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Lost World Caverns, located just outside of Lewisburg, West Virginia, is an underground natural series of caverns. In November 1973, the caverns were registered as a National Natural Landmark〔 as they "feature terraced pedestal-like stalagmites, flowstone, curtains, rimstone, domepits, and waterfalls."〔''Pathways to the Future: The West Virginia Statewide Trail Plan 2002-2010'', Prepared by the West Virginia Trail Plan Committee, July 2002 ()〕 ==History== Originally named "Grapevine Cave",〔 the only entrance was a long vertical drop into which farmers used to dump dead livestock and other trash. Virginia Polytechnical Institute "discovered" the cave in 1942. It was surveyed in the 1960s and found to contain over a mile of interconnected passages that reach a depth of 245 feet below the surface.〔Lost World Caverns (brochure )()〕 In 1967, the remains of a prehistoric cave bear (''Arctodus pristinus'') were unearthed in the cave.〔 In the early 1970s, a walking entrance was dug out, the trash was removed, walkways were installed and the cave was opened for tourism. In 1981, the gift shop and walking entrance were renovated. Since then subsequent owners have done extensive work on the lighting (making sure it doesn't allow the out-of-control growth of algae that old incandescent lamps cause) and many other cleaning and conservation projects as well as adding a dinosaur museum section to the gift shop. In September 1971, Bob Addis set the unofficial World Record for "Stalagmite Sitting", staying atop the "Warclub" formation for 15 days, 23 hours, and 34 minutes with assistance from his "bucket man" Bob Leibman. The Greenbrier East Band provided in-cave fanfare for Bob's descent and shaky return to solid land from the top of the formation. 〔()〕 In 1992, the ''Weekly World News'' reported that Lost World Caverns was the home of "Bat Boy",〔(roadsideamerica.com )〕 and claimed that he was captured by the FBI in the caverns, where he reportedly survived by eating his weight in live insects every day.〔(wonderfulwv.com )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lost World Caverns」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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