A Submarine, A Psychic, A Billionaire, and A Filmmaker

In 1866, after days of successful testing, German engineer Karl Flach, his 11-year-old son, and nine crewmen boarded the world's fifth submarine for their next sea trial. For unexplained reasons, it sank in Valparaiso Bay.

The Flach was built in 1866 at the request of the Chilean government to defend Valparaiso against attack by the Spanish navy during the Chincha Islands War. (A second vessel, built by Gustavo Heyermann, sank on its maiden voyage.) Accordingly, the Flach would the first Latin American submarine to complete a successful dive. source

HUNT FOR CHILE’S FIRST SUB TO PROCEED documentary filmmaker Juan Enrique Benítez learned last Friday the “don’t touch” ban had finally been lifted by Chile’s Council of National Monuments in an apparent resolution of what to do with the remains of the eleven bodies thought to be inside source (B).

The psychic corroborated everything,” said Benítez. “She said to me, ‘I don’t look for objects. I don’t have that ability. I don’t look for trucks, or cargo containers. I don’t look for treasure. And I don’t look for source submarines.

Models A and C are early Buck Rogers type rocket ships. Except for the screws on B, I am fairly sure the Flach model was used as a TV spaceship, too. In fact, I have a lead model of it somewhere.

So who is the billionaire funding the Flach project? - Sebastian Pinera, a Chilean billionaire who narrowly lost Chile's 2005 presidential election, is helping finance the project. According to Forbes magazine, Piñera is Chile's third richest businessmen. source His fortune is estimated at US$1.2 billion.

One is instantly reminded of Raising the Hunley (sank in 1864 with 8 crew). However, a pattern of locating lost submarines of all eras has been accelerating this year. This trend means locating things like the Titanic are now fairly routine. That is not the half of it, however. There is a variety of other stuff that has been intentionally hidden beneath the sea, according to Mad Dog. Things will get very exciting for the living, if some of that is ever recovered by the wrong people.

Submarines are always silent and strange.