Eighth Wonder

When unprecedented, hurricane-force storms swept through Europe during Christmas week of 1999, causing damage in the billions and claiming more than a hundred lives, nobody could have imagined that this devastation would lead to what must be considered one of the most significant historical discoveries since the wreck of the Titanic was located by oceanographer Robert Ballard in 1986.

Cataclysmic flooding in France, which bore the brunt of record rainfall and winds, triggered the accidental discovery of a long-forgotten cache of materials related to CARL DENHAM, an obscure but remarkable adventurer-filmmaker and former World War 1 flying ace, whose brief but notable career spanned the late 1920s and early 30s.

In addition to faded photos, correspondence and other mementos, the vast majority of the find -- some 40 sealed crates -- consisted of innumerable rusted film cans containing thousands of feet of film, much of it in an advanced state of decay. On-site inspection of some of the better-preserved frames revealed tantalizing images: ancient, crumbling columns; a monolithic wall; a towering gate; a blazing inferno, and most startlingly fleeting glimpses of a colossal, simian beast. Images evocative of something eerily familiar yet clearly a revelation.