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"1857: ‘That enchanting continent in the sky, land of everlasting mystery’ - Admiral Byrd." No attention was given by the scientific world to Giannini's book. The strange and revolutionary geographical theory it presented was ignored as eccentric rather than scientific. Yet Admiral Byrd's statements only make sense if some such conception of the existence of "land beyond the Poles," as Giannini claimed to exist, is accepted. Giannini writes: "There is no physical end of the Earth's northern and southern extremities. The Earth cannot be circumnavigated north and south within the meaning of the word, * circumnavigate.' However, certain ‘round the world' flights have contributed to the popular misconception that the Earth has been circumnavigated north and south. "* Over the North Pole,' with return to the Alok We na ee et oe ee North Temperate Zone areas, without turning around, can never be accomplished because there is no northern end of the Earth. The same conditions hold true for the South Pole. "The existence of worlds beyond the Poles has been confirmed by United States Naval exploration during the past thirty years. The confirmation is substantial. The world's eldest explorer, Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd commanded the government's memorable expedition into that endless land beyond the South Pole. Prior to his departure from San Francisco he delivered the momentous radio announcement, * This is the most important expedition in the history of the world.’ The subsequent January 13, 1956 penetration of land beyond the Pole to the extent of 2,300 miles proved that the Admiral had not been exaggerating." Commenting on Giannini's statements about the impossibility of going straight north, over the North Pole and reaching the other side of the world, which would be the case if the Earth was convex, rather than concave, at the Pole, Palmer a i ae oe || i ae cere || "Many of the readers stated that commercial flights continually cross the Pole and fly to the opposite side of the Earth. This is not true, and though the Airline officials themselves, when asked, might say that they do, it is not literally true. They do make navigational maneuvers which automatically eliminate a flight beyond the Pole in a straight line, in every sense. Ask the pilots of these polar flights. And when they come to the exact point, name one trans-polar flight on which you can buy a ticket which actually crosses the North Pole. "Examining the route of flights across the North Polar area we always find that they go around the Pole or to the side of it and never directly across it. This is strange. Surely a flight advertised as passing directly over the North Pole would attract many passengers who would like to have that experience. Yet, strangely, no airline offers such a flight. Their air routes always pass on one side of the Pole. Why? Is it not possible that if they went straight across the Pole, instead of writes in his magazine, "Flying Saucers:"