The first photo below shows what appeared to be a hopeless rescue operation since the only entrance to the mine was barricaded due to toxic gases and additional cave-ins. The second photo shows members of the crew celebrating after learning that the bore hole had hit a bull's-eye and that some of the entombed miners were still alive.

 

Fellin also revealed that, shortly after being rescued, he had been interviewed for more than seven hours by the U.S. Navy Survival Team headed by Lt. Richard Anderson, a medical doctor and psychiatrist.

Fellin said the day after his interview, Lt. Anderson visited his hospital room and told him he was absolutely certain his experiences were factual because Throne also had been interviewed for several hours -- something Fellin hadn't even been aware of -- and their two stories had meshed perfectly.

``Dr. Anderson told me that our story MUST be true because it would be impossible for two people to concoct a story that would stand up so well during such lengthy interviews," said Fellin. "In fact, he told me if the President (Kennedy) or the pope (Pope Paul VI, who succeeded Pope John XXIII) would say our story wasn't true, I shouldn't argue with them but simply walk away because he KNOWS it's true."

It should be noted that all attempts to obtain a copy of Fellin's taped interview or a transcript from the U.S. Navy in recent years has been unsuccessful. In fact, Navy officials first denied knowledge of Lt. Anderson but later -- in response to a request for information by a U.S. Congressman -- admitted that he had resigned from the Navy in 1964, the year following the cave-in and rescue..

Dr. Kubler-Ross said Fellin's revelations are ``obviously true'' and emphasized that she is convinced that Pope John XXIII had much to do with their survival. ``From the moment of the late pope's appearance until they were moved out of the drillholes, he illuminated their cave with a bluish light radiating from him," she stated.

Dr. Kubler-Ross also was greatly impressed by the manner in which the two miners had survived the first five days following the cave-in, calling it ``a guideline for our miners, soldiers, mountain climbers and all those at risk to face a similar ordeal one day." She referred to their battle to stay alive as ``a story of faith, courage, and mutual care and respect . . ."

Concerning Fellin's claims of having shared two out-of-body trips with Throne at his side, Dr. Kubler-Ross said she is certain they indeed had taken place, calling them ``very real, as I am happy to witness from my own life experiences."

Throne actually was the first to reveal the supernatural experiences after being rescued, even though Fellin emphatically had warned him not to do so. He said, just before Throne had been hauled to the surface, he had grabbed him by the shirt and told him he'd better not say a word about them because ``If you do, right away they'll say you're nuts."

Throne failed to heed the advice and, in fact, had told several nurses and attendants at Hazleton State General Hospital about a few of the mysterious occurrences soon after being flown there in a U.S. Navy helicopter.

Throne also mentioned some of these mysterious events during an exclusive interview he had granted to The Associated Press which had appeared in newspapers worldwide. Fellin also had been interviewed by the AP, during which he corroborated some of the things his companion had related.

Commented Throne while being interviewed by AP:

``There were times we saw people who weren't there and lights that weren't there and doors that weren't there. Imagine seeing a regular house door down in the bottom of a mine. I'd sleep! I'd wake up. I'd see all kinds of lights and the actual figures of people. They now tell me these were hallucinations but the crazy thing is that Davey would see the things the same as I did."

Commented Fellin during his interview:

``Now they're trying to tell me those things were hallucinations, that we imagined it all. We didn't! Our minds weren't playing tricks on us. I've been a practical hard-headed miner all my life. My mind was clear down there in the mine. These things happened! I can't explain them. I'm almost afraid to think what might be the explanation."

Fellin said just after granting these interviews to the wire service, psychiatrists and psychologists began inferring that Throne, whose interview was published first, temporarily had lost his sanity inside the mine. This undoubtedly explains why Throne, who is still living, had been reluctant to discuss these experiences after freely talking about them in the first few days following his rescue.

Fellin decided to say nothing further about them for years because he said he had become extremely angry that his companion's sanity had been seriously questioned. ``If they wouldn't believe Hank (back in 1963), they sure as hell wouldn't have believed me," said Fellin.

However, over the past five years before his death, Fellin had left numerous notarized letters and taped conversations -- both audio and video -- in which he vividly detailed a number of supernatural events in which he insisted he had participated.

Fellin said he was absolutely certain he and Throne had been out of their physical bodies because, the first time it happened, they suddenly found themselves STANDING some 40-50 feet from the refuge area with a crowd of normal-looking men on both sides of them. He said he then looked over his shoulder and saw him and Throne still SITTING back in the enclosure. Fellin said he needed additional proof that it wasn't a dream or a hallucination, therefore extended his right hand in front of one of the men standing next to him to see if it would cast a shadow, which it did.

``That's when I knew for sure I wasn't going crazy," said Fellin. ``If that hadn't happened, I never would've mentioned a word about the strange things which had taken place."

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