VOIDCO

Statement of Origin

Prepared for the Board, 1961. Source: family papers, County Recorder.

The Company's operations pre-date its incorporation by seventy-four years.

In the spring of 1887, A. Harlan, a cattleman in the Territory, was ruined. The winter had killed most of his herd. In the east pasture he found a shaft: a triangle, one foot to a side, descending into the earth. Cold air came out of it. He could not find the bottom.

His own account, in a letter to his brother, is the earliest document in the file:

"The line goes down and does not come up. I have let out all I own and there is no weight at the end of it. I do not think it has a bottom."

He began disposing of his dead stock in it, then his neighbors', under the name Harlan Disposal Company. Nothing came back up. The ledger is plain.

Oct. 14, 1887. Quarters, steer, for . $1.00. Paid in coin.

Oct. 22, 1887. Household refuse, 4 loads, for . $2.00.

Dec. 9, 1887. Item, , for . $50.00. Not asked.

It did not stay one foot. By autumn the opening had taken the pasture fence, and by the following spring the pasture. Its sides grew with each season and its proportions did not change. By 1893 Harlan could not work near it, and the ledger stops.

He wrote for help to of University and to the Territorial Governor. The professor's reply is not on file. His letter was forwarded.

In 1894 an agent of the Trust arrived at the ranch. The Trust had read the letter. It surveyed the shaft for months and determined that the opening would accept anything, that it had no bottom, and that nothing placed in it would trouble anyone again. It was a place to put what could not be destroyed. The Trust bought the parcel and kept Harlan on as operator until his death in 19.

The Trust financed the work for sixty-seven years. In 19 it contracted its services to the of the United States Government. In 1961 the arrangement was formalized as a corporation.

Certificate of Incorporation

Filed in the State of , 14 March 1961

The undersigned, being natural persons of full age, hereby form a corporation under the general laws of the State aforesaid. The name of the corporation shall be VOIDCO.

The corporation is the successor in interest to the Harlan Disposal Company and to all rights in the parcel at .

Purpose. The corporation is formed to observe, study, and contain objects, locations, and conditions designated by the contracting agency, and to develop the means thereof.

Principal Contract. The corporation shall serve as prime contractor to the of the United States Government under Agreement No. -.

Directors.

1. , Chairman
2. , Treasurer
3. , Secretary

Register of Contained Material

Listed by year of acquisition. All items were deposited in the Volume. Descriptions released in part.

1896

Item . Bell, cast iron, approx. 40 lb, removed from the church at . Rang each night at 2:14 with no clapper.

1911

Item . Eleven men recovered from a mine at , sealed in since . No sign of age, hunger, or decay. They asked only that the lamps be kept lit. Deposited with the lamps.

1923

Item . Glass-plate portrait of . The subject appears as they would look years later.

1938

Item . Radio transmitter with no power source, broadcasting a list of names on kHz. Every person named died within the year. The names are withheld.

1947

Item . Object recovered from by personnel. feet across, no seams, warm to the touch. Deposited at the direction of .

1953

Item . Wooden door, freestanding, no frame. Opened onto a different room each time. Deposited closed.

1962

Item . Staircase of steps, found in a field near . Gained one step each .

1969

Item . Tape recording of addressing a gathering that had not yet taken place. The gathering took place.

No item deposited in the Volume has been recovered.

Notice of Dissolution

Effective 31 December 1974

On the night of December 1974, the Board of Directors and the principals of the Trust, persons in all, entered the Volume at the original shaft. They left no instructions. None have returned.

With no officers remaining, the corporation is dissolved. All assets, contracts, and obligations are transferred to the of the United States Government.

The parcel at is now under the control of the of the United States military. The Volume is sealed. The perimeter is guarded. Access is not permitted.

The Volume is not an asset of the corporation and is not transferred. It is unaffected by the dissolution.

Inquiries concerning this file are no longer accepted. They are directed to the address of record.

Requisition of Authorized Apparel

Form 7-V. Unredacted.

Personnel and associated parties may requisition standard-issue apparel bearing the Company seal.