April 24, 2000: Mel's Hole Update
Mel reveals that after his original appearance on the show, armed military and civilian personnel seized his property under the pretense of a plane crash. He was offered a quarter of a million dollars per month to lease the land in perpetuity and relocate to Australia, where he continued his herbal medicine research and wombat rescue work. He describes plants grown near the hole exhibiting remarkable medicinal properties, including reportedly helping three men with advanced HIV recover from hospice care.
The update takes a darker turn as Mel recounts being abducted after boarding a transit van, waking up twelve days later in a San Francisco alley with no identification, no money, and all of his back teeth surgically removed. His ex-wife seized the property through legal action, and he now survives by selling plasma. He also describes a mysterious German P-38 pistol dug up near the hole that could pick up radio signals from different eras.
Key Moments
First measurement: 3,600 feet of fishing line, dry Life Savers: Mel describes his first attempt to gauge the hole on his Manastash Ridge property by spooling out 1,200 yards of shark fishing line tipped with a one-pound weight and a roll of Life Savers as a wet/dry indicator, and the candies came back bone dry.
80,000 feet of line and still no bottom: Mel says he eventually let out 80,000 feet of monofilament fishing line, roughly 15 miles, before giving up trying to reach the bottom of the hole on his property.
The dead dog that came back from the hole: Mel tells Art that a local hunter threw his dead dog into the hole and that the same dog was later seen alive in town, the story he says convinced him he wanted his own remains dropped in there when he died.
Armed men seize the property, plane-crash cover story: The day after his original Coast appearance Mel says he returned to find armed personnel, both civilian and military with fully automatic weapons, blocking the property and yellow earth-moving equipment on site, with claims that an aircraft had crashed there even though he could see no smoke or wreckage.
Quarter million dollars a month and a one-way ticket to Australia: Mel says the unidentified party leased his Manastash Ridge property for a quarter of a million dollars a month, with non-disclosure terms, and quietly relocated him and his dogs through San Francisco to Perth, Australia, with his immigration paperwork pre-arranged on the Australian end.