Dean, here's some more information from a few more sources.
This is the area where the group of school children, along with
teachers, disappeared. Note that the lower levels are closed off
to the public now ("Due to restricted space, visitors can see but
not enter the Lower Level"). Mass disappearances are bad for
tourism.
--Mike
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From http://www.onsitemalta.com/the_hypogeum.htm
The Hypogeum
One of the most fascinating, structural masterpieces of the
Neolithic era is the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum. It is undoubtedly one
of the outstanding heritages of prehistory, the eternal icon of
Malta. This masterpiece is cut entirely out of underground live
rock. Today, after nearly a century of its discovery it is included in
the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Hypogeum consists of
three underground levels and it was discovered in 1902 during
development works in Paola. This burial place covers an area of
about 500 square meters and has a depth of around 11 meters.
It yielded many fine artifacts, like Malta's finest woman, the
Sleeping Lady.
The Upper Level of the Hypogeum is the oldest. This level may
have included natural caverns and hollows while the rest of the
site consisted of chambers, passageways, niches and hollows.
Beyond the Upper Level, caverns were noted that might be said
to be tombs and also a number of megaliths. The Upper Level
was designed as a means of interface between the sacred and
external areas of the monument. This level consists of a large
hollow. One can set foot into The Middle Level through a doorway
that is cut in the main facade of the Upper Level. The organic
character of the interior hampers the gratefulness and the
refinement of the Middle Level. The appearance and shape of
the Hypogeum was accomplished over a long time. Carbon
dating estimated that this development took place between
4000-2500 BC. Cut in the foundations is an `access-ramp' that
linked the higher exterior levels of the site to the lower floors of
the Upper Level. This ramp led to a rock-cut passageway. There
are also chambers with low-lying ceilings that may have been
burial chambers.
Today visitors who attend the Hypogeum enter through the
modernized foyer entrance and then go on down to the exhibition
area within the Main Hall through a flight of steps (a wheelchair
lift is available). A permanent showcase exhibit of the Hypogeum
and a number of suspended information boards are displayed. A
pre-visit presentation in the audio-visual area lasts about 10
minutes. After this the guests are guided through the monument
to see the Upper and Middle Levels. Due to restricted space,
visitors can see but not enter the Lower Level. The Hypogeum is
equipped with the latest air and humidity conditioning systems to
protect its fragile interior micro climate.
--------
From
http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/prediction/51/text-files/redboo
k/redbookko.html
MALTA, VALETTA - Tradition holds that before the British govt.
sealed up several tunnels, one could walk from one end of Malta
to the other underground. One of the labyrinths, discovered by
excavators, is the Hypogeum of Sal Saflieni, in which excavators
discovered the bones of over 33,000 people who had been
sacrificed by an ancient pagan neolithic cult. National
Geographic, Aug. 1940 issue, told of several school children
who had disappeared without a trace in the Hypogeum. British
embassy worker Miss Lois Jessup convinced a guide to allow
her to explore a 3-ft. square "burial chamber" next to the floor of
the lowest room in the last [3rd] sub-level of the catacombs. He
reluctantly agreed and she crawled through the passage until
emerging on a cavern ledge overlooking a deep chasm. In total
shock she saw a procession of TALL humanoids with white hair
covering their bodies walking along another ledge about 50 feet
down on the opposite wall of the chasm. Sensing her they
collectively lifted their palms in her direction at which a strong
"wind" began to blow through the cavern and something big,
"slippery and wet" moved past her before she left in terror to the
lower room, where the guide gave her a "knowing" look. Later
she returned after the 30 school children and their teacher[s] had
disappeared in the same passage that she had explored, only to
find a new guide who denied any knowledge of the former
guides' employment there. She heard reports however that after
the last child had passed through the "burial chamber" and out
onto the ledge, a "cave-in" collapsed the burial chamber and the
rope connecting them to the lower chamber was later found to
be "cut clean". Grieving Mothers of several of the children swore
that for a week or more following the disappearance they could
hear their children crying and screaming "as if from
underground". Other sources state that an underground
connection exists or did exist between Malta and reaches
hundreds of miles and intersects the catacombs below the hill
Vaticanus in Rome. source: THE REALITY OF THE CAVERN
WORLD, by Riley Crabb; Commander X; NATIONAL
GEOGRAPHIC magazine, Aug. 1940; Hypogeum excavations
-------
From
http://www.eagle-net.org/UFOSSI/special/crim002b.txt
A few miles south of the town of Valletta, Malta, is the small
village of Casal Paula. In the year 1902, workmen who were
digging a well literally fell into the earth. What they discovered (or
rather re-discovered) was a series of ancient caves, mostly
excavated out of solid rock, which descended into the earth and
into three lower levels below. These multi-leveled catacombs
became known as the "Hypogeum of Hal Saflienti", named after
the street beneath which they were discovered. A hypogeum is
the Latin name for an underground structure. Near the floor of
the last chamber, within the 3rd and last (officially recognized)
sub-level of these ancient catacombs, there are a few so-called
"burial chambers". These are only a few feet square and situated
right next to the floor, and one must get on their knees just to
look into them. These "burial chambers" are just large enough
for one to crawl through. There have for years been rumors that
one of these "burial chambers" does not end, but continues into
deeper and unexplored caverns beyond. This, according to
certain sources, was the subterranean passage and chamber
which was referred to years ago in an article which appeared in
the August, 1940 issue of the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Magazine. The article stated the following concerning several
people who disappeared in these catacombs without a trace:
"Many subterranean passageways, including ancient
catacombs, now are a part of the island's fortifications and
defense system. Supplies are kept in many tunnels; others are
bomb shelters. Beneath Valletta some of the underground areas
served as homes for the poor. Prehistoric men built temples and
chambers in these vaults. In a pit beside one sacrificial altar lie
thousands of human skeletons. Years ago one could walk
underground from one end of Malta to the other. The Government
closed the entrances to these tunnels after school children and
their teachers became lost in the labyrinth while on a study tour
and never returned." The story goes much "deeper" however,
than the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC article indicates. Other
sources say that ABOUT 30 CHILDREN vanished in these
catacombs on the study tour, and that when the "Hypogeum"
was first discovered nearly 30,000 human skeletons of men,
women and children (victims of ancient sacrifice to the
"underworld gods", performed by an old neolithic race) were
discovered as well. One article written by a Miss Lois Jessup, at
the time an employee of the British embassy and later secretary
for the New York Saucer Information Bureau (better known as
NYSIB), appeared in an old issue of Riley Crabb's
BORDERLAND SCIENCE magazine, published by the
Borderland Sciences Research Foundation (B.S.R.F.) and was
later reprinted in full in Dr. Allen's book ENIGMA FANTASTIQUE.
Miss Jessup claimed that she visited Malta and the Hypogeum
also, once before the tragic disappearance of the children, and
shortly thereafter. She described how on her first visit to the
catacombs she finally convinced the guide to allow her to
investigate one of the so-called "burial chambers" near the floor
of the last chamber in the third sub-basement, the supposed
"end" of the Hypogeum tour. He seemed to know something she
didn't, but finally consented and told her that she could enter at
"her own risk". As she did so, candle in hand and her loosed
sash being used as a guide rope for her friends who followed
behind, she crawled through the small passage and eventually
emerged into a large cavern, where she found herself on a ledge
overlooking a very deep, seemingly bottomless chasm. Below
and on the other side of the chasm was another ledge which
appeared to lead to a doorway or tunnel in the far wall. We
realize that what happened next might sound unbelievable to
many who read this, but we would ask them to make their own
determination of it's validity. Miss Jessup swears that what
follows really happened. Out of this lower tunnel on the far side
of the chasm, she claims, emerged in single file several very
large creatures of humanoid form but completely covered with
hair from head to foot. Noticing her, they raised their arms in her
direction, palms out, at which point a violent "wind" began to
blow through the cavern, snuffing out her candle. Then, some
"thing" wet and slippery (apparently a creature of a different sort)
brushed past her. This all happened just as the person behind
her was beginning to emerge from the passage and into the
cavern. They could not understand her panicked attempts to get
back to the "Hypogeum" room, but they consented after she
insisted. When they found themselves back in the Hypogeum
chamber, the guide saw her expression and gave her a
"knowing" look. About a week afterwards the disappearance of
the children and their teacher(s) took place, and on her second
visit she saw an entirely new guide who denied that the other
guide had ever worked there, although she knew that this new
guide was hiding something. She learned from more
cooperative sources however, that THIS was the tunnel that the
children and their teacher(s) and possibly the old guide, had
entered. She also learned that after the last child had made it
through, the walls of the small tunnel just "happened" to
collapse or cave-in. Although the official version stated that the
walls caved-in on the students, search parties were never able
to locate any trace of the teacher(s) or the children, although the
rope that they had used to fasten themselves to the lower
Hypogeum chamber was found to have been CLEAN CUT as if
by something sharp (not falling rock). It was asserted that for
weeks afterwards the wailing and screaming of children was
heard underground in different parts of the island, but no one
could locate the sources of the cries. As for the Catacombs
beneath Malta itself, there are some ancient accounts which say
that deep caverns beneath the island continue underground
BEYOND the shores, and according to one source, part of this
labyrinth stretches hundreds of miles northwards and intersects
with catacombs beneath Rome (the hill Vaticanus?) or at least
did so in ancient times. There are so many documented
accounts in fact which suggest the existence of such an
extensive cavernous region spanning the nether regions of this
planet, that the possibility should at least be considered.