Serbians Await Doomsday at Mount Rtanj, Cite Arthur C. Clarke

From the Telegraph:

Hotel owners around the pyramid-shaped Mount Rtanj, in the east of [Serbia] , say that bookings are flooding in, with believers in the [Mayan Calendar] prophecy hoping that its purported mysterious powers will save them from the apocalypse.

Adherents of the end-of-the-world scenario think the 5,100ft-high mountain, part of the Carpathian range, conceals a pyramidal building inside, left behind by alien visitors thousands of years ago.

Arthur C Clarke, the British science fiction writer, reportedly identified the peak as a place of “special energy” and called it “the navel of the world”.

This website, entitled Duh Rtnja, lays out the theory of Mt Rtanj’s special significance, and promises “galakti?ki kontakt” on 21 December – inevitably, the site also comes with a collection photos overlaid with all kinds of weird and rambling measurements and arrows. There is also a collection of YouTube videos promoting the theory, featuring interviewees that include persons named Goran Marjanovic and Spasoje Vlajic. There is an associated Facebook page here. An aptly named “Milenium grup” apparently runs a hostel at the site; they have a 99-year lease, so perhaps we don’t need to worry too much about the next ten days.

It’s not clear from where the strange quotes attributed to Arthur C. Clarke have come; out of context, it is impossible to judge what they even mean, let alone assess any kind of argument. My instinct, though, is that they’re false. The notion of an ancient alien object on the earth resonates with the plot of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and its short story predecessor (The Sentinel) features a pyramidal alien object. That, combined with Clarke’s TV shows exploring “mysterious” sites around the world, may have been enough to generate the story of his interest in the mountain, despite his sceptical approach (see below).

Some rumours about the site, including reference to Clarke, were posted to a forum in 2009:

There was an expedition here recently and now more and more attention is being directed at this place, which is not really to my liking.They have classified the mountain as a pyramid.It is pyramid shaped,but it also has a pyramid inside.Inside,there is also some sort of crystal, and no planes fly over Mt.Rtanj,because they disappear off the radar,in fact,there is talk that some might have disappeared altogether.Whatever is inside is surrounded by 3 underground lakes,and we know that water amplifies.Put all that together with it lying on an extremely powerful energy grid.There is talk of finding gold here as well.In fact there is an old closed down mine right near the mountain.A jewish family were the owners and there is talk that the head of the family was killed for some reason,and then the mines were closed.It’s as though someone wanted to get rid of them and close off this area.Then there’s talk of Tito,allowing alien bases to be built in 3 mountains.

There is a star gate here,I know it.And I plan on going here with a mission in mind.One which I will not disclose,and if I don’t come back,you’ll all know that the aliens have taken me.

…Arthur C Clarke even wrote that it is not a mountain but a pyramid.He also said,the oldest.

Whoever posted this is now listed as “account closed” so the aliens must indeed have “taken” him or her.

Further supposed details were posted to a New Age site in 2011:

RTANJ – NAVEL OF THE WORLD

…Regarding the pyramids, the one next door to Bosnian pyramids, RTANJ, SERBIA, IS NAVEL OF THE WORLD, CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION.

http://youtu.be/-GTuOfPIBcM

RTANJ in Serbia is the largest and oldest building pyramid construction in the world.

NASA and Arthur C. Clarke did considerable research on this mountain, which NASA SUPRESSED.

Arthur C. Clarke called Rtanj ‘navel of the world’ and stated that RTANJ is different from any other pyramid in the world.

Etc…

Meanwhile, here’s Clarke pondering the mysteries of the universe: