Beware the Mole Men!

Is there a June 4th version of April Fools' Day in Japan, or Britain?

David Adam in Yokohama
Saturday June 4, 2005
The Guardian

Japanese scientists are to explore the centre of the Earth. Using a giant drill ship launched next month, the researchers aim to be the first to punch a hole through the rocky crust that covers our planet and to reach the mantle below.

The team wants to retrieve samples from the mantle, six miles down, to learn more about what triggers undersea earthquakes, such as the one off Sumatra that caused the Boxing Day tsunami. They hope to study the deep rocks and mud for records of past climate change and to see if the deepest regions of Earth could harbour life.

Any fan of classic bad science fiction could tell you that there is no way this is going to turn out well. It will either be interpreted as an act of war by the subterranean empire of the Mole Man, disturb a long-dormant monster, suffer an engine break-down requiring a rescue by the super-marionation of the the Thunderbirds, expose a hidden world full of prehistoric creatures or trigger a chain of cataclysmic earthquakes and/or volcanic eruptions around the globe. You'd think scientists from the land of Godzilla would be aware of this already.