United States Patent 1096102: br "The Hollow Earth Theory" br On November 25, 1912 Marshall B. Gardner of Aurora, Kane County, Illinois, USA, submitted his discovery application to the United States Patent Office. 18 months later, on May 12,1914, this federal agency granted Mr. Gardner United States patent 1096102, the second most important scientific document ever issued. Its scientific significance is exceeded only by the mechanical flight discovery of Orville and Wilbur Wright in 1903. For reasons which even Mr. Gardner could not have fully anticipated in the early 1900s, and which are now abundantly clear, his discovery soon became the most highly classified military secret of all time.