner Earth. And he escaped to Antarctica and then used their portal that they found to get to the center of the earth, which is where Hitler lives. Hilarious. I mean, just truly, like, this is why I love conspiracy theories. Is that not the funniest thing you've ever heard that Hitler just hit a Mario pipe and just popped out of the center of this whole shit and is just chilling down there with the rest of his gay Nazis?

Like, I mean, that's hilarious. So, again, the theory has no historical basis. They've obviously proven that Hitler, actually, let me say this. Maybe they haven't proven. They didn't go to the center of the earth, all right? But I don't think it happened. Maybe you didn't die in the bunker. I'm actually opening that idea.

It's possible. I mean, they looked at the Russian skull of Hitler, and obviously the Soviets have Hitler's skull, and they examined it. And they said it was a young woman, not Hitler. And then they stopped kind of letting people look at it. Who knows? I don't know, maybe Hitler was trans They don't put that theory out there

Maybe he was born a woman Maybe Hitler was born a woman He's an artist in Vienna exploring himself, teed it up You know what I mean? Lopped off the tattas And then became old hitty boy that we know in love Maybe not the love part that we all know

That we all are familiar with And then that's why he grew such a bad mustache he was on tea and the mustache wasn't thick enough. It was just a little in the middle. And then he kills himself. They find his skull and they examine it. They're like, dude, this is a woman's skull. Hitler didn't die.

You're right. Hitler didn't die. But Hitterina. Whatever his real name was. What do you think, Molles, we got anything on that one? You think it's possible? I was really, I didn't think you were going to get there. I didn't think you're going to be able to pull it all back,

but you sort of did a good job. What do they say? Comedy's getting away with it? Yeah. Well, let's see if we did. The comments will say that we did not. So where does that leave us today? Are there modern believers of this hollow earth?

Almost undoubtedly, because every minute there's another fucking dumb ass that's been important that believes in the hollow earth. Look, again, I love conspiracy. You don't got to get me wrong. Do I think Lee Harvey Oz will kill JFK? No. Do I think that there is a civilization under the earth? Also, no. Aliens in the water?

Who knows? Hitler under the ground probably, I mean, no, for sure. I mean, what? Anyway, contemporary versions of this inner earth idea evolve far beyond Sims' simple hollow world stuff, right? You have new science that then can be twisted and sort of used to create new theories. Modern proponents describe a complex society in the middle of the earth, multiple cities connected by high-speed transit.

They got rail down there, probably. They got better high-speed rail than a man. America. Imagine that. They got probably a whole thing. They got Burry Man. They probably got a whole thing cooking under there. They got a universal spiritual philosophy that promotes peace and environmentalism. This seems like a liberals dream. Maybe that's how we solve all the political problems in America. We just send all the libs to the center of the earth. They're like, dude, you guys got high speed rail, universal oneness and environmental stewardship. What else do you want? Oh, sunlight. Fucking, you guys are all pale anyway. You live in Portland.

You can handle the center of the earth. And let me just say, the people believe this kind of stuff. They believe that this advanced society at the center of the earth, they monitor what's going on on the surface. They see what we're doing, nukes. And they're going to intervene if we keep on, you know, threatening. Which I think would be the only upside to nuclear war. Let the record show.

That as things get closer, maybe we get some freaking dope-ass aliens. They come up and they're like, yo, you got to stop with this nuke stuff and they actually stop the show and they come from the center of the earth and they're like yeah we've been living downstairs the whole time. We're like, what? That's crazy.

They're like, yeah, we got Hitler too. We're like, what? Why did you guys take him in? And they're like, dude, he's a socialist. And we're like, oh, that's a good point. He fitted with all the liberals in the middle of the earth. Anyway, we're off the rails in your mouth. Anyway, it wouldn't be a Hall of Worth shakedown

without talking about Agartha. This is the, I mentioned this a little earlier, it's the vast kingdom that spans the entirety of Earth's interior. And this is, you know, believed by a lot of different, you know, you know, esoteric traditions. It's a mythology that's kind of drawn upon, you know, by the Tibetan Buddhists. Some Hindu mystics will, you know, subscribe to ideas like this.

And according to these believers, they, you know, the civilization possesses technology. beyond what we have, gravity-defying objects, life extension methods, clean energy. They claim, you know, that Agartha is this utopian society where the spiritually enlightened and the, you know, scientifically advanced go and live in perfect harmony governed by, you know, this hierarchy of spiritual, spiritually evolved beings that, you know, talk about ancient wisdom all day. And believers point to ancient text describing these underground realms like Shambala. and Patala.

And they interpret these metaphors as literal descriptions of physical places. Again, these are metaphors that often talk about these spiritual realms, perhaps, you know, these subterranean spiritual realms that, you know, the enlightened people go to. And sometimes these mystics will extrapolate that and say, no, no, no. Do you know what that's worth? Subterranean heaven is a place on Earth. And so these modern Agarthean, you know, claims, they say there's a bunch of entrances. You can get to the center of the earth a bunch of different ways, including not only, the Great Pyramids of Giza, Mount Shasta in California, and a bunch of routes in the Himalayas.

Most intriguingly, believers assert that the citizens of Agartha regularly communicate with the selected earth dwellers through telepathy and astral projection. That's right. You want to talk to some advanced people in the center of the earth. You just got to close your eyes, lay in your bed, astral project, talk to them. and these claims often come with these, you know, sort of self-proclaimed contactees who report receiving wisdom and prophecies from their inner earth masters.

So if anyone, you know, talks to you about their inner earth buddies, that's where that's coming from. So why does this exist? Why are people so fascinated by Hollow Earth, right? You have this guy, Admiral Bird, he goes down there, it becomes a big conspiracy theory. Maybe he was doing some weird stuff. I don't know.

Probably not. But why does the theory exist? regardless, right? The Nazis go down, they're looking for, you know, fuel to keep the war going, but then all of a sudden that becomes a big conspiracy. Like, all these people, they're trying to tie in this idea that there is these societies that live under the earth. I don't know. It's possible that this psychological drive, you know, kind of for this unknown knowledge, this hidden, you know, truth, perhaps like an advanced technology. I mean, people have been looking for advanced civilizations or even ancient advanced civilizations for the longest time, right?

Atlantis, all these places. And maybe there's some truth to it. Maybe there's some validity. Again, I don't know. But I think that might be the, uh, on the way to go into the hollow earth civilization, right? And this desire to find, you know, truth kind of leads you to this path that you're like, all right, I'm talking to people in the center of the earth. The theory resonates with individuals who harbor a fundamental distrust of, you know, institutions, scientific authorities, which, again, makes sense. You don't got to tell me, right? Trust the science. It's like, all right, what do the science tell us to eat in the 90s? They're like, oh, mostly bread. You're like, all right, well, that's not good for you. And so, of course, there's going to be skepticism. That

happens. Also, why did they say to eat bread? Oh, the grain lobby is forcing them to put it on there? Okay, well, money gets in the way of people actually trusting the government. Crazy. So you have a bunch of people that are just a franchise with the science, you know, the medical establishment, the scientific, you know, institutions that create policy and create ideas for our society. So what do they do? They follow these little fringe theories. They get into it. Again, Hollow Worth is not some type of alternative scientific model. It is a... Underground theory. Say again? Underground theory. It's very underground. That is underground as against. I mean, you're three for three on puns right now. Thanks. He didn't even want the mic for them. You're like, all right, I'm just going to just hit it with that. So, I don't know.

I find Hollow Earth to be interesting, fun, but I'm not particularly compelled. What's up, guys? We're going to take a break really quick because I got to tell you about a dirty little secret, okay? The insurance industry doesn't want you to know this. Well, basically what the insurance companies do is that they profit by holding onto your money as long as possible. You pay them every month, and then eventually when an accident happens, they try to deny or delay your claim so that they can keep their profits going. I mean, it goes even worse. When in court, the insurance companies want jurors to think that the at-fault driver, you know, a mom that rear-ends someone, you know,

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So there you have it, folks. That is the entirety of the belief on hollow earth. Again, I find it fascinating because I think it highlights a few different things, right? I think it shows the sort of theories of, you know, how science kind of evolves. You have people way back in ancient Greece kind of following these spiritual traditions. They're like, maybe there's Hades, maybe there's this place under the ground, yada, yada. And then that eventually goes into actual science. We have guys like Edmund Haley being like, yo, how does all this work, right?

Like these magnets, you have these aberrations, what's going on? And then you have people that jump on those ideas. And then they, you know, are looking for this hollow earth explanation. And then that turns into actual funding and research that then creates a, expedition to the Antarctic. And then you have, you know, the U.S. government going down there and actually flying over the South Pole. And then you have the Nazis going. It's just crazy. Like the entire lineage of all these different things all tied together to create one cohesive story about something that kind

of makes no sense. But it also highlights something interesting. Like we want to believe human beings have a desire to try to figure stuff out. And I guess what could be, you know, people look in stars and they're like, what's going on out there? It makes sense. You'd look at the ground and be like, what's happening underneath. I can't wait until they drill a hole all the way through. How lit will that be? What do you think happens? You think magma comes up?

If they get a hole all the way down to the center of the earth? I think it's too hot. I don't think we can get there. But if there must be a way, right? No, no. There could be. I mean, this is like asking someone in Kitty Hawk. Like, oh, you think they could fly?

And they're like, no, it's impossible to fly. Yeah, I think you just hit Matt. Have we even got past the crust? I don't think so. that's crazy. So we actually don't know what's under there. That's what I'm saying, right? It's probably,

shouldn't say definitely. Probably not hollow. Yeah, but we don't, I mean, like... But what is it? We really don't know. How far have we got down? Let's find out. I have no idea.

The Kola Superdeep borehole. Oh, hell yeah. It's in Russia. 7.6 miles. That's not far. That's not far at all. And the temperature down there is 356 degrees Fahrenheit.

I can run that and that's that means it's not very far. Not at all. Rocks behave plasticly at the depth. Wow. Like it's just you're just going through plastic and so as a result it's hard to drill. Weird. And

yeah you got like the drill bits just break down. Maybe pour some water in there. How wide is it? I don't know. Could you fall in? Oh, that'd be crazy. dude a seven-mile fall to the center of the earth.

Imagine that's what Jules Verne's novel was. Journey to the center of the earth. And she's one of the falls. 32 pages. Ah, right. Exactly. It's like, yeah, it just dies. But yeah, dude, the Earth's crust is 70 kilometers thick.

We haven't even broken through the crust. So we have no idea. Whoa. Well, we do know it's probably not hollow. You got right geology, seismology, all that kind of stuff. I don't know what it is. Someone has concluded, and I tend to believe them because it just is a little too out there for me. But if it's wrong, I apologize.

That's crazy. We've gone to the moon. Yeah. And not even eight miles to other direction. Crazy. Yeah. Yeah, that's a wild thing to say. Yeah.

And so, I don't know. Like, I don't know how they know it's magma. I guess they're just assuming. Yeah. What's in the center of the sun? You think the same shit? Isn't it fully gaseous the whole way through? That's a good point.

So, no, there must be a center. So many cool questions out there. Yeah, I think it's plasma and gas all the way through. Let's find out. Does the sun have a center? Oh, called the core. The core is the innermost 20% of the sun's radius. It's around 27 million degrees Fahrenheit.

And it's 340 billion times the Earth's atmosphere. Is it still gas? What does it mean of? It's plasma. High-pressure soup of, charge particles. Also, I like that they say how hot it is. They have no idea. I mean, at that point, just keep bumping the number up.

See, I think Nate Bargasi had a bit about this, but like, it is very funny. He's like, how come scientists are allowed to be wrong? Like, you have a scientist, they'll be like, yeah, the universe is two billion years old. And it'll be like, actually, it's four billion. Did that first scientist lose his job? He was completely wrong. Yeah, that's very true. Wasn't even remotely close.

He just like, like, not even, he was twice as wrong. He could like, right? Like, what's two plus two? Yeah. No, it's actually not two. It's four. Like, oh, well, if you said the wrong thing, then is there's no penalty? Scientists can just come up with shit and then no one gets mad at them for it.

I also like the scientists can pick numbers that are just specifics. Like, the specificity of numbers is so interesting. If you look at the height of Everest, I think it's like an almost round number. Probably not. It's specifically so close to round that, in my opinion, and when I look at it, I'm like, should be somewhere in the middle. It should be like, I think it's 29,000 32 feet.

No. The 32 feels almost like they got to 29,000, and it was exactly that. And they were like, no one's going to believe. Toss some numbers on. That is a good point, right? Like, imagine your boss is like,

yo, check out how tall Everest is. And you're like, all, we got it. And it comes out as 29,000. You're like, fuck. Yeah. There's no way anyone's going to believe it's 20. But if I told you it's 29,484, you'd get them there. Yeah, sure.

Great. Perfectly odd. But I actually believe 29,00032 because if you're going to lie, there's no way you're going to put 32. If you're going to lie, you're going to make it 432. It's true. Right? If you were to make up a fake phone number, it wouldn't be like 971-0-000-000-000-3-2.

Yeah. You'd put it some other numbers. Yeah. So if someone's, if some girl gives you a number at 0-20032, it's a real number. I had a friend whose last four digits number was four zeros. Whoa. That's kind of cell phone number. Are you able to get custom cell phone numbers?

I'm sure. Like a vanity plate? Yeah, I'm sure. It has to be, right? Yeah, I mean, yeah, of course. I guess, I mean, no, of course. No, I think you can because think about all the, like, law firms. Oh, yeah.

You know, dial 47-99-99-99-99. Yeah, but that's like toll or something toll-free or something. I think that's... What is a toll? on a phone call? I don't know. Call toll free. Yeah, call toll free. I'm paying money for this shit. Isn't the toll the noise it makes before you

No, no, the Burr? Who's paying it? Yeah. Me? Was that a thing that stopped people for calling people? You ever seen the one where, like if you get a call out of like a jail, does that cost money? Oh, like

you are currently being connected to the Corrections facility, blah, blah, blah. And it costs you money, I think. No. Well, I guess it probably should. Like, if you're in jail, you've got to pay for it. Do they? Like, I don't know how any of those words. Every call is told, because I'm paying AT&T

to put my call through. Do you remember when you didn't have to use your life was small enough, you didn't use the area code? What do you mean? Like, when I was a kid, I knew all my friend's phone numbers growing up. I could still tell you every one of my friends' phone numbers from childhood. No

no area code before. because when you're in the area code if you just dial seven numbers, it defaults to your own area code. That's not true. Yeah, it is. No way. The cell phones have ruined this.

This is why we all have to use area codes, but on a house phone. What? Yeah, you're on the local line. That's local. Like on a landline? Yeah, yeah, I would call my friend's houses, and we had an old rotary phone,

and I never did my area code. It was just seven numbers. Whoa. Yeah. I never knew that. Yeah. You're ancient. I'm not ancient.

You're old as fuck, dude. You're 50 That's crazy What a world, dude What do you think What do you think people back In your hometown Think about Hallworth

Do you got any family That subscribes? No, I think that one's like A little too far outside It's a little too wacky It's not even that it's too wacky I think it's almost too like Old

Like it feels like an old timey thing Yeah, but those are kind of charming to me Yeah, they are charming I think this one is incredibly charming of a conspiracy, because it's like, no one died. It's very, like, 1920s, like, feels like a play. Yeah, I mean?

It's just, like, a nice little warm snack before you go to bed. Yeah, the conspiracy has nothing to do with, like, awfulness. No. Which is all modern days conspiracies. It all gets so serious. Yeah, they're awful.

They're like, dude, did we go to the moon? And they're like, wait until you found, they found up there, dude. Don't we think the, didn't someone think the moon was hollow or something? Fake? Made a cheese? Why was that? Cheese thing? I think it was like a movie or something.

But yeah, it feels like a black and white film. It really does feel like a black and white film. Like journey to the center of the earth is also very old school. All of this is like a very fun conspiracy. And I think anyone in my family or just anyone I know that's like conspiracies, they're all just so up to date on like what's going on. The people believe that the moon has made a cheese came from the 1500s. Whoa.

It was apparently satire that people misremembered as belief. So the English in mainland Europe, they had folk tales of this naive character, often called the fool or the yokel. And he sees the moon's reflection in water and thinks that it's a round wheel of cheese. And these stories were meant to mock the gullible and to, you know, they didn't literally believe that the moon was made of cheese. But then as time went on, people started to believe that, oh, back in the day, people believed it was made of cheese. and then, like, Lunar Tunes did it, Wallace and Gromit, they, like, bid it. Hmm.

The world never changes. Also, for the record, no one really believed in Flat Earth ever. You don't think so? Almost never. Like, basically, like, it, like, stopped, like, fairly recently. Or, no, it stopped way back in the day, but then people misremembered it being like,

oh, yeah, back, you know, people used to believe in Flat Earth. They thought they were going to fall off. Like, Christopher Columbus did not think he was going to fall off the Earth. Huh. And it's just one of those things that gets misremembered. I think we'd look at people back in the day, we're like, dude, they're so,

dumb. Yeah, you think they're dumber. We're so smart with their fucking iPhones. Like, we're sick as hell. Just looking at tits and cats on our phones. Like, dude, we're so much smarter than them. Apparently, Godzilla and King Kong both come from Hollow Earth. Yeah. Yeah. No, there's a, there's a persistence in pop culture today. Like, there's a lot of, you know, pop culture folklore that has, you know, like video games, comic books. Godzilla, King Kong in 2021, reimagined Hollow Earth as,

the source of prehistoric life. That's cool. I like that. It's a fun place to get them from. Right? Yeah, that's a fun. That's a fun one. I like that. So, anyway, this has been our exploration to the center of the earth.

Thank you guys so much for joining us for another episode of camp. This is my tent where it all happens. If you're interested in seeing me on the road, I have tour dates. I'll put that in the comments below. And I just like hanging out with y'all. So if you want to join me again, we'll be putting out these episodes twice a week, perhaps even thrice a week. And you can find me right here in my tent.

Sometimes it's Miles. Sometimes it's Christo. Sometimes it's a random person that joins me. And we just figure out the most interesting, fascinating things from all time throughout all history, throughout every society ever. We're going to get to the bottom of it all. See you guys to the next one. Peace.

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