A Voice in the Night
On a cold February night in 1997, a man calling himself Mel Waters dialed into Coast to Coast AM, Art Bell's legendary radio show that thrived on tales of the strange. His voice, calm yet gripping, told of a hole on his property near Ellensburg, a pit so deep it seemed to swallow the laws of nature.
This was no ordinary hole, said Mel, but a bottomless enigma that could even bring the dead back to life. Thus began the legend of Mel’s Hole, a story that still haunts the curious.
The Pit That Defied Depth
Mel claimed his property, nine miles west of Ellensburg, held a nine-foot-wide hole that locals had long used as a dump. Curious, he tried to measure its depth, spooling out 80,000 feet of fishing line with a weight, yet found no bottom. The line, tied with a roll of Lifesavers to test for water, came back dry, the candies intact.
No echo returned when he shouted into it, and his dogs refused to approach, their hackles raised. Neighbors whispered of stranger things: a dead dog, tossed into the pit, was later seen wandering alive, its eyes gleaming with an unnatural spark.
Whispers of the Supernatural
The hole’s peculiarities grew wilder in Mel’s telling. Portable radios near it played broadcasts from decades past, crackling with voices long gone. Metals lowered close to the edge morphed into other substances, as if the pit rewrote their essence. A black beam, like a shadow made solid, shot upward some nights, unnerving those who saw it.
The local Basque community, who considered the land sacred, spoke of ice that burned when dropped inside, refusing to melt. Plants around the hole thrived unnaturally, as if fed by some unseen force, while animals kept their distance.
The Government’s Shadow
Mel’s story took a darker turn in later calls. Days after his first broadcast, he claimed the military had blocked access to his land, cordoning off the ridge with armed guards. They offered him $250,000 a month to lease the property, he said, and paid for his relocation to Australia. His wife vanished, and his land disappeared from satellite maps.
Mel spoke of a second hole in Nevada, discovered among a Basque settlement, with even stranger properties. Ice lowered into it turned lukewarm and flammable, burning for months. The government, he hinted, knew more than they let on.
A Creature from the Abyss
The Nevada hole brought Mel’s most chilling tale. He and the Basque lowered a sheep into it, curious about its effects on life. When they pulled it up, the animal was dead, a pulsing tumor in its side. Cutting it open, they found an 18-inch creature, seal-like but with human eyes, staring back with eerie compassion.
The Basque returned it to the hole, and Mel claimed it later visited their village, warning of dangers tied to the burning ice. This creature, Mel said, felt like a messenger from something vast and unknowable.
A Timeline of the Unfathomable
Let’s map the strange journey of Mel’s Hole, piecing together its key moments:
- Pre-1961: Local Basque community considers the Manastash Ridge land sacred, noting odd phenomena like burning ice and thriving plants around a nine-foot-wide pit.
- 1961: Gerald Osborne, known as Red Elk, claims his father showed him the hole, which he believes leads to a secret government base with alien activity.
- Early 1990s: Mel Waters, claiming to own property near Ellensburg, discovers the hole’s depth defies measurement, sparking local curiosity.
- February 21, 1997: Mel calls Coast to Coast AM, describing a bottomless pit with no echo, reviving a dead dog, and transforming metals.
- February 24, 1997: Mel calls again, claiming the military blocked access to his land and offered a deal to lease it for $250,000 a month.
- 1998: Locals report increased military presence on Manastash Ridge, fueling rumors of a cover-up.
- January 2000: Mel, now in Australia, calls Coast to Coast AM, saying his wife vanished and his land was erased from satellite images.
- 2001: Mel briefly resurfaces in San Francisco, injured and missing belongings, claiming government harassment and legal action against him.
- January 29, 2002: Mel describes a second hole in Nevada, where ice burns and a sheep births a creature with human eyes.
- December 20, 2002: Mel’s final call to Coast to Coast AM claims the government seized the Nevada hole and he’s being followed. He’s never heard from again.
- April 14, 2002: Gerald Osborne leads a 30-person expedition to find the hole, but they locate nothing matching Mel’s description.
- 2008: An art exhibition, Aspects of Mel’s Hole, at Grand Central Art Center in California showcases 41 artists exploring the legend’s cultural impact.
- February 8, 2012: Red Elk tells reporters he’s visited the hole since 1961, but stops interviews, warning people to avoid it due to government control.
- June 24, 2025: A Bedtime Stories video reignites interest in Mel’s Hole, with online discussions highlighting Art Bell’s influence and the tale’s allure.
Searching for the Truth
Expeditions to find Mel’s Hole have come up empty. In 2002, Gerald Osborne, a self-described intertribal medicine man known as Red Elk, led a group of enthusiasts to Manastash Ridge, but they found no bottomless pit. Geologists like Jack Powell and Pat Pringle dismissed the claims, noting a hole 80,000 feet deep would collapse under Earth’s pressure and heat.
Powell suggested an old gold mine shaft, perhaps 300 feet deep, inspired the tale. No records of Mel Waters owning property in Kittitas County exist, and his disappearance after 2002 fueled speculation of a hoax or government silencing.
A Legend That Lingers
Despite no proof, Mel’s Hole endures in folklore. The Ellensburg Public Library’s file on the hole vanished, adding to its mystique. Locals like Jay Nickell recall tales of a deep, silent pit from their youth, and the Basque community’s stories of sacred land persist. The 2008 art exhibition, Aspects of Mel’s Hole, celebrated its cultural impact with works by 41 artists.
Recent online buzz, sparked by a 2025 video, keeps the story alive. Is it a portal to another realm, a government secret, or a masterfully spun yarn? Well, that's for you to decide.