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 |  The old photo (above) is the only known image of that historic moment. Taken by a transient saw blade sharpener and porch painter by the name of Ray Woodman (seen here to the left, shortly after his 101st Birthday), the image of Dr. Pratt using his Pratt Probe was taken at the exact moment he started to hear the voices. It is an amazing stroke of historical luck that Woodman was fooling around with Pratts camera and accidentally tripped the shutter. It was only just discovered in Dr. Pratts estate. You can see in Pratt's face the shock of the moment, yet there is a curiosity in his demeanor that is seen in all men of science. These two men became fast friends that day, discussing well into the night the meaning of the moment, believing, but questioning what they heard. And if someone was down there, who could it be that was talking? |
 | Historical Note: The Original Pratt Probe We found the current owner of the actual Pratt Probe used by Dr. Pratt. Now owned by a teacher named Nancy from Fryeburg in Western Maine, she agreed to bring it to the exact spot where Dr. Pratt heard the voices, so we could photograph the instrument. Made of brass and rubber tubing, the ground penetrating stethoscope still works and is in excellent condition. |
| After this glorious, but confusing day, Dr. Pratt and Woodman went about trying to figure this out and to somehow make contact with "the voices." Pratt had heard the word Fritz twice that first day, and his instincts told him this was probably a name belonging to one of the voices. Woodman correctly deduced that if they could somehow find a hole or dig a hole deep enough, they could call out to this Fritz and hopefully discover what was occurring in this area. |
 Now it happened that the owner of the land they were performing their listening-research on belong to a Irving "Dudy" Groves (seen here in 1952), who just happened to like a bit of the Royal Crown. Armed with a bottle of the amber liquid, Pratt and Woodman visited Dudy that next day. After many libations, Dudy was asked if they could dig a hole in the middle of his land. Dudy was so "happy and mellow", he spoke the well known phrase, "Damn the mosquitoes, full hole ahead!" Some people think he said, "Damn the mosquitoes, let's dig under the head," but this has been discredited by Dan Namowitz, a neighbor who was watching this whole episode take place.Over the next week, the three men started to dig the hole. Five, ten, twenty, forty feet and more, they dug and dug by hand. Dirty and tired, they often had to partake of the Royal Crown bottle to continue the laborious work (actually, Dudy's neighbor, Mr. Namowitz thinks they went through 11 bottles during that week). At seventy five feet, they uncovered the first evidence of something going on. A broken piece of a mining pick and a discarded pointed shoe. How did they get here? Who did they belong too? Pointed Shoes? Then at ninety seven feet, it happened. Woodman hit Dudy in the head with his shovel by accident, and Dudy in anger while rubbing is head said, "Damn it Woodman! I'm tired of digging for Fritz! Boy!" |
 Recreation of first contact. photo: © Dan Namowitz, 2001 | They all heard it then. June 9th, 1936, 3:36 PM, 97 feet down in that hole, a clear voice called out from inside the wall of the hole. "Someone call me?" It was clear as a bell, as if the voice was inside their heads. And then the glorious and historically grand moment occurred as a door opened in the wall of the hole and out walks a creature wearing an unusual hat. "Hello! Fritz Boy here! Did you call me?" After many moments of shock and awe, hesitation and many a tug on the Royal Crown bottle, Pratt finally spoke those famous words, "I tried to call you, but all I got was your answering machine!" Being 1936, no one understood what the hell he meant by that. He was just plain drunk. Fritz Boy then introduced himself around to the three men, explained who and what he was, what he did and told them about the others that were downstairs in his world - and the rest is history! Humans met the GaNomes. |
| Many years later when Dr. Pratt was on his death bed, Fritz Boy visited his long time friend. They talked long into the night about their first meeting and of the many years of friendship and adventures they had. Memories flooded into the mind of Dr. Pratt, glorious memories which brought peace to his tired mind. He smiled and slowly, very slowly he closed his eyes. And as he was slipping away, Fritz lean close to his friend, and whispering softly into his ear, he asked his dying friend one final question. "How come you didn't called me on a frog back in 1936?" Dr. Pratt never answered his dear friend, . . . he just croaked! | |
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| WartOne Cell Phones Advertisement: |
 | Hello . . . Can you GaNome me now? Tired of those frog cell phones which keep cutting you off or grabbing your lips while you are talking to a GaNome? Is your frog always sticky and wet? Join up today with WartOne and get our Dry Frog Cell Phone free with sign up. In addition, you will get a cricket pager with your activation and 500 Anytime Tuesday-Minute Free (1 minute per Tuesday).And always remember, 2 squeezes of your Dry Frog Cell Phone will still connect you to the GaNome hotline and switchboard. | |
| Model FRG-2000 shown here. For a Dry Frog Picture Phone, select the waterproof Model FRGP-62P. Batteries not included, use flys instead. Anytime minutes do not apply: Monday through Friday. | ||
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