The Expedition Sparked by the Cryptic Tale of Baba Vanga's Prophecy

Shortly before her death, the Bulgarian prophetess Baba Vanga is said to have whispered an enigmatic prophecy:

“The time of miracles will come, and science will make great discoveries in the field of the non-material. We will witness great archaeological discoveries that will radically change our understanding of the world since ancient times. All the hidden gold will come to the surface, but the water will go away. So predetermined”.

This can be read in the book written by her niece, Krassimira Stoyanova.

The story of the famous Bulgarian prophetess reveals an unknown history. Over forty years ago, one of the strangest and most mysterious archaeological expeditions took place. Ludmila Jivkova, daughter of the Bulgarian leader Todor Zhivkov, personally led a secret expedition to find a mysterious place hidden in the Strandja Mountains, Bulgaria. This place is believed to conceal an incredible treasure linked to ancient civilizations. The expedition was reportedly guided by Baba Vanga’s predictions.

The Man With the Map

In January 1981, a man visited Baba Vanga in Rupité with a very old map. (Rupité is the town where Baba Vanga lived in Bulgaria .) According to this man, the map indicated the location of a treasure. Unable to decipher the document, the treasure hunter decided to consult Baba Vanga to help him interpret it. Although Vanga was not fond of such people, she decided to receive him because he had come from far and seemed tired. After examining the map, Vanga declared that it was a fake map and did not lead to a treasure. The man was very disappointed. Before leaving, Vanga suggested that he relax at the hot springs. (There are well known hot springs in Rupité located right next to Vanga's house.) Meanwhile, Vanga asked the man to leave the map with her. She then asked her niece, Krassimira, to immediately copy the map before the man returned.

Aerial view of Rupité in Bulgaria.  (Mariyka LnT/Adobe Stock)

Later that day, once the man had left with his map, Vanga revealed to Krassimira that this map did not lead to a treasure, but that it contained very ancient writing. According to Vanga:

“A long time ago, people from Egypt arrived by the sea ‘on lands that are now part of Bulgaria’. They dug deep to bury a sarcophagus containing ancestral knowledge written in an unknown writing. On the sarcophagus, the history of 2000 years before our era and 2000 years after our era was inscribed. After that, all the members of this expedition were killed to preserve the secret sealed forever. Much blood was shed.”

Baba Vanga was a Bulgarian clairvoyant. (citaty.net /CC-BY-SA-3.0) 

Then, in a trance, Vanga described a forgotten place in the Strandja Mountains:

“A small mountain near the border with Turkey, a path leading to a clearing, wild vegetation, and below there is a large rock measuring about 4 meters [13.12ft] wide and 5 meters [16.40ft] high.”

Vanga added:

"You should go there on May 5th because, with the favor of the celestial bodies, you should watch the first rays of the Sun and then the first rays of the Moon, you will be able to observe something."

And then she said no more! Keep in mind that Baba Vanga is blind and she does not know this place. She has never been there.

Back in Sofia, Krassimira, shared this story with Krastyu Mutafchiev, a close collaborator of Ludmila Jivkova. He was extremely enthusiastic and proposed organizing an expedition to search for the enigmatic place described by Vanga.

Remember, this was Bulgaria in 1981, a time when the country was part of the USSR. It was clear that going to a location 3 km (1.8 mi) from the Turkish border without authorizations was impossible. This area represented the border between the East and the West. Guards regularly patrolled along the corridor. The area was heavily controlled.

A small group of five people was formed. Among them were Krastyu Mutafchiev, the organizer of the expedition, Krassimira (Vanga's niece), Ilya Prokopov, and two other individuals whose names have not been confirmed.

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Rays on the Rock

On May 4th, the five explorers set out to discover the mysterious place in the Strandja Mountains, following only the directives of Baba Vanga. Initially, they struggled to find their way but by the end of the day, they precisely located the site, according to Vanga's detailed descriptions. Despite disastrous weather conditions, the small group decided to camp near the site, thus respecting Vanga's instruction to observe the first rays of the Sun and then the first ray of the Moon.

View from Papiya Peak (502 m or 1,647 ft) in the Strandja Mountains in Bulgaria. (Public Domain)

At the top of the rock, they supposedly discovered three circles carved in a downward-pointing triangle. (These circles have since disappeared, probably dynamited after the end of the excavation). In the morning, with the first rays of the Sun, a strange play of light occurred on the rock. The ray of the Sun traced the three solar circles, following the carved circles downward-pointing triangle. The ray seemed to draw a triangle on the rock. This unnatural light phenomenon lasted about twenty minutes, leaving the group speechless.

They then waited for nightfall to see what would happen with the Moon's rays. At night, just like in the morning, the same light phenomenon occurred again. The ray drew a downward-pointing triangle on the rock face. Once the light phenomenon ended, as the group was leaving the site, the rock suddenly lit up from the inside revealing two large holographic luminous silhouettes. The effect as described by the five witnesses was like that of old televisions.

According to Krassimira:

"On the left, in the foreground, there was a standing man holding a spherical object in his outstretched right hand. A little higher and to the right, there was a second silhouette. A man was sitting on a throne, his arms along his body. He wore a conical hat on his head. There were two protuberances on each side. He looked like a pharaoh." This can be read in the book written by Krassimira Stoyanova.

The luminous silhouettes were very detailed and seemed to be real. This phenomenon lasted about twenty minutes and then everything went dark. Stunned by these unexplained luminous manifestations, the witnesses returned to Malko Tarnovo without a word... They were terrified! (Malko Tarnovo is the village just nearby).

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Baba’s Warning Ignored

Krassimira told this incredible story to Baba Vanga who surprisingly remained silent despite the fact that she had led them to that exact place. On the other hand, Krastyu Mutafchiev also shared this experience with Ludmila Jivkova, who decided to set up a real expedition to continue the exploration.

Despite Vanga's warnings not to dig, Ludmila chose to continue the exploration. Vanga is said to have declared: " It was not yet time to dig." Some reports suggest that in the past Ludmila may have been in contact with a foreign intelligence agency, perhaps MI6. They might have indicated that they had identified archaeological anomalies in the Strandja area years earlier using scanning radars. Ludmila had studied in the United Kingdom, and such contact was entirely possible. The combination of information provided by Krastyu and MI6 might have strongly motivated Ludmila to authorize such an expedition. Ludmila held a very important position, she was the Minister of Culture.

Unfortunately, the expedition took a tragic turn: Ludmila died suddenly just a few weeks after the start of the excavation, under rather obscure circumstances. Speculation circulated that Ludmila's death could have been orchestrated. Despite a second unsuccessful attempt to relaunch the expedition, Ludmila's death ultimately marked the end of the expedition.

In the months that followed, several other people met tragic ends or were incarcerated, including Krastyu Mutafchiev himself, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. All documents related to this expedition also disappeared. Nothing remained. Krastyu Mutafchiev died in the early 2000s.

Krastyu Mutafchiev was one of the first to hypothesize that the site could be the tomb of the Egyptian goddess Bastet. It is important to note that Baba Vanga never mentioned the presence of an Egyptian goddess. This was a hypothesis of Krastyu Mutafchiev. He published three books in which he presented his theories on this subject. Recently, his ex-wife Gergana Bakalova revealed that she had in her possession unpublished personal documents of Krastyu that could reveal new information about this expedition.

Bastet was a goddess of the ancient Egyptian religion, worshiped as early as the Second Dynasty (2890 BC).  (Gunawan Kartapranata/CC BY-SA 3.0)

A Cold Trail…Until…

In 2018, archaeologist Daniel Pantov, director of the Primorsko museum, conducted analyses using a geo-radar in the area. He discovered an anomaly located about 18 meters (59.05ft) deep. Daniel Pantov detected a perfectly symmetrical object, about 50x50 cm (19.68in), which was neither metal nor crystal and appeared unnatural, situated in a cavity. Additionally, he spotted the presence of underground chambers and corridors that seemed to be artificially constructed. However, the exact nature of these underground structures remains undetermined. He made this information public during the year 2018.

In one of her notes, Krassimira had recorded one of Vanga's visions:

"A long time ago, three messengers (that's the name Vanga gave to extraterrestrials) had come to Earth with a UFO to hide two statues important to them and that one of them was worried because they were too visible. The other messenger replied: 'Don't you see that humans are blind?'"

Today, questions remain unanswered regarding the luminous silhouettes that appeared in the rock on May 5, 1981. It is surprising to note that they have not undergone more extensive scientific analysis. The copy of the map has never been deciphered. It is also unknown whether it was authentic or if Baba Vanga simply used this opportunity to speak on this subject. Apart from the fact that this is probably the only case in the world where a medium accurately predicted the date and location of paranormal phenomena, it is surprising that Vanga never spoke of this story again, even though she herself had led the group to this place.

A Cave of Bastet in Malko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. (Natalya/Adobe Stock)

In 2018, Vladislav Lozanov published two articles demonstrating that May 5, 1981, was a day of the new moon and that the astral conjunction was particularly unique on that day. How could Vanga have known all this? It appears that other countries have shown interest in this place. Illya Prokopov, who would later become the national director of museums in Bulgaria, said in an interview that he had received persistent foreign proposals to fund the resumption of the investigations.

Nowadays this site is known in Bulgaria as the 'Cave of Bastet'.

Top image: Baba Vanga, attributed mystic and healer who claimed to have foreseen the future and the Cave of Bastet in Bulgaria. Source: citaty.net /CC-BY-SA-3.0, Natalya/Adobe Stock

By Guillame