The Bottomless Hole To Nowhere: The Baffling Tale Of Mel Waters

The events that allegedly surrounded Mel Waters in the late 1990s are, without a doubt, some of the strangest, most intriguing, and most mesmerizing claims ever put into the public arena. Indeed, while we should treat the claims with a pinch of salt, that they are still of interest to researchers into all manner of the bizarre and strange almost 30 years later should perhaps alert us to the fact that, like many such tales, there is likely a certain amount of truth to at least parts of the tale.

These mind-bending accounts involve a strange hole on Mel’s property in the state of Washington that would go on to be known as, Mel’s Hole. And like many urban legend-like accounts, while some researchers and investigators have been on the land where this apparent anomaly existed, and while some people who reside nearby have reported strange lights and sounds appearing to come from the property in question, no one has actually seen this mysterious abyss.

When we add in alleged government cover-ups, Men In Black-type agents, and sudden disappearances, the tale takes on another layer of intrigue and mystery. Is the account of Mel’s Hole one that has been purposely ridiculed so that the wider public doesn’t take it seriously? Or might there be more to this truly strange account than most of us would like to believe?

A Bizarre Bottomless Pit?

So, what exactly is Mel’s Hole? This apparent anomaly, located somewhere near Ellensburg, Washington, first came to public attention on the radio show Coast to Coast when Mel Waters called the host, Art Bell, to describe a peculiar well-like hole he had found on his property.

Waters explained to Bell that the hole was about nine feet in diameter and had a brick retaining wall that extended approximately 15 feet down. He also mentioned that, like the previous owners and some neighbors, he had used the hole as a makeshift trash dump, regularly throwing various unwanted items into its depths.

However, Waters noticed something strange: no matter what was thrown into the hole, he never heard anything hit the bottom, as if the objects were falling into an endless void. When he spoke with his neighbors, they told him that no one knew who had built the hole—it had simply always been there.

As Waters pondered this, he realized that if trash had been dumped into the hole for many years, it should have filled up by now. How deep was this hole? Driven by curiosity, Mel began conducting experiments and tests to uncover the answers.

A Distance Beyond 80,000 Feet

To investigate, Mel attached a weight to one of his fishing lines and lowered it into the well. The first line he used was 4,500 feet long, but to his amazement, it still didn’t reach the bottom when fully unreeled.

Next, Mel tied Life Savers candy to the end of the line, wondering if there might be water at the bottom of the seemingly endless hole. If so, the Life Savers would dissolve upon contact with water. However, when he reeled the line back up, the candies were still completely intact.

Even more perplexed, Mel continued using longer fishing lines, trying to determine the hole’s depth. Despite lowering the line to an astonishing 80,000 feet—equivalent to 15 miles—he still hadn’t found the bottom.

Eventually, Mel ran out of fishing line. During his experiments, he noticed other strange details. His dogs, for instance, refused to go near the hole, even when he tried to coax them. He also realized he hadn’t seen any animals or wildlife near the hole—not even birds.

Picking Up Transmissions From The Past

Once more, Mel spoke to his neighbors to see if their animals also reacted strangely near the hole. Some confirmed that they had observed similar behavior. During these inquiries, one neighbor shared a particularly unsettling and astonishing revelation.

The neighbor recounted that after one of his dogs had died several years earlier, he had decided to dispose of the body by dropping it into the hole. To his absolute disbelief, a few days later, he saw his dog, identifiable by its distinctive collar, very much alive and walking through the nearby woods. Even stranger, when he called out to the dog, it ignored him completely, showing no recognition of its former owner.

Other bizarre details emerged as well. Radio broadcasts in the area experienced intense static interference and would occasionally pick up transmissions from years earlier. Mel himself believed he was listening to a modern baseball game, only to realize it was a broadcast from 1967.

In February 1997, Mel Waters contacted Art Bell and eventually spoke with him live on the Coast to Coast radio show. However, almost immediately after this, events took a turn from perplexing to downright disturbing.

Threats From Authorities

The day after the broadcast, Mel returned to his property, only to find his access blocked by a heavily armed military unit. The soldiers informed him that entry to his land and the surrounding area was prohibited due to a plane crash. However, Mel could find no information or news reports about such a crash.

Despite his efforts to get an explanation, Mel claimed he was threatened with false charges of drug possession if he didn’t comply. He also told Bell that in addition to the ground unit, there was a significant helicopter presence over the property for several days. Whatever they were searching for, it seemed to be a serious operation. Mel suspected that this sudden military interest was directly related to his appearance on Bell’s radio show.

About a week later, according to a neighbor, shortly after Mel had been barred from his property, a strange beam of light suddenly shone upwards from the land, as if it were emanating from the ground itself.

Signs Of Some Kind Of Operation

When Bell updated his audience with these latest revelations, a debate ensued about what was happening in the area. Some listeners suggested the region was rife with UFO activity, while others speculated that the strange beam could indicate the presence of a portal, possibly one that led to another time—recalling the radio picking up past broadcasts, for example.

When Bell sent a broadcast team to investigate, they did not find the hole itself but did locate the area where Mel Waters claimed the events had occurred. More concerning was the evidence of military activity, such as military-style boot prints and tire tracks from heavy-duty vehicles.

There was little doubt that something significant was happening. The situation then took an even darker turn. Mel had promised Bell he would appear on the show again with any new information from his neighbors. However, after the agreed-upon date passed, Mel seemed to vanish. He did not show up at the studio, did not answer his phone, and did not respond to messages.

Then, around three years later, he suddenly reappeared with another enthralling tale to tell.

Disappearance And Return

Mel claimed that shortly after his conversation with Bell, he was approached by a mysterious individual who offered him $3 million to lease his land to an unknown party. As part of the deal, Mel had to sign a nondisclosure agreement preventing him from speaking about the deal or the events on his land, and he had to leave the United States and not return.

With nothing to lose, Mel accepted the offer and started a new life in Australia. However, after two years, he grew extremely homesick and decided to return to the United States temporarily to visit family and friends.

While in the U.S., he contacted Bell again and agreed to another radio interview. But this interview never happened. Mel later told Bell that on the day he was supposed to speak with him, he was traveling by bus to visit a family member. At some point, the bus was stopped by a patrol unit. The last thing Mel remembered was being told to board another bus before he blacked out.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself in an alleyway in San Francisco, California, and discovered that 12 days had passed. His wallet and keys were missing, and he had puncture marks on his arm, suggesting he had been injected with something. Even more alarmingly, he claimed that his back teeth had been removed.

Then, the situation became even more ominous.

The Nevada Reservation Encounter

He was officially served papers stating that his property was being seized due to illegal construction, for which he was not responsible. Additionally, his entire bank account was emptied without any explanation from his bank. It seemed those who had made the deal with him had followed through on their threats if he returned.

Despite this, Mel’s unnerving adventures continued. He was soon contacted by representatives from a Native American tribe in Nevada, who had heard of his story. They invited him to their reservation, where they also had access to a seemingly similar bottomless hole.

This hole was located near the reservation, on a Basque settlement in the region. According to what Mel was told, the hole had been there since the first Basque people settled in the area at the start of the nineteenth century, suggesting it had existed long before that.

Although this hole had almost the same dimensions at the opening as the one on his land, Mel felt intense heat emanating from it and the surrounding ground. The group decided to conduct an experiment using ice. They lowered a bucket of ice cubes down the hole while keeping a bucket of ice cubes at the surface. When the ice at the surface had melted completely, they raised the bucket from the hole. To their amazement, the ice had not melted. Instead, it was no longer cold or wet, feeling like large grains of sand or salt crystals.

Even stranger, when the group attempted to melt the ice, it caught fire and continued to burn for several months. They repeated this experiment multiple times and found that about one-third of the time, instead of melting, the ice became dried, heated, and turned into a burnable fuel.

The Creature From Nowhere

Eventually, the group decided to lower a living entity into the hole and chose one of the sheep from the area. Much like Mel’s dog, the sheep became increasingly anxious and agitated as its crate was moved closer to the hole.

After lowering the sheep into the hole, the group heard a strange humming sound, as if some kind of activity was taking place. After about half an hour, they raised the crate back to the surface. Although the sheep appeared unharmed, it was clearly dead.

They immediately performed an autopsy to determine the cause of death and quickly realized they were dealing with something extraordinary. When they opened up the sheep, they found its insides appeared thoroughly cooked, despite the outer body showing no signs of damage. Even more bizarre was a large tumor-like mass occupying most of the sheep’s internal cavity. To their horror, they noticed something moving inside the tumor.

Despite their apprehension, they made an incision into the mass. They were shocked to discover a bizarre creature inside, resembling an unborn seal with an umbilical cord-like appendage connecting it to the sheep’s insides. The most unsettling aspect was the creature’s distinctly human-like eyes.

The monstrous entity crawled out of the sheep’s body and onto the autopsy table. After several moments, Mel picked it up and carried it to the entrance of the hole, believing it wanted to return. After several hours, the creature did indeed re-enter the hole.

This is where the story takes an even more remarkable turn.

Further Bizarre Activity

Mel informed Bell that just before his trip to Nevada, he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and was given only months to live. However, following his encounter with the bizarre creature, his doctors were astonished to find that his body was completely free of cancer—essentially, he was cured. Mel believed that the creature had somehow cured him in gratitude for his act of kindness in returning it to the hole.

There was, however, one more twist to the story.

Several months later, Mel contacted Bell again with further updates. He claimed to have remained in contact with the people from the Nevada reservation. One of them had used the transformed ice as a fuel source to heat his home. Soon, strange events began to unfold. The man experienced an unquenchable thirst and noticed the atmosphere in the room was unusually dry. Even more bizarre, when he boiled water, the steam was inexplicably drawn toward the burner where the transformed ice was.

The situation grew stranger. One evening, the man heard a crashing sound and discovered that the heater had fallen through the floor of the cabin. Despite this, the heater remained undamaged, so he placed a board over the hole and continued using it.

However, several nights later, he returned home to find the entire cabin collapsed into a pile of ruins. Upon investigating the ruins weeks later, it was discovered that the stove had burrowed several more feet into the ground, as if the ice, or whatever power resided within it, was trying to return to the depths of the Earth.

Truly Bizarre Tales

OK, so what should we make of these fascinating, if bizarre, claims? Is Mel Waters simply perpetrating a hoax? Ultimately, after his final revelations, during which he promised to return to the show with recordings and documentation of the strange events in Nevada, he vanished once again. This time, he wasn’t heard from again, and his phone was eventually disconnected.

As tempting as it might be to label this a hoax, Mel appeared to gain nothing from it other than personal amusement. There were no attempts to profit financially from his claims, and he seemed to avoid fame, striving to protect his identity.

Several other intriguing details warrant examination. For instance, if we look at Terraserver, the late 1990s and early 2000s equivalent of Google Earth, the location where Mel claimed the mysterious hole was located was indeed greyed out with no explanation. Notably, Terraserver became operational six months after Mel first made his claims to Art Bell, ruling out the possibility that Mel used it to gain credibility.

If we entertain the possibility that this perpetual hole wasn’t a hoax, what could it be? Our current understanding suggests that a 15-mile-deep hole would almost certainly collapse in on itself. So, barring a scientific explanation beyond our current knowledge, we might need to consider a supernatural explanation.

Could it be possible that the hole is a gateway to another dimension or an alternate reality? Perhaps it leads to another time, as suggested by the radio playing decades-old broadcasts. And how do we explain the neighbor’s dog seemingly coming back to life in an almost zombie-like state, or the bizarre seal-like creature from the hole in Nevada?

These questions remain open-ended and continue to intrigue those who delve into the mystery of Mel’s Hole.

An Unsettling Cover-Up Or Just An Urban Legend?

Ultimately, Mel’s Hole remains a compelling urban legend that captures the imagination of those intrigued by unexplained phenomena, with many researchers and investigators continuing to contemplate just what might have happened back in Washington State back in 1997.

Mel Waters’ claims about the seemingly bottomless pit, its controlled temperature, animal resurrections, and alleged military involvement have fascinated many. However, skepticism persists due to the absence of concrete evidence, with some dismissing the entire account unreservedly and nothing more than nonsense.

As noted earlier, typical motives for perpetrating a hoax are not apparent, leaving us both frustrated and perplexed about the veracity of these claims. In short, while the accounts is outlandish and bordering on the unbelievable, there is no real reasons to suspect any kind of trickery.

Whether Mel’s Hole stems from a creative imagination or conceals a genuine, secretive phenomenon, its mystique continues to spark speculation and curiosity in the realm of the unexplained. This allure is likely to endure for years to come. Of course, whether further information comes to light, and whether anyone hears from Mel again (which admittedly, would appear unlikely) remains to be seen. For now, we have the details of this compelling account to go over in the hope that something stands out to one of us that shines a light on this perplexing enigma.

The video below examines this most thought-provoking case a little further.