Milutin Veljković was born in 1935 in the village of Gornja Bela Reka near Zaječar. In the summer of 1969, 34-year-old Milutin went to the southeast of Serbia. He intended to spend 15 months in the unexplored Samar Cave[sr]. The cave, which is about two kilometers long, is located near the village of Kopajkošara.[3] He wanted to explore it, but also to break the world record for the longest time spent consecutively underground. The previous record was held by Henri Fiout, a French man who remained underground for 109 days.[4]
Veljković entered the cave on June 24, 1969, and left it 15 months later, on September 29, 1970.[5] In doing so, he set a new record for the longest stay underground.[6] He also kept a diary in which he described in detail the daily activities he practiced during his stay in the cave.[7]
Shortly after this, Veljković also wrote a book based on the diary he kept, which was called Under the Stone Sky.[8]
Legacy
The documentary Speleonaut / Under the Stone Sky, directed by Sonja Đekić, was filmed about him.[9]
In 2021, Spanish athlete Beatriz Flamini attempted to break the record set by Veljković. Although she spent 500 days living inside of a cave in Granada, a brief excursion to the exit of the cave midway through her stint disqualified her from beating the record.[10]
