Mel's Hole: The Bottomless Mystery of Washington's Unexplained 15-Mile Deep Anomaly
In the rugged terrain of Manastash Ridge west of Ellensburg, Washington, lies one of America's most mysterious geographical anomalies. Known as "Mel's Hole," this perfectly circular pit measures nine feet, nine inches in diameter and is surrounded by a stone retaining wall extending down about fifteen feet. What makes this opening truly remarkable is not its appearance but its apparently bottomless nature and the strange phenomena associated with it.
For years, Mel Waters and local residents used the hole as a convenient disposal site for household waste and unwanted items. However, curiosity began to grow when Mel noticed the hole never filled despite years of dumping. His investigation revealed astonishing findings—fishing line extending over 15 miles downward without reaching bottom, peculiar animal behavior around the site, and unexplained radio interference capturing broadcasts from decades past. The hole gained national attention in 1997 when Mel shared his discoveries on Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell, shortly before military personnel mysteriously restricted access to the property.
Key Takeaways
A mysterious hole in Washington state allegedly extends more than 15 miles deep without reaching a bottom, defying normal geological expectations.
Animals reportedly behave strangely near the hole, with dogs refusing to approach it and wildlife avoiding the immediate area.
After public exposure on national radio, government officials allegedly secured the site and prevented the property owner from accessing his land.
History of Mel's Hole
In the Manastash Ridge west of Ellensburg, Washington, a peculiar hole exists on what was once Mel Waters' property. The hole, approximately nine feet nine inches in diameter, features a stone retaining wall extending about 15 feet down before opening into darkness below.
For years, Mel, his wife, and neighbors used this mysterious opening as a convenient trash dump. According to local residents, the hole predated Mel's ownership of the property by many years.
What made this hole remarkable was its apparent bottomless nature. Mel noticed that despite years of dumping household waste, appliances, and tires into the opening, it never seemed to fill up. This observation sparked his curiosity and led to a series of experiments.
Using fishing line with a one-pound weight attached, Mel attempted to measure the hole's depth. After 4,500 feet—his first spool's full length—the weight still hadn't touched bottom. Subsequent attempts with additional spools reached depths of approximately 80,000 feet (over 15 miles) without finding the bottom.
Strange phenomena surrounded the hole. Dogs refused to approach it, wildlife avoided the area, and birds would fly around rather than over it. Radio equipment behaved erratically near the opening, picking up signals from decades past, including what Mel described as "old-time music" and a baseball game from 1967.
One neighbor claimed to have disposed of his deceased dog in the hole, only to see what appeared to be the same animal—identifiable by its collar—running through nearby woods days later. However, the dog didn't respond to its former owner's calls, behaving like a completely different animal.
In 1997, Mel shared his discoveries on Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell, a popular radio show with approximately 10 million listeners worldwide. This exposure brought both helpful suggestions from listeners and unwanted attention from authorities.
The day after his first broadcast, Mel returned to find military helicopters hovering over his property. When attempting to access his land again, he encountered armed military personnel blocking the road. Officials claimed there had been a plane crash on the property, though no evidence supported this assertion.
A man in civilian clothes allegedly told Mel that the land "was not necessarily his anymore" and threatened to "find a drug lab on the property" if Mel didn't leave. When Mel threatened media exposure, the man reportedly dismissed the idea, saying nobody would believe him.
In a follow-up call with Art Bell, Mel relayed that a neighbor had observed a dark beam emerging from the hole and extending through the clouds. Though Mel hadn't witnessed this himself, callers noted that the region had a history of UFO sightings and paranormal activity.
On the day of his scheduled third appearance on the show, Mel failed to appear. Art Bell reported that a television crew investigating the site found evidence of military presence but not the hole itself. Mel disappeared from public view for three years, later claiming he had been offered $3 million annually to lease his property.
Exploring the Bottomless Mystery
First Measurement Attempts
The strange hole on a property in Manastash Ridge, west of Ellensburg, Washington, had perplexed its owner for years. The opening, approximately nine feet nine inches in diameter, featured a stone retaining wall extending about 15 feet down before giving way to apparent emptiness. What made this hole particularly mysterious was its seemingly endless capacity - despite years of dumping household waste, appliances, and various discarded items, it never filled up.
The property owner and his neighbors had used the hole as a convenient disposal site for years. Strangely, when someone shouted into the hole, no echo returned. This odd characteristic prompted the owner to investigate just how deep this unusual feature might be.
The Candy Ring Test
To determine if water existed at the bottom, the property owner devised a clever experiment. He attached a roll of Lifesavers candy to a fishing line with a one-pound weight and lowered it into the darkness. His reasoning was simple - if water existed below, the candy would dissolve.
When he retrieved the line, the Lifesavers came back completely dry. This unexpected result only deepened the mystery and motivated him to continue his exploration with more extensive testing methods.
The absence of any moisture on the candy contradicted what might be expected from a natural well or water-filled sinkhole. This curious finding suggested the hole possessed unusual properties beyond its apparent depth.
The Extensive Depth Measurement
Armed with multiple spools of fishing line, the property owner embarked on a more ambitious measurement project. Each spool contained 5,000 feet of line, and he methodically connected them one after another to reach greater depths.
The initial test reached 4,500 feet without encountering a bottom. Undeterred, he added more spools:
Measurement Attempt Total Depth Result First attempt 4,500 feet No bottom Second attempt 10,000 feet No bottom Final measurement 80,000 feet (15+ miles) Still no bottom
Despite extending the line to a staggering 80,000 feet—more than fifteen miles down—the weight never struck bottom. This extraordinary depth measurement exceeded the height of Mount Everest by nearly three times.
The property's strange qualities extended beyond just the hole itself. Dogs refused to approach it, wildlife avoided the area, and birds would alter their flight paths around it. Electronic devices behaved erratically near the opening, with radios picking up broadcasts from decades past, including baseball games from 1967.
When the property owner shared his findings on a popular late-night radio program in February 1997, the situation took an unexpected turn. Shortly after his broadcast appearance, military personnel blocked access to the property, claiming a plane crash had occurred—despite no evidence of such an incident.
Animal Behavior and Strange Occurrences
Dogs' Unease and Resistance
When examining the Manastash Ridge hole on Mel Waters' property, one of the most striking phenomena involves canine behavior. Dogs consistently display extreme reluctance to approach the hole. Mel's own dogs would physically resist, digging in their paws when brought close to the area. This wasn't unique to his pets—neighbors confirmed their dogs exhibited identical behavior when near the location.
Wildlife and Insect Absence
The void of animal life around the hole extends beyond domestic pets. No wildlife ventures near the area, creating an unnatural dead zone in what should be a thriving ecosystem. Birds actively alter their flight paths to avoid passing directly over the opening. Even insects, which typically inhabit virtually all outdoor spaces, are completely absent from the hole's vicinity.
The Returned Pet Incident
Perhaps the most disturbing account comes from a neighbor who disposed of his deceased dog in the hole. Several days after this disposal, the neighbor reportedly spotted what appeared to be the same dog running through a wooded area nearby. The animal wore an identical collar to his deceased pet but behaved as if it didn't recognize its former owner, refusing to respond to calls.
Environmental Anomalies and Signal Disturbances
While animals avoid the area, plant life demonstrates unusually robust growth patterns near the hole. The location also generates significant electromagnetic interference. When Mel brought a radio near the opening, it produced static before picking up unusual broadcasts:
Old-time music from unknown sources
A baseball game later identified as having been played in 1967
Various signals that shouldn't be receivable in that location
Radio reception near the hole seemed to function as a window to past broadcasts, picking up signals from decades earlier.
Public Scrutiny and State Intervention
Radio Exposure with Art Bell
In 1997, Mel Waters reached out to Art Bell's popular radio program "Coast to Coast AM" about a mysterious hole on his property in Manastash Ridge, west of Ellensburg, Washington. The hole, approximately 9 feet 9 inches in diameter with a stone retaining wall extending down about 15 feet, had peculiar properties that baffled Waters. During the February 21st broadcast, which reached an estimated 10 million listeners worldwide, Waters described how he had measured the depth using fishing line with attached weights, reaching over 15 miles down without finding a bottom.
Waters shared several unusual observations about the hole during his interview. He noted that animals, particularly dogs, refused to approach it, and the area around the hole was devoid of wildlife and insects. Birds would reportedly alter their flight paths to avoid flying directly over it. Additionally, radio devices brought near the hole would experience interference, sometimes picking up broadcasts from decades past.
The most startling claim involved a neighbor who had disposed of his deceased dog in the hole, only to reportedly see the same animal days later in a wooded area nearby. Though the dog wore the same collar, it allegedly didn't recognize its owner, leading to speculation about interdimensional phenomena.
Military Presence and Property Claims
Following Waters' radio appearance, the situation changed dramatically. Upon returning to his property after the broadcast, Waters observed helicopter activity in the area. By the next day, armed military personnel had established a blockade, preventing him from accessing his own land. Officials on site claimed a plane crash had occurred, despite no visible evidence or reports of such an incident.
When Waters attempted to assert his property rights, a man in civilian clothing allegedly threatened him, suggesting the land "was not necessarily his anymore" and implying authorities could plant evidence of illegal activity if he caused trouble. The personnel brought in heavy machinery, leaving visible tread marks across the property according to later reports.
A television crew that investigated the area following Waters' radio appearances reportedly found no access to the hole but discovered military blueprints and evidence of significant government activity in the vicinity. Waters later claimed he was offered $3 million annually to lease his property, suggesting unusual interest in the site from unidentified parties.
Reports of Unusual Phenomena
Numerous paranormal activities were associated with the hole. Waters reported that plants near the hole exhibited exceptional growth patterns. More dramatically, a neighbor claimed to have witnessed a dark beam emanating from the hole and extending upward through the clouds—described as "darker than anything he'd ever seen"—though Waters himself did not witness this phenomenon.
The radio program's callers contributed various theories about the hole's nature:
A portal to another dimension positioned on a ley line
A temporal gateway explaining the disappearance of objects
An entrance to a theorized "hollow Earth"
An elderly neighbor mentioned that the hole was once surrounded by stone columns without crossbeams, suggesting ancient origins. Waters' investigation revealed that previous property owners and neighbors had used the hole as a disposal site for years, yet it never seemed to fill up regardless of how much waste was discarded.
After his initial appearances on Coast to Coast AM, Waters disappeared from public contact for approximately three years, raising questions about what might have happened during this unexplained absence.
Theories and Speculations
Energy Lines and Interdimensional Gateways
The mysterious shaft on Mel Waters' property has generated significant speculation about its connection to energy lines that some believe crisscross the planet. These theoretical pathways may concentrate Earth's natural energies and, at certain intersection points, create unusual phenomena. The shaft's perfect circular shape (9 feet 9 inches in diameter) and seemingly bottomless nature suggest it might not be entirely natural in origin.
Local wildlife behavior provides compelling evidence that something unusual affects the area. Dogs consistently avoided the opening, refusing to approach even when forced. No insects, small animals, or birds were observed near the void. Even flight patterns of birds appeared to circumvent the area completely. This unnatural avoidance pattern is consistent with theories about energy fields that repel certain lifeforms.
Radio anomalies reported near the shaft add another dimension to these theories. When Waters brought radios near the opening, they exhibited strange interference patterns and allegedly began receiving broadcasts from different time periods, including "old-time music" and a 1967 baseball game. These electromagnetic disturbances align with theories about dimensional boundaries becoming thin at certain locations.
Temporal Displacement and Interior Earth Theories
The most startling account associated with the shaft involves a neighbor's dead dog reportedly reappearing days after being disposed of in the hole. According to the story, the dog was recognizable by its collar but behaved as if it didn't know its former owner. This has led to speculation about possible temporal or dimensional displacement properties of the shaft.
Waters' fishing line experiments yielded puzzling results:
Initial tests reached 4,500 feet without finding bottom
Subsequent tests with sugar candy attached came back dry (testing for water)
Multiple fishing line spools were joined, reaching approximately 80,000 feet (15+ miles)
No bottom was ever detected despite these extensive efforts
The military's abrupt interest following Waters' radio appearances remains particularly telling. Within days of his first broadcast, witnesses reported:
Helicopter activity over the property
Armed personnel blocking access
Evidence of heavy machinery being brought to the site
A neighbor's report of a "dark beam" extending from the hole into the clouds
Some theorists connect the shaft to the concept of hollow earth passages, suggesting it might serve as an access point to theoretical cavern systems or interior spaces. The elderly neighbor's account of ancient stone columns once surrounding the opening hints at possible historical awareness of the site's unusual properties.
The area's broader history of unexplained phenomena, including UFO sightings and disappearances, has further contributed to theories linking the shaft to larger paranormal patterns across the region.
Local History and Underground Mysteries
The Elderly Resident's Account
The elderly resident living near the property shared valuable historical context about the mysterious shaft. According to their testimony, the opening had existed for generations, with no one in the community able to recall when it first appeared. They mentioned that locals had used it as a convenient disposal site for decades before the current owner took possession of the land.
The resident also described unusual phenomena they had witnessed, including animals avoiding the area completely. Most notably, they recounted seeing what appeared to be a dark beam extending from the opening straight up through the clouds—a sight they described as "darker than anything" they had ever witnessed before.
Stone Columns Surrounding the Opening
Archaeological evidence around the site suggested it might have had ritual or structural significance in earlier times. The most notable features were several stone columns arranged in a circular pattern around the opening. These vertical pillars stood as silent sentinels but notably lacked horizontal crossbeams (lintels) that would typically complete such structures.
The columns appeared to be quite ancient, exhibiting weathering patterns consistent with decades or possibly centuries of exposure. Their precise arrangement—forming a perfect circle around the 9-foot-9-inch diameter opening—suggested intentional design rather than random placement. The stone retaining wall visible in the upper portion of the shaft (approximately 15 feet down) appeared to be of different construction than these exterior columns, possibly indicating different construction periods.
Mel's Mystery Shaft and Eventual Reappearance
The Inexplicable Deep Pit and Sudden Absence
On a property in the Manastash Ridge west of Ellensburg, Washington, Mel Waters discovered an unusual shaft in the ground. Unlike typical wells, this pit served as a disposal site for Mel, his neighbors, and previous property owners. Despite years of discarding household refuse, appliances, and various items into the opening, the shaft never filled up.
The pit measured exactly 9 feet 9 inches in diameter with a stone retaining wall extending approximately 15 feet down before opening into darkness. Mel's investigations revealed several bizarre characteristics: animals avoided the area completely, plants thrived unusually well nearby, and electronic devices behaved erratically when brought close.
When Mel attempted to determine the depth, he attached a one-pound weight to fishing line and lowered it 4,500 feet without reaching bottom. Additional spools connected together reached nearly 80,000 feet—over 15 miles—still without finding the end. Remarkably, when a neighbor disposed of a deceased pet down the shaft, the animal reportedly reappeared days later near the property, though acting as if it didn't recognize its owner.
Media Investigation and Government Interference
In February 1997, Mel shared his discoveries on Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell, reaching millions of listeners worldwide. The call-in show brought attention from paranormal enthusiasts who offered various theories and measurement suggestions for the mysterious shaft.
The day following his radio appearance, Mel noticed helicopter activity over his property. Upon returning from Ellensburg, he found armed military personnel blocking access to his land. Officials claimed a plane crash had occurred, though no reports or evidence supported this explanation.
When Mel challenged these assertions, a plainclothes individual suggested the property wasn't necessarily his anymore and threatened potential "discovery" of illegal activities if Mel didn't cooperate. Despite these intimidation tactics, a television crew later investigated the area and reportedly found evidence of military presence, including blueprints and equipment tracks, though they couldn't locate the shaft itself.
Mel's Unexpected Return After Disappearance
On the date Mel was scheduled for a follow-up interview with Art Bell, he failed to appear and couldn't be reached by phone. His sudden disappearance raised concerns among listeners and the show's host.
Three years passed before Mel Waters made contact again. According to his account, he had been offered an annual payment of three million dollars to lease his property. This unexpected financial proposition coincided with his extended absence from public discourse about the mysterious shaft.
The circumstances surrounding Mel's disappearance and subsequent reemergence remained as puzzling as the bottomless pit itself, leaving many questions unanswered about both the property and the government's apparent interest in it.
Lease Offer and Continued Mystery
After revealing the mysterious bottomless hole on Coast to Coast AM, my property access was suddenly restricted. Upon returning from Ellensburg, I discovered armed military personnel blocking the entrance road. They claimed a plane crash had occurred, though there was no visible evidence to support this claim.
When I questioned the situation, a man in civilian clothes warned me that the land might not be "necessarily mine anymore" and threatened to "find a drug lab" on my property if I didn't leave. Despite my threats to alert the media, he remained unconcerned, suggesting no one would believe my story.
A neighbor reported seeing a strange dark beam emerging from the hole and extending into the clouds. This aligned with reports from Coast to Coast listeners who noted that this region of Washington has a history of UFO sightings and paranormal activity.
After my first appearance on Art Bell's show, theories about the hole multiplied. Listeners suggested it might be:
A portal to another dimension along a ley line
An entrance to a hollow Earth
Unable to access my property, I gathered information from long-time residents. One elderly neighbor mentioned stone columns had once surrounded the hole—similar to Stonehenge structures but without the crossbeams.
I was scheduled for a follow-up interview with Art Bell but mysteriously failed to appear. Bell informed his audience that a television crew had investigated the area and, while they couldn't locate the hole, they found evidence of military presence nearby.
Three years passed before I resurfaced with an unexpected revelation: I had been offered $3 million annually to lease my property.
