“Biblical Mysteries: Sodom and Gomorrah”

NBCi presents

March 07, 2001

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Adventurer: What other expeditions have you gone on in addition to those featured in these two specials?

Mike Sanders: I'm much happier to discuss the future events! We are going on an expedition in search of the Garden of Eden, based on a satellite image. And we're going to do an expedition based on the Dead Sea Scrolls, and we're going to do the Exodus route. The others I've been involved in are not Biblical, and this probably isn't the appropriate forum to discuss them.

Ali Baba1: What do you think caused the destruction of the two cities?

Mike Sanders: My own theory--and it's only a theory--because during the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age, there were a whole series of catastrophes which occurred, there was a comet which made a series of passes around the earth, some closer to the earth than others, but I think this was a close encounter which caused great earthquakes and great turmoil on the earth. The same comet which was involved in the Exodus story, details of which can be found on our website www.biblemysteries.com

William: Will you be returning to the Dead Sea to explore your findings further?

Mike Sanders: There are two problems. Excavating in the Dead Sea is an expensive business. Whether the funds become available for that or not is questionable. We are in the business of raising funds for other expeditions, which is easier. The other problem is the turmoil between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The shores of the Dead Sea we need is likely on the Israeli side, and we never know if we can get there. It's something that has to be done, and hopefully someone with enough money will finance the expedition. There's no question there's an important structure at the bottom of the Dead Sea. A larger ship is necessary, and a larger submarine. It's a very difficult expedition to do, but we'd love to do it. We just need a wealthy benefactor.

Kibbutz Kibitzing: How did you obtain clearance from the Israeli army to explore the Dead Sea?

Mike Sanders: I have, of course, been in touch with the Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians for a number of years. Just before the dive, however, the Israeli Army triggered a large explosion in the Dead Sea, triggering 4.2 on the Richter Scale. Just five days before we were to dive, in a spot very near where the dive was to be. But the Jordanians gave us permission, and withdrew it just before the dive, perhaps because of the Israeli explosion. There was an international incident, because we did go across the center line. Again, you'll see that on Sunday at 7 PM Eastern. Following up, I must tell you that we have that explosion on film, and my commentary on it. It was shown on the British version of the documentary. NBC Standards and Practices cut it out. You can see it on my website, but not on Sunday night.

Crag Thor: Mike, did you figure out what the Israelis blew up in the sea?

Mike Sanders: No. I'm not in the business of guessing, but if you forced me to guess, they wanted to destroy something that we might come across by diving into the Dead Sea. It could have been something military, or something else. It's not useful to conjecture.

Cosmic Twinkie: How deep is the Dead Sea anyway?

Mike Sanders: The Dead Sea is divided into two areas. The southern end, which is relatively shallow, and the northern end, which slopes down where the River Jordan enters, around 1200 feet. We dove between 250-700 feet. But the lowest level is around 1200 feet.

Rick 144: Why is the pressure greater in the dead sea? Salt content?

Mike Sanders: Yes--not just salt, but other minerals. Exactly right. The submarine can normally dive to 1200 feet, but in the Dead Sea, the maximum depth it could go was 700 feet. The submarine had to be hosed down every night. If you left it out for weeks, you'd see it becomes very encrusted. In the special, you can see the bottom of the mother ship, which was taken out of the water after one week. And there's 1-2" of salt encrusted on it already. I have thick cables left in the sea for one week, and there's a tremendous amount of salt encrusted around them.

Cosmic Twinkie: Mike, do you know anything about this Bible code? How does it work? Is it for real?

Mike Sanders: I was extremely interested in the Bible code, and I spent a great deal of time investigating, and no, I don't think it's real. We have a page about that, again, on our website. www.biblemysteries.com

7 Horsemen: What has been the response from other Biblical scholars and archeologists about your findings?

Mike Sanders: In those areas where we have produced findings contrary to their way of thinking, large amounts of silence. To those who are more open-minded, lots of support. All of our expeditions our always done in connection with and in collaboration with a university which has a relevant department. There are always those with an agenda, and who look dispassionately upon our work, but there are also those who are supportive.

Sneek Preview: What is the most compelling moment we will see in the special this Sunday?

Mike Sanders: Finding what might very well be one of the lost cities of plain. Four of the five lost cities were destroyed, and now we've seen one in the satellite. The bottom of the Dead Sea is totally flat. It's white like the Antarctic--white, and totally flat. Except in the area where we found these structures. But digging sulfur balls out, when people said they couldn't be formed there. We hope this will be the most compelling!

Cosmic Twinkie: Have you encountered any opposition from any church organizations because of your research? Do literalists like you, or not?

Mike Sanders: No, we've had no opposition. That's not to say we've had support! If there are any, critics tend to be quiet. We haven't been up against any overt opposition anywhere. Which is surprising, my findings have been up on the Internet for a long period of time. If they had any objections from a scientific point of view, we would have heard about it. When they don't have any facts, they tend to keep quiet. I really don't know if there are people out there who are actively against it, but I don't think so. NBC were wonderfully supportive!

Avid Reader: Ok this is a broad question, but what interest you in the first place to explore Bible mysteries?

Mike Sanders: I think I answered that at the beginning. The answer is simply that the clues presented themselves to me, and I had to follow them!

Sal Tee: Why were you interested in exploring the Dead Sea?

Mike Sanders: Because we had the satellite image! If we didn't have that, we wouldn't have gone. It's important to understand that, unlike Indiana Jones, I didn't set out to find the Ark of the Covenant, or the Garden of Eden. The clues presented themselves, and we followed them where they led. If we had gone looking in the Dead Sea, and found nothing, that would have been an interesting conclusion as well. I follow the clues wherever they lead.

Deja View: Would you do it again?

Mike Sanders: Of course! I'd do it better next time.

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