Gonzo mysteries

“Solomon Islands Mysteries” is a book taken seriously by some crypto-zoologists, but it's actually a very extreme work. The author, Marius Boirayon, has ideas similar to those of David Icke and has previously published his work in Nexus, an Australian magazine devoted to various conspiracy theories. Boirayon is an Australian pilot, explorer and businessman. He spent a large portion of his life in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

In his book, Boirayon argues that the Solomon Islands are home to several races of giants and aliens. He recounts local folklore about the giants, a kind of ape-men who seem to be much larger, more human-like and far more dangerous than Bigfoot. While Boirayon hasn't observed any giant himself, he has made a number of UFO observations. The Solomon Islands UFOs are associated with the sea and certain mountain lakes, and are regularly observed by the locals. So far, nothing out of the ordinary: “giants” and UFOs are seen all over the world, especially the latter!

Unfortunately, Boirayon then spins a web of conspiracy theories around these stories and observations, making the book progressively less believable as it unfolds. He claims that the mysterious lights seen at the islands are mechanical craft manned by an alien civilization, the denizens of which has lived in bases below the Earth's surface for millennia. The “aliens” aren't really from outer space, but represent an intelligent species evolving here on Earth, which for various reasons have gone literally underground. They have a vast network of tunnels and secret bases all around the world. Some of these creatures are reptilian in shape. The giants, by contrast, are surface-dwelling primates, but at some point, they became subjected to the “alien” power. The Australian intervention at the Solomon Islands in 2003, ostensibly to stop ethnic violence at the main island of Guadalcanal, was really a move by the secret One World Government cabal to stop the author from exposing the truth about the aliens and giants! Boirayon also claims to have discovered that the islands have such large quantities of oil, gas and precious gemstones that the world market prices would collapse in the event of commercial extraction. Therefore, the Cabal has to take control of these resources and stop them from being exploited until such a time that they can become profitable. Above all, they have to stop the whistle-blower, Marius Boirayon himself. According to the author, all his evidence (including UFO photos) was forcibly taken from him by Australian secret agents…

I admit that Boirayon is a good writer and that “Solomon Islands Mysteries” does give you an interesting (and frequently absurd) look at the life in this small nation. The book is eclectic and contains folkloristic material, UFO conspiracy speculations and personal anecdotes about everything from corrupt local politicians to tribal ceremonies. Indeed, Boirayon is something of a “gonzo journalist”, since he frequently inserts himself into the story. If you like Jon Ronson, you may find this to your liking.

That being said, as a reader interested in crypto-zoology and the occult, I obviously want to know how much of this material is really true? That is, how much is based on actual reports about paranormal activity, and how much is the product of the author's own fertile imagination. Some claims are manifestly bogus. Thus, Boirayon claims that the Japanese war memorial at Guadalcanal shows a reptile-like creature with a ray gun, and cites this as evidence for the Japan knowing the truth about the “aliens”. However, a quick search on the web reveals that the statue (and it is the old statue, not the recent replacement) shows a completely ordinary human fisherman. In another chapter, Boirayon retells a story about an abandoned woman and her two sons confronting a giant, an event which supposedly happened during the 19th century. However, the same story is known from all over Melanesia in slightly different versions and is really a mythological motif. At New Ireland, north of the Solomon Islands, the “giant” killed by the two brothers is a monstrous pig! I get the impression that the author may have misinterpreted a myth as a real historical event. The underground civilization is another common myth, but also surfaces in science fiction (compare “The Shaver Mysteries”). Boirayon wonders why the natives refer to the subterranean world as “Mu Mu”, which sounds much like Mu, the lost continent in the Pacific proposed by James Churchward. Unfortunately, it sounds even closer to the trolling British pop band the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, inspired by the Discordian Illuminatus Trilogy! While none of this necessarily disproves Boirayon's claims (legends can be based on true events, after all), it does raise some red flags.

The part of the story dealing with “UFOs” or orbs is easiest to accept, at least for me. Weird phenomena of this kind have been observed all over the world (most famously in Hessdalen, Norway). The giants are more difficult to accept, since they are supposedly ubiquitous and extremely large. Why haven't they been seen, caught or killed by outsiders? But the “hard to believe award” surely goes to the claim about a worldwide conspiracy directed at one single individual, the gonzo journalist himself. By all means, read this book. It's not bad. However, I don't think it reveals the truth about the Solomon Islands mysteries…