Barisal Guns

It was the year of 1982. The people of the Indian subcontinent witnessed a phenomena known worldwide by the name of ‘Skyquake’. It was named by the author James Fenimore Cooper.

Apocalyptic noises started coming out of the sky. There were no signs of any lightning in the area, there was even no rain that day.

Some people were giving the opinion that it could have been the earthquake. That theory was dismissed soon as the Richter scale picked up nothing.

With both thunder and earthquake out of the equation, people’s superstitious beliefs started coming as an explanation to these strange haunting sounds, seemingly, coming from the sky.

The sounds were almost like a lion’s roar mixed with the loudest of thunder you can imagine.

The media was trying to pass it up as a govt experimenting with some kind of weapon. It was a plausible theory but truth be told, even that was far fetched.

Each person had a different theory as to what the noises were, or what their origin was but on one point everyone had the same opinion, whatever the sound was or whatever its origin, it didn’t bode them any good.

Many independent investigators, along with the officials, set upon the case. There were quite a few unusual facts about the Indian subcontinent Skyquake ( in short, ISS quake).

Firstly, the sounds were strong around the coastal areas, which was bringing in another round of theories. It was possible that the sounds were coming from the sea, experts laid down many theories, stating the ways the noises could be coming from the Bay of Bengal.

Secondly, it happened only in the daytime, when the sun was up. The noises would come down almost every day but only during the daytime.

Third point, many species of the animal kingdom, such as birds, monkeys, even elephants, could detect the noise before the humans. Many people had correctly guessed the timing of the noises by seeing the animals. Another interesting fact was that whenever the Skyquake, the birds would fly away from the coast. No matter where they were, the birds would always fly away from the coast. This strengthened the theory of many experts who were of the opinion that the Skyquakes were coming from the sea.

Situation escalated when reports of various sea creatures sighted in the Bay of Bengal.

Fishermen who had their livelihood in that area. They refused to go to the sea. The export of fish played a huge part in the economy of the Indian subcontinent nations, so it was after the boycott of the fishermen, that the governments decided it was to get into the matter. Before that they were not really interested, yes, it was mysterious but it was not hurting anybody.

But then, after the fishermen boycott, it became a big problem.

The sightings were nothing substantial. A couple of murky photos and about 20 odd witnesses were not enough to prove anything, but given the situation that was, everyone was on the edge, it just needed a spark which was provided by the supposed sightings.

Paranoia was in everybody’s head, the frequency of the skyquakes had dropped down but still it was happening, and people were afraid, they were really afraid.

Saleh Ahmed Selim, a photojournalist for BTV( Bangladesh Television) was sent to investigate the case of ISS quake on 6th March, 1981. The channel wanted to make a prime time story of the issue. Saleh, an ardent young man 24, was sent with the hopes that he can capture the Truth or at least something controversial on his camera. BTV was not known for serving spicy stories or giving fuel to conspiracy theories. But here, they had a reason. The people, the normal folks, will be much interested in a mysterious case such as the ISS quake. The govt was recently caught in rather shady businesses, so what BTV were doing was to divert the attention of the public towards something else. In this case. The ISS quake mystery.

Saleh had already arrived at Cox's bazar. He would start his job from there. His job was simple, just observe, be vigilant, anything unusual, catch it on the camera. And also if the skyquake happens again, he should record it with a video camera.

Mr Saleh was certainly the best in his business. The equipment given to him was not given to many during that time. He had everything the job needed. Athletic, smart, observant, careful and had a knack for mysteries.

In Cox's bazar, he found there about a dozen specialists sent by the government to investigate the ISS quake. The specialists were part of a joint operation conducted by the nations of the Indian subcontinent. In total there were 5 nations which took part in it, Srilanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Maldives respectively. Also, the US, Russia, UK, China, Germany and Japan gave their help.

Saleh knew that there would be a team to investigate the case. Saleh, with his dashing personality and smiling face, went one evening to have a small talk with one of the specialists.

His name was Hussain Khan. Saleh had a long chat with him. He jotted down the information he got in his notebook after the chat ended. He was only a photo journalist but he certainly knew the job better than an actual on field journalist. He sent the information to the BTV headquarter.

The information was given like this in his letter….

“A test has been conducted by the ST ( special team) which has led to some findings.

The sound or the skyquake is actually coming from somewhere in Barisal. It is either coming from above the sky or in the waters.

They cannot determine whether it is coming from the sky or from the water, though tests and research show that the noises are coming from inside the Bay of Bengal.

The alleged sightings of sea monsters are not considered a joke anymore. During the tests, they discovered a lot of information and signs, all which point out that there might actually be something Big inside the Bay of Bengal.

Saleh didn't need to send a detailed report. He just gave them an idea, the channel would then send other journalists to inquire and pursue the inside news he gave them.

After sending the letter, he decided to go to Barisal himself and see if he could find anything. He couldn’t find anything in his short stay at cox’s bazar, nothing happened, apart from him getting the information regarding the special team’s finding. Their investigation was not something top secret, in fact, as Saleh suspected, they could just have been set on to show that the govt was doing something. Though they certainly did their job with all the enthusiasm, which showed that whatever the government’s interests were, the team were genuinely on the job.

It took Saleh a whole day’s journey to reach Barisal. He quickly went into the coastal areas, the last that he wanted was to miss something while he was on his way.

He reached the place on 17th march 1981. It was a sunny day. The wind was blowing fine. He had taken the bus to reach the place. Suddenly the sky exploded. He had heard the skyquakes before, but after hearing this one.. They all seemed like tiny squeaks. He understood then that the ST were probably right, the skyquake sounded louder and more ominous here in Barisal than it did in other places. He brought out his recorder and recorded the thunderous roar that had erupted from the skies. The people around him, however, were running for cover like it was doomsday.

After the skyquake had finished, everyone returned to their work. Saleh was exploring the place a bit. He was walking down a road he liked. It was nice, with green grass and trees covering the road on both sides. The sunlight was falling on the road, giving it an ethereal look.

He decided to record the place. He brought out his video camera and started recording.

He continued going down the path. More he went down the path, the more beautiful it became. Suddenly he came to a stop. There was in front of him a 20 feet wall. He was surprised, the place was a rural area and you don’t just find a wall in the middle of the road. Then it came to him that it could be a wall of a local landlord’s mansion. That would also explain the beautiful road he was treading on. He looked at the wall and noticed there was a door in the middle of it. The wall was old, very old, so he thought it was perhaps an abandoned landlord’s mansion. The landlord might have died, and without anyone to look after his mansion, it fell into decay. He decided to explore what was inside the house. He opened the door and went inside through a dark tunnel.

After a brisk 10 minutes walk, he came out into the sunshine but lay in front of him was something he never expected. The road led to a staircase, a big,finely made staircase, a staircase fit for a wealthy king. He went up the stairs and then he noticed the strangest thing he had noticed so far. The stairs led into the sky. It actually led him into the sky. And on both sides of the stair, about a 1000 feet under was a big blue sea, as deep as the deepest ocean, which could be deducted by the colour of the sea, which was the darkest blue you can imagine.

As he went higher, he could see the sea even clearer. Remember that he was recording it all in his video camera all that time. He was walking for about 2 hours, even though he was very athletic, he got tired, but just as he gave up, he saw the top of the stairs. The last flights of the stairs were quickly done by him.

When he reached the top, he saw the wonder… A single road lay in front of him, about 200 metres in width, the road was the same as the one he had tread on before going through the door. But what was the strangest thing in sight was this huge castle , almost a castle that would dwarf any castle that he had seen on TV. He was curious when he saw that, so he went ahead to get a better picture of it.

As he got closer, he noticed that the ground was shaking. He found it very strange but when he came to the castle itself, he was thunderstruck.

The castle had four towers on four corners of the castle, towers that really could perhaps touch the stars, so tall they were. The castle was ancient, it had become gray by the years. One look at it was enough to tell that. At the front was a huge iron clamped door, though he could see through the bars what was inside.

Suddenly the sky had turned red, something large, very Large was coming to the iron clamped doors and then it came to Saleh’s mind what the castle was, It was a prison.

At that very moment a big eye looked at him through the iron bars and then it roared, it roared so loud, so loud that Saleh couldn’t hear anything for the rest of his life. The ground shook like it was being thrown across the oceans. Saleh quickly took to his heels and ran like there was no tomorrow. While he was running, the monster kept roaring and stamping, each creating earthquakes.

Saleh was found unconscious by a group of villagers on 20th march. He was taken to a hospital, where he found that he could not hear anymore. He was distraught by this tragedy. After spending a week in the hospital, he decided to go and give the recording he had to the ST.

The recording was said to be lost during a fire at the ST office that year, or Saleh reported.

After getting out of the hospital and stepping out on to the sunshine, he realized one thing, Humanity didn't need to know this.