Edward Leedskalnin was a polite, secretive gentleman who loved children. He would occasionally host small public gatherings at Coral Castle, such as field trips for the local school kids. Each event was complete with hot dogs, which Ed cooked in his unique outdoor oven.

Ed finished the castle in its new location some time in 1940. As expected, Ed had built around himself a world filled with wonderful mysteries that remain unsolved to this day. For example... A ghostly fact that haunts Coral Castle to this day is the mysterious quartz-like stone that was found under the 9-ton gate. In 1986, the gate stopped working. Ed had used bearings from an old Model-T Ford to allow the rock gate to pivot. The weight of the 9-ton stone eventually crushed the steel bearings. After some searching, a company was located that could lift the gate and repair the bearings. Large heavy equipment had to be brought in to accomplish the task. The main equipment used was an 18 - 20 ton crane! It took days just to set up the equipment.

Underneath the bearings was a stone of the approximate size and shape of a Frisbee with very unusual properties. It was carefully examined at the geology department at the University of Florida. After some time, it was returned to Coral Castle - with puzzlement. The stone today resides on display in Coral Castle, with a caption under it that reads: "Material of unknown origin; it had to be strong enough to hold 9 tons per sq. ft.". In other words, the stone is not known to exist on this planet.

How did Ed get such a stone? Was he visited by aliens who gave him this stone, as some suggest? Much speculation as to the stone's origin exists, but there is no concrete proof for any of it. Ed stated several times that science was wrong about electricity, and that is should be more appropriately called, "magneticity". Ed said that everything was made up of tiny magnets, which also passed through everything. You, me, the earth... everything. Whatever you may think of this, one thing is for certain. Ed knew something...

It is the author's opinion that since Ed had such a unique understanding of the molecular makeup of our material world, perhaps he used his knowledge of magnetic fields and poles to manipulate the cellular structure of the stone; thereby changing its density. After all of Ed's other inexplicable feats are considered, this is just as plausible of an explanation as alien intervention. Perhaps more so.

In addition to the strange rock found under the perfectly balanced 9-ton stone, engineers couldn't believe the accuracy with which Ed had drilled a perfect hole through the entire length of the stone. Ed needed to do this in order for the stone to pivot on its center. A metal rod was passed vertically through this hole and secured on either end of the stone. Keep in mind that this huge stone is not evenly cut, either. It's not a perfectly rectangular block. This makes Ed's ability to perfectly balance it, even more astounding. Even with today's high-tech lasers and measuring equipment, one would be hard-pressed to duplicate this feat with such precision.

I recently learned that the Great Pyramid once had a swinging door. Apparently, the door weighed some 20 tons and was so well balanced that it could easily be opened from the inside by pushing on it with a minimal amount of force. Outside though, it closed so perfectly that it could scarcely be detected and there wasn't enough of a crack to get a grasp. Sound familiar?

The Coral Castle story continues...