Misconceptions
As with any unverifiable story, and any paranormal story in general, there are often times misconceptions spread by word of mouth. A legend like Mel's Hole is no different in these regards, and has it's fair share of non-truths that you come across when researching the story online. On this page, you will find a few common, and some not so common misconceptions about Mel Waters and his never-ending hole.
-Mel's Hole is NOT "The Devil's Hole" nor is it the "Well to Hell". Mel's story never involved anything relating the hole specifically to heaven or hell. And the recording of hell supposedly came from Siberia, not Washington state. Art Bell's radio show would play that recording, but it was not related to Mel's Hole at all.
-Mel Waters was NOT Red Elk. Red Elk, real name Gerald Osborne, was a man who claimed to be part Native American and lived in the same general area as Mel's Hole. Red Elk also claimed to have visited Mel's Hole back in the 1960s, and claimed to know it's location. He was never able to lead anyone to the location though. Though they may share similarities, Red Elk never claimed to be Mel Waters and shouldn't be confused as Mel. Red Elk passed away in 2015.
-Mel claimed to have strung 80,000 feet of fishing line down the original hole. He never claimed that he hit bottom, and that 80,000 feet number is in fact just the amount of line he put down.
-The original hole did not transform any sort of metals, and did not seem to have any kind of odd reactions to anything besides animals being afraid of it, and possibly a black beam of "light" that Mel never saw himself.
-Terraserver launched 8 months AFTER Mel's original two phone calls. He would have had no way to know that the specific area blotted out in the photo was a place he could claim was his property.
-There have been many groups who have gone out and searched for the original hole, but as of today, nearly 20 years after the original phone call, nobody has been able to confirm that they have found it.
-It's never been proven that it's a volcanic vent, however it COULD have been. Nobody has been able to prove that, as the hole in question has never been found.
-Mel's Hole is NOT "The Devil's Hole" nor is it the "Well to Hell". Mel's story never involved anything relating the hole specifically to heaven or hell. And the recording of hell supposedly came from Siberia, not Washington state. Art Bell's radio show would play that recording, but it was not related to Mel's Hole at all.
-Mel Waters was NOT Red Elk. Red Elk, real name Gerald Osborne, was a man who claimed to be part Native American and lived in the same general area as Mel's Hole. Red Elk also claimed to have visited Mel's Hole back in the 1960s, and claimed to know it's location. He was never able to lead anyone to the location though. Though they may share similarities, Red Elk never claimed to be Mel Waters and shouldn't be confused as Mel. Red Elk passed away in 2015.
-Mel claimed to have strung 80,000 feet of fishing line down the original hole. He never claimed that he hit bottom, and that 80,000 feet number is in fact just the amount of line he put down.
-The original hole did not transform any sort of metals, and did not seem to have any kind of odd reactions to anything besides animals being afraid of it, and possibly a black beam of "light" that Mel never saw himself.
-Terraserver launched 8 months AFTER Mel's original two phone calls. He would have had no way to know that the specific area blotted out in the photo was a place he could claim was his property.
-There have been many groups who have gone out and searched for the original hole, but as of today, nearly 20 years after the original phone call, nobody has been able to confirm that they have found it.
-It's never been proven that it's a volcanic vent, however it COULD have been. Nobody has been able to prove that, as the hole in question has never been found.