Ted the Caver- Have you heard?

Gee, all of the pictures from inside the cave didn't develop, sn't that a co-winky-dink...how lame...

I actually went back in time a couploe of weeks ago and met the guys in the cave. I accidently spilled a cup of coffee over pages 11 through 14 and held the undeveloped film out in the light. That's why the exciting ending with the aliens and photos of them is not present.

Or maybe not


Great story, though. Is there a thread/forum here for people who want to share their writings or tips on good stories/short stories or novels?

Originally posted by MsAreeka
With a little research, I found that the original author of the Ted the Caver story is by Mr. Thomas Lera. He wrote this story sometime in the 1980's. He was also a caver. He was born in 1900 and died in 1993. I do believe that it was formally published.

Thanks for the tip! I kind of figured that someone wrote the story- and I'll see if I can come across the original. (And I even placed a vote for you! )

Excellant read......very Blair Witch like.....seams to be the makings of a good scarey movie.

I was buying it hook and sinker untill 'something' started yanking on the rope........thats when I decided it was just a good story, and that was my thought to the end....and I just KNEW it was going to leave us all hanging.....I knew it, but read it anyway.

OK....IF IF (big IF) it was a REAL thing being related....I would make the guess that they came into contact with an underground Reptilian hive.....and the after effects they were dealing with was the Reptilians stalking them while being cloaked. NOT saying here that I am all on board with there REALLY being underground Reptillians....(Ive yet to be convinced)...but that WOULD be my guess if this is not just some very cool online story, which I obviously think it is.......

GOOD POST! I enjoyed it, loving a great scarey read!

im not sure what you guys are saying but....

its obvious so far *im at the part where the guy is crawling into the space
that these guys were Really in a cave
and they Really did work to "open this hole"

that is for sure

the "scream" make my hair stand up on my back
i turned all the lights on as its 5am

dude im scared!!!! LOL
this story is sweet yet tense
suspenseful

cant wait to see whats next LOL

i just keep picturing a 'meat grinder' at the end of this little hole

like the second he gets thru he will be grinded into meat chunks
i dunno why
maybe it was the 'scream' they heard
oooo lol

if it is a hoax they went through a lot of trouble I hope you find out something let us know. I think we are all sitting in our seats waiting for the rest of the story of what happened and yes I do think it would be a good movie.

Waitaminute. Wasn't this whole thing /just/ talked about in another thread? A guy exploring a scary cave, things get scaryier, then the last entry is gone, because the scary thing got him? I mean, come on. Its like that monty python bit, 'the holy grail is in the castle of...argggggh' And it was all just a short story that was published somewhere but the people that put the webpage up cut the last bit out. Anyone recall that other thread>?

just came across this thread, read the whole story! Man, I dont wanna go to bed!

seriously, this would make a brilliant film, true or not...

strangely, part of me really wishes this were true, if only to justify the wetness of my pants right now...

Like a child I fight sleep anyway. Too scared i'll miss something. This story has brought me out of that "dozie" stage straight into wide open eyes and begging for more. So the 11th page missing is SO unfair dang it.

Originally posted by Kano
The hosting is under this name:

Registrant:
Frank Stevens
1313 Mockingbird Lane
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
US

DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU"VE DONE!? Does anyone respect the fact that he wanted to remain anonymous? Maybe he knew his life was in danger or something! I don't mean to yell at anyone, but seriously, putting his name out there publicly seems a little...mean, for lack of a better word.

Well, I'm devoting a lot of time to reading the story, so I haven't read other people's replies. But I noticed something about the grey writing, (his supposed journal entries). It seems to me, especially when he's referring to the "howling" he's hearing, that when he is writing these journal entries, he's using something called "fore-shadowing". Fore-shadowing is when you hint to the reader of what's to come later on in the story. You obviously cannot use fore-shadowing unless you know what is to come. If he is, indeed, using fore-shadowing, it's my theory that he wrote this grey part well after atleast most of this story. Or perhaps as he was typing it he changed some of the original text to make it more interesting. That doesn't debunk his story, but it doesn't help his cause, either.

Also, the following "journal entry" forces me to assume that he is the kind of guy who really wants people to read his journals and be interested in them. This could be a motive for making the story up, yes?

From the journal of "Ted"
Before I continue with the next journal entry I thought it might be helpful to the reader to explain a little bit about caving and about the atmosphere in the cave. As I re-read and think about my description of the cave I notice that much of the language I use in my caving journal, and the descriptions, or lack thereof, assume that the reader has a knowledge of caving and what it is like inside a cave. In other words, I write my journals for ME! I will take this time to give a more detailed description of the cave. I will tell about what it was like while we worked on the cave. And I will summarize our feelings up to this point.

It's more than obvious from this pasage that not ALL of the grey writing is from his original journal. Why would you reference these pictures in your journal? One must wonder how we are expected to decide for ourselves which IS from the original journal:

From the journal of "Ted"
Unfortunately I don't possess the knowledge to give more detail about the types of rocks in the cave. When we were drilling we would have some parts that were easier to drill than others. And there were different colors in the rock (refer to the photo's taken in the cave). But that is the best I can do to describe the makeup of the cave.

I just got to a part which MAY explain why the previous parts of his journal seemed to have been written after:

From the journal of "Ted"
It was my recognition of this hole as a potential doorway to unexplored portions of cave that ultimately led to this telling of my experience.

Perhaps he wasn't writing the journal up until this point when he decided to write everything that had happened up until this point and then continue keeping a journal on it. As I continue the story I'll come back and give you my thoughts....

His remarks at the end about him having hallucinations interest me. He mentioned he wasn't sleeping well, was on medication, wasn't eating well, was studying myths and folklore on the internet, was shutting himself out from the rest of the world, and he just had a traumatic experience, which can all be causes of the hallucinations and such.

Well, I just finished the story. Here's my final conclusion:

Although my very first and very last entries in my own little journal of experiences reading Ted's journal seemed skeptical at best, I think I believe...at the very least that HE believes that all this happened. Throughout it I was bothered by the fact that it was written SO well, almost too well. I'm not sure why this bothered me, maybe because it seemed like it had been edited over and over until it was just right. Or maybe I was assuming that nobody who climbs into a passage so tight could possibly be smart enough to write so eloquently. Truthfully I was captivated and impressed by the whole thing, and it was very well written. However, he's got me sold! I think I believe it and I'm going to research it some more!

It's more than just a little strange that there is no ending to it. You click on "Next" and it leads nowhere. Is it possible something happened to him? Or is this part of his whole plot to deceive us all?!

And if that is indeed his name and address, it should be noted that he lives near Hollywood! Writers and film makers and the like abound there, yes?

WOW! I guess I should've read through the replies on this thread and saved myself the trouble of trying to figure out whether it was true or not. I was convinced, as you can see from my above observations, until I did a little Googling. Then I came back here to report my findings, and decided to read the other replies. My findings weren't nearly as conclusive, and not even worth posting now! Kudos to...oh I forgot who it was now, whoever has that bird flapping it's wings as their avatar. I'm too lazy to go check. Good job, though! (Now I'm back to say it was BOTH Journey and MsAreeka, and probably a couple others.)

[edit on 27-11-2004 by an3rkist]

wow ,this was an amazing story but sadly i think its fake,if they were all supposed to return there and havent returned im sure somebody would have reported them missing and would have known that they were investigating this mystery cave!
This has actually made me want to take up caving! lol,but hopefully i wont encounter any "rope" tugging cave beasts

This thread from a different forum led me to some interesting things:

www.amcgltd.com...


It even links to this website which supposedly has a picture of the creature Ted ran into, (it's in a different language but the picture is on the main page) It's obviously fake but kind of interesting to add to the story.

www.robsite.de...



AND IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE SUPPOSED ENDING TO THE STORY (I haven't read it much, but it looks pretty fake to me, a lot more so than the original story. Still worth posting, though.) :

www.gigdig.com...


Also, in the other thread concerning this same story, Jennilee gave this link which is a story, (not nearly as engrossing), about a similar but true story concerning a cave. I thought it was interesting the name of the man mentioned near the bottom of the page (Ted!):

www.prairieghosts.com...

[edit on 28-11-2004 by an3rkist]

That picture of the supposed creature is a tourist attraction not more than 30minutes drive from where I live. It is in the Cheddar Caves in Somerset, UK.

Its a model, I can't tell you how many times I jave seen that picture quoted as being an alien or pixie or other paranormal creature.

Just finished the story. It's great. Had me on the edge.

I also read the 'rest of the story' beyond page 11. Did anyone notice the 3 year difference? It's his sister, and he hasnt seen him for 3 years. Why go look for him?

The person who made this story and the website achieved something every writer dreams of. This person is my IDOL! I'm starting a cult in his name when I get a little money to purchase a house with a big fence around it and a couple of black candles!

LOL @ the continued story from his sister, after a couple pages, guess what........ no updates, dun dun dhun! they'v got her now too! Although the pic she gave was quite good as it almost looked like the rock around the crack was different and 'newly formed' compared to the rest. Infact the pics are what gave the original story some creedance.

Originally posted by picard_is_actually_a_grey
LOL @ the continued story from his sister, after a couple pages, guess what........ no updates, dun dun dhun! they'v got her now too! Although the pic she gave was quite good as it almost looked like the rock around the crack was different and 'newly formed' compared to the rest. Infact the pics are what gave the original story some creedance.

When I get a chance I'll study the pictures some, but I think, given the circumstances, that in all likelihood somebody took the original photograph and with hardly any effort, Photoshop'd it 'til it looked like the new picture. Or maybe it's a real picture of a similar cave they took, I dunno. I don't think this story is true, if there's even any question any more.

[edit on 27-11-2004 by an3rkist]

Creepy story, pretty good overall ,although it falls down in places. Absolute sucky ending though, even though its intentional, very frustrating. I both loved and hated blair witch for the same reason.
Heres a creepy thing to do with underground, its alledgedly a recording of voices in hell.
www.av1611.org...

you need to scroll down till you see the newspaper clipping. Damn scary page! Sound requires real player