Hidden Dimensions: Volumes 1 and 2 - the Complete Story

33 YEARS AGO

Here we find a family of seven, whom for many years have shared a common interest, that which being, what lies beneath the ocean’s surface. With most families of today, it seems to be a very rare occasion to find one with a common or even similar interest. You might, from time to time, find a family that owns a farm or ranch or even a restaurant in which they all grew up working there together, but like I mentioned prior, it’s a very rare situation. Normally, as each member of the family becomes of age, you will find them either going off to college or finding jobs that are quite a distance from home, or getting married and either themselves or their spouses could possibly be relocated to another state. Well in our family it just so happens to be one of those rare cases.

We call them the ‘Weinstein Family’ the father’s name is Dan, his wife Rhonda, followed by their children, the oldest is named after his dad, Danny, then comes Jadene, Jill, Philip and the youngest Nicole, all being just a few years apart in age. It may be hard to say if they all had the same goals, or simply followed in their parents footsteps, however, they all enjoyed the oceans of this world plus the excitement of what new discovery may lie at its floor.

While Dan and Rhonda’s basic interest was Oceanography (the study of many facets, from the content of what pollutants come from oil spills to factory waste, erosion, animals of discovery, sunken ships, plains, depths, craters, volcano’s and currents). The children Danny, Jadene, Jill, Philip and Nicole were involved in the study of Geology, Petrology and Mineralogy (the scientific study of the origin, history and structure of the solid matter of mineralogy, Crystallography inorganic chemistry, Geochemistry Petrology and Geology are connected in the domain of crystal chemistry)

This family would never miss a chance to vacation together, which was always focused around Scuba Diving, from Hawaii, Costa Rica, Cancun, Cozumel, The Cayman Islands, Belize plus many other seldom visited areas of the globe.

While diving in the waters off the coast of Belize, an area called The Blue Hole really caught their interest. The Blue Hole was once an underwater cavern that collapsed many years ago. It is speculated that before its collapse it contained air and was thought to have tunnels stemming from the inner rim with connecting tunnels reaching far beneath the mainland, but this was never really proven. The size of this giant ‘Blue hole’ is approximately 480 feet deep and about ¼ mile wide.

THE QUEST BEGINS

With discovery of the Blue Hole and the existence of so many other similar areas, the Weinstein family had an overwhelming and burning desire to pursue other new areas that were not yet discovered. On almost every diving adventure, there was a discussion of being able to design or build an underwater craft that would be able to drop beneath the surface of the ocean far enough to observe a much greater depth than a submergible has been able to achieve so far. Till this time the design of the submergible did not have the structural ability that was able to descend to the depths required due to the tremendous water pressure against the hull, as there was the very high risk of imploding. The deeper dives were made with Robotically controlled ‘unmanned vehicles’, sending back images with poor quality due to the lack of light at these depths. Most of the visuals were in the form of what ultrasonic radar or other type of depth finding equipment that was available. At the time, The biggest problem was all one could see, would be just what the reporting equipment was pointed at, so virtually a great deal of discovery was overlooked. In order to be able to create, or even attempt the construction of such an elaborate vessel the Weinstein’s would have to seek out other options because, monetarily, it was a far greater amount than they could ever afford. While pondering on how to acquire the unknown amount of money needed to finance this endeavor and after speaking to many bankers, they were told to apply for a government grant. While applying for the grant and waiting for approval, they found a corporation that was giving a grant for the very same reason. This corporation was in the final stages building their submergible very similarly to the one the Weinstein’s had planned.

After contact was made, a meeting was put together in which the Weinstein family was invited into a joint venture, that would be beneficial for both parties. As the corporation had needed a crew to operate the submergible a task in which the Weinstein’s were more than qualified. Dan said to Rhonda ‘this merger is like a dream come true’, as the craft was in the final stages of production the corporation invited the family to come and familiarize themselves with the new state of the art submergible, with the knowledge the Weinstein’s had, they were even able to suggest a few, well needed navigational changes to the design.

DAYS TO COUNTDOWN

Now we see the family driving to the marina and through a security entrance where they will be parking their vehicle. They now enter another secured building where they show identification. The guards inside escort them to a meeting room which appears to be controlled by the United States government. During their briefing they are sworn to secrecy, and told that whatever they may find or experience, will be classified as top secret and for the eyes and ears of government and certain military officials only, unless otherwise allowed. After the briefing has been completed it is realized the group of seven are quite professional and more than adequately qualified for this mission.

As they exit the meeting room they are directed to a large warehouse which contains the submergible and finally able to make face to face contact with the finished project. We can plainly see as we watch the Weinstein family, not only being overwhelmed by the immense size of the submergible but its amazing features as well. As we have climbed up and into the interior of the submergible, we observe once more, how this vessel has been custom designed to accommodate their every need. As we gaze at the structure of the submergible it is very plain to see, its shape is almost exactly the shape of a shark. Why? You may ask, the answer is simple really, as all of our prior submersibles were crafted, regardless of how thick the outer walls or skin, speaking in ship builder lingo, were, in their lower descent all vessels would start to cave in or implode. Many had imploded completely, taking the lives of their entire crew.

The Weinstein family, knowing this with the many years of investigation of fatal attempts by others, decided to find what kind of sea animal can descend to the greater depths of the world’s oceans and ascend without injury. In the study they found for the most part, the most that was not venerable came down to four creatures of the deep. They are the squid the octopus the whale and the shark. After the Weinstein’s study of these final four initially rejected the squid and the octopus for obvious reasons, the shark was their decision, for no other reason than its streamlined shape and maneuverability. In both shapes of the whale and the shark it appeared obvious almost superfluous to the immense pressures that become placed on almost anything descending to the lower levels of the ocean, especially those that were designed by man. During the next several days, we watch the crew as they familiarize themselves with the equipment making adjustments within their appointed stations, then back to the meeting room for their final briefing and review of charts, maps decent levels, pressures, and other important information. Once finalized the date of departure is set.

THE DAY OF DEPARTURE

Well, here it is, the final day has come, the crew is boarding a giant ship in which on the top deck you can see a very large object totally covered by canvas in order to keep the ‘looky loos’ away.

As the crew have been shown to their quarters aboard the mother ship and have placed their personal items away, they all meet for a meal within the dining area.

Nicole says well, we finally made it, dad I want you to know this is the most wonderful and exciting thing I could have ever imagined Dan says Don’t thank me, we were all involved in this Danny looks over at Jadene and Jill and says jokingly this is all your fault sure says Jill. Rhonda reply’s by saying I really can’t believe were here Danny looks over at Philip and says with a smile So what’s on your mind? I hope you haven’t forgotten to pack your toothbrush, the subs not that big Philip laughingly responds Of course, that’s something you would probably do. I’m actually thinking of what to order for dinner, I’m thinking about a big juicy porterhouse steak. Jadene says Were going to be about 37-40 hours down there with not much more than fruits and vegetables Nicole says, I’ve brought 14 Snicker bars, 2 for each one of us, What about that?, Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I think I will finish dinner and then to turn in, we leave at 4 am sharp tomorrow and it’s 8 pm now so that doesn’t give us much sleep time!. Dan says Nicole’s right, let’s do this. You can see them rise from the table and start to walk down the hall to their rooms. You can hear Danny saying to Philip O.K. buddy, 4 am will be here before we know it, see ya in the morning Everyone retires to their rooms for a good nights sleep.

Well here we are, it’s 3:45 am, The Weinstein family is now standing on the main deck, the ships commander is explaining how they will be lowered into the water, and a brief description of how the rigging devices will operate at topside.

He points to two large swiveling cranes and says as you can see, both of these devices are linked to your submergible, and the giant spools you see will unroll as you descend, along with a third spool that contains your air line, radio communications as well as video and computer link. You will be attached by a magnetic coupler, should for any reason the need to unhook deem necessary Jill pops up by saying why in the world would we need to unhook from the mother ship the commander reply’s by saying it would probably never happen, however if your craft becomes entangled and can’t be straightened out from either end, yours, or at topside either end can be detached Danny speaks up by saying