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A VISIT TO MYSTERIOUS MONUMENTS IN GEORGIA BRINGS STRANGE FEELINGS, STRANGER HISTORY

We have to admit there's an unnerving sensation at those monoliths known as the "Georgia Guidestones."

We visited them on Monday, and while at first they seemed innocuous (plus, at first glance, smaller perhaps than one might expect), an oppressive atmosphere soon enough envelopes one the longer one lingers surveying these stones that aren't so small or undaunting once one is at the base (and in the shadow) of them.

Widely described as the most mysterious monuments in the United States, or as "America's Stonehenge," the guidestones were ordered and financed in June of 1979 by a group that to this day remains a secret.

Now in the custody of Elberton County and located 8.7 miles north of a small city by the same name -- about 93 miles northeast of Atlanta, in the middle of a rural "nowhere" -- they consist of four "pyramid blue" granite megaliths (the tallest 19 feet and three inches) set in a paddle-wheel arrangement around a central stone that's surmounted by a capstone -- the rocks finely finished and set, creating a formation that's sixty-five feet in diameter, weighing a total of 237,746 pounds.

The stones are placed in an exquisitely astronomical design and have "mail slot" and round openings such that the sun pours through them at the equinox or solstice while the North Star is always visible through the alignment of another hole and at noon each day the sun beams through yet another aperture (this in the capstone) that illuminates the day of the year on the central column. 

It's not exactly the Great Pyramid of Gizeh, but pound for pound it's as puzzling -- and, perhaps, occultic.

It was in 1979 that a well-dressed and obviously educated man who went by the pseudonym of Robert C. (R. C.) Christian entered town and approached Joe H. Fendley Sr., president of the Elberton Granite Finishing Company, saying he represented an unnamed group that wanted to erect a monument. He explained that the plans had been in the works for twenty years with highly specific and technical design.

At first treated as an eccentric, that changed when "Mr. Christian" next sought the assistance of a local banker, Wyatt Martin, president of Granite City Bank, who became his intermediary -- and the only one who due to legal requirements was allowed to know his true name (though not the group he represented).

Mysterious? According to a plaque that's now at the site, "Christian" insisted that the banker sign a confidentiality agreement "for perpetuity," saying he and his group "wished to remain anonymous forever." He arrived in Georgia from various cities and wired money from different banks (his first down payment was $10,000 for a structure that cost in the six figures, a payment that had convinced Fendley he was serious).

The monuments were finished and dedicated in 1980 as four hundred locals looked on (although no one knows if Mr. Christian, who said he had chosen that pseudonym because he was a Christian, was among the onlookers).

He chose Elberton, it is said, because it has excellent granite, a mild climate, and the heritage of a great-grandmother who was a native Georgian.

Just west of the stones is a larger plaque set in the ground above a time capsule that's buried six feet below.

It's one thing that these strange stone structures (the largest and most exquisite project in the history of Elberton, which is the "world's granite capital") would be so precisely aligned with astronomical bodies, and so solid (Christian wanted them to survive any disaster), but what has captivated everyone from Yoko Ono to alarmed Christian fundamentalists are the messages.

For etched in the capstone on all four sides (in classical Greek, hieroglyphics, Babylonian cuneiform, and Sanskrit) are the word "Let These Be Guidestones to Reason," and on the supporting megaliths -- in eight languages (English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Russian, Hindi, and Swahili) -- what some call New Age commandments for those who survive some sort of future apocalypse.

What they say precisely is:

"MAINTAIN HUMANITY UNDER 500,000,000 IN PERPETUAL BALANCE WITH NATURE

"GUIDE REPRODUCTION WISELY -- IMPROVING FITNESS AND DIVERSITY

"RULE PASSION -- FAITH -- TRADITION -- AND ALL THINGS WITH TEMPERED REASON

"PROTECT PEOPLE AND NATIONS WITH FAIR LAWS AND JUST COURTS. LET ALL NATIONS RULE INTERNALLY RESOLVING EXTERNAL DISPUTES IN A WORLD COURT. AVOID PETTY LAWS AND USELESS OFFICIALS.

"BALANCE PERSONAL RIGHTS WITH SOCIAL DUTIES

"PRIZE TRUTH -- BEAUTY -- LOVE -- SEEKING HARMONY WITH THE INFINITE

"BE NOT A CANCER ON THE EARTH -- LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE -- LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE"

While one can easily see the benefits of some of those points (the Vatican itself has extolled preservation of God's Creation, and the benefits, to a certain degree, of globalism), the messages had a distinct libertarian occult esthesis.

Some have gone so far as to fear that the monuments set forth the tenets of a new world order and anti-christ.

We'll be delving into these issues in coming articles.

Let's say this for now:

There is coincidence.

As we were about to leave the site (after spreading Holy Water, and fighting off a growing foreboding feeling), a very low, dark cloud suddenly moved over the monument -- the only such dark cloud we saw that day (we drove 584 miles).

This is cow country. Where there are no farms, or granite companies, there are rural homes.

So prevalent is the granite that it's even used on commercial road signs.

It was certainly the most inexpensive spot that could have been chosen for megaliths of granite.

Ironically, it is also deep Bible Belt: all kinds of Baptist churches abound (there are 26 in the city, and more in surrounding towns).

From these ranks, perhaps, came those who have spray-painted it in protest of the "anti-christ" ("No one-world government," a splash of now erased graffiti once said; "Jesus will beat u satanist," said another). Meanwhile, there is even a recipe for conducting rituals there.

Across the road from the monuments is a house owned by an impoverished 43-year-old grandmother named Linda Crew who told us she has often seen strange lights at night at the monument flashing in the middle.

This was also mentioned by Jeffrey Allen [right], her son.

He has seen the mysterious lights twice, the first time two years ago, the second a year later. He says it was like a "glow" coming from the center, and while at first he assumed it was flashlights (again they were flashing), he says the second time he observed them for five minutes and drove up to see what they were, finding nothing and no one. "I actually got in my car, drove there, got out, and walked up there," he says of the site, which has parking space for half a dozen cars.

Rituals? It is well known that occultists have conducted ceremonies here, and a witch and warlock were even married at the monument. Linda claims to have seen the KKK there.

Strangely, there was a report in a secular magazine saying that one of the granite workers who etched the lettering for the moment, Charlie Clamp, heard "strange music and disjointed voices" when he was working on the stones (when we called Charlie, who is now too hard of hearing to take to the telephone, his wife denied this). The monuments also have been featured on channels like Discovery.

Reporting is one thing. Curiosity is another (we don't necessarily suggest a visit there). Jeffrey Allen claims that there have been times when folks have witnessed other peculiar phenomena. "It can be hot and no wind and a lot of people say they can see hay hovering above the monuments," he asserted, indicating sort of a whirlwind.

Strange universe! When we phoned a local expert, Phyliss Brooks [right], who's president of the Elberton Chamber of Commerce, she confirmed that there have been witches there but that her organization "looks at the monuments for the craftsmanship. We don't get caught up in the good or bad or evil or whatever."

We'll explore a bit more on Mr. "R. C. Christian" next.

For now, a final observation.

Within a dozen miles of the monuments are at least six billboards (one a double) with a phone number to call if one wants to advertise. Admittedly, the numbers are as large as we have ever seen; also admittedly, it is a real number, and not any indication that the company with the phone number is nefarious.

It is just another coincidence, another peculiar aspect of Elberton.

The phone number contains five "666s" (three in a row), and stand outs, except for the monoliths themselves, as the most prominent feature of the mildly rolling terrain.

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