Operation Highjump was curiously terminated six months earlier than expected. An excerpt from February 19, 1947 describes Admiral Byrd’s arrival over the pole at 1000 hours: “We are crossing over the small mountain range and still proceeding northward as best as can be ascertained. Beyond the mountain range is what appears to be a valley with a small river or stream running through the center portion. There should be no green valley below! Something is definitely wrong and abnormal here! We should be over Ice and Snow! To the portside are great forests growing on the mountain slopes. Our navigation Instruments are still spinning, the gyroscope is oscillating back and forth!”
Interestingly, many people believe Admiral Byrd made a number of cryptic comments while he was interviewed by the International News Service correspondent Lee van Atta aboard the USS Mount Olympus. The article appeared in the March 5th, 1947 edition of Chilean newspaper ‘El Mercurio’:
“Adm. Byrd declared today that it was imperative for the United States to initiate immediate defense measures against hostile regions. The admiral further stated that he didn’t want to frighten anyone unduly but that it was a bitter reality that in case of a new war the continental United States would be attacked by flying objects which could fly from pole to pole at incredible speeds. Admiral Byrd repeated the above points of view, resulting from his personal knowledge gathered both at the north and south poles, before a news conference held for International News Service.”
