The Galax Gravity Hole (the worlds only known low-gravity cavern) Although not actually in central Virginia, the Galax low-gravity cavern bears inclusion here for its uniqueness. In 1996, Virginia spelunkers Tim Doyle and Vaughan James were exploring unmapped areas of a cave near Galax, Virginia when they entered a chamber in which they suddenly felt light on their feet. They quickly discovered to their utter amazement that, in this chamber, they could effortlessly leave the ground merely by pushing off, and rise high into the chamber before gently falling back to the floor. What Doyle and James had discovered was soon confirmed by government scientists to be a gravity hole, a phenomena that had, up to that point, only been theorized by geophysicists. The gravity hole is essentially a region of reduced gravity which results from an unusually-dense mass immediately above the area, suspected in this case to involve a high concentration of the element iridium. The Galax low-gravity cavern has since become a hotbed of controversy and dispute over ownership and intended use. A court battle currently rages between landowners wanting to create an amusement park which features the Low-G cavern as a centerpiece, and the federal government who has laid claim to the cavern with the intention of researching the gravity hole phenomenon further and potentially using it for astronaut training.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 03:05:08 +0000
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