CHAPTER 44
— IT IS KNOWN THAT THE NAZIS tried to build flying saucer-shaped aircraft. The object in question, at first glance, may look like the design of an unmanned aircraft. But make no mistake. The Bell (German, Die Glocke ) is on Hitler's list of superweapons ( Wunderwaffe ). His project was so secret, that to this day it remains unclear whether Hitler was aware of it or not, but from what we saw in the game, he did.
Reich scientists worked for the SS at a German facility known as "The Giant" (Der Riese) near the Wenceslaus mine, close to the border with the Czech Republic, would have created the Bell. The mine is fifty kilometers from Breslau, a small village north of Ludwikowice (formerly known as Ludwigsdorf ).
— The object is described as having the shape of a bell – hence its name – made of a hard, heavy metal, 2.75 m in diameter and 3.65 to 4.6 m in height. The Bell contained two cylinders that rotated in reverse and would be filled with — a violet-colored mercury-like substance.
— The metallic liquid was called Xerum 525 and was carefully — stored in a thin 'thermos' 1 meter high lined with 3 cm of lead.
Other substances would be employed in the experiments and were called "light metals" (Leichmetall), such as thorium and beryllium peroxides. The Bell emitted strong radiation when triggered — an effect that would have caused the death of several scientists in addition to plants and animals subject to tests.
— The project ran under the codenames — Laternenträger — and — Chronos — and always involved Die Glocke. Based on external indications, it is speculated that the ruins of a metallic structure (called the "Henge") in the vicinity of the Wenceslau mine may have served for testing in an experiment on — antigravitational propulsion — generated by the Bell. For others, the abandoned structure was nothing more than an ordinary industrial cooling tower.
— The device was so important to the Nazis that they murdered sixty scientists who worked on the project and buried them in a mass grave. General Sporrenberg was put in charge of the assassinations and was subsequently brought to the Polish war crimes court for murdering his own personnel in what would become Polish territory — and it is through his testimony that we now know about the Bell.
— There are those who believe that the Nazis destroyed it shortly before the end of World War II in order to prevent the Allies from finding it and mastering its technology.
— When it was operated, it was activated for only a minute or two because it consumes a lot of energy and because of the electromagnetic and radioactive effects. Several scientists died in their first operation. In subsequent tests, plants and animals such as rats were exposed to Bell and it decomposed into a dark goo without showing normal putrefaction within minutes or hours of exposure.
— During the tests, the Bell glowed blue and personnel were kept 150 or 200 meters from the Bell, protected by tons of rocks. The closest technicians said they felt a metallic taste in their mouths while the device was on.
— The chamber in which the device was tested was lined with ceramic blocks and rubber layers. The rubber was removed and burned after each test, and the chamber was washed with brine by prisoners from nearby concentration camps. The object's rotation, Xerum 525 and field effects suggest that the Germans were researching the inertial and vortex properties of radioactive material subjected to high-speed rotation.
30m² underground chamber lined with ceramic blocks and rubber layers suggests that it gave off great heat and extremely strong electromagnetic and electrostatic field effects when operated. The report of a metallic taste in the mouths of the few who survived also lends strength to the theory. The rapid decay with no apparent putrefaction of organic material in its field of influence suggests effects that some would associate with scalar waves.
— A crystalline substance formed within the tissues, destroying them from within; liquids, including blood, turned into a jelly and separated into clearly distilled fractions,— says Sporrenberg. — People on the program also suffered from trouble sleeping, loss of memory and balance, muscle spasms and a permanent bad taste in their mouths.
— The plants lost all their chlorophyll and turned white. A few hours later, they died. Equipment improvements made the Bell less lethal. But despite the protective clothing, five of the seven scientists involved later died with symptoms mentioned above.
— And what was Xerum 525? – asked Sandro, interrupting him for the first time.
— At first glance,— Bernardo continued, still excited, — it appears to be some radioactive isotope of mercury or a radioactive substance in a chemical solution.— It's worth noting that a strange oxide of mercury known as — red mercury— can have great neutron-emitting properties when subjected to sudden explosive stress, could be a non-fission way to start the massive fusion reactions of hydrogen bombs, as well as being capable, on its own, of fission blasts of a few kilotons. Perhaps the Nazis stumbled upon a similar substance during the war.