JASON COLAVITO
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Legends of the Pyramids
    • The Mound Builder Myth
    • Jason and the Argonauts
    • Cult of Alien Gods >
      • Contents
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
    • Foundations of Atlantis
    • Knowing Fear >
      • Contents
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
    • Hideous Bit of Morbidity >
      • Contents
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
    • Cthulhu in World Mythology >
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
      • Necronomicon Fragments
      • Oral Histories
    • Fiction >
      • Short Stories
      • Free Fiction
    • JasonColavito.com Books >
      • Faking History
      • Unearthing the Truth
      • Critical Companion to Ancient Aliens
      • Studies in Ancient Astronautics (Series) >
        • Theosophy on Ancient Astronauts
        • Pyramidiots!
        • Edison's Conquest of Mars
      • Fiction Anthologies >
        • Unseen Horror >
          • Contents
          • Excerpt
        • Moon Men! >
          • Contents
      • The Orphic Argonautica >
        • Contents
        • Excerpt
      • The Faust Book >
        • Contents
        • Excerpt
      • Classic Reprints
      • eBook Minis
    • Free eBooks >
      • Origin of the Space Gods
      • Ancient Atom Bombs
      • Golden Fleeced
      • Ancient America
      • Horror & Science
  • Articles
    • Skeptical Xenoarchaeologist Newsletter >
      • Volumes 1-10 Archive >
        • Volume 1 Archive
        • Volume 2 Archive
        • Volume 3 Archive
        • Volume 4 Archive
        • Volume 5 Archive
        • Volume 6 Archive
        • Volume 7 Archive
        • Volume 8 Archive
        • Volume 9 Archive
        • Volume 10 Archive
      • Volumes 11-20 Archive >
        • Volume 11 Archive
        • Volume 12 Archive
        • Volume 13 Archive
        • Volume 14 Archive
        • Volume 15 Archive
        • Volume 16 Archive
        • Volume 17 Archive
        • Volume 18 Archive
        • Volume 19 Archive
        • Volume 20 Archive
      • Volumes 21-30 Archive >
        • Volume 21 Archive
        • Volume 22 Archive
    • Television Reviews >
      • Ancient Aliens Reviews
      • In Search of Aliens Reviews
      • America Unearthed
      • Pirate Treasure of the Knights Templar
      • Search for the Lost Giants
      • Forbidden History Reviews
      • Expedition Unknown Reviews
      • Legends of the Lost
      • Unexplained + Unexplored
      • Rob Riggle: Global Investigator
    • Book Reviews
    • Galleries >
      • Bad Archaeology
      • Ancient Civilizations >
        • Ancient Egypt
        • Ancient Greece
        • Ancient Near East
        • Ancient Americas
      • Supernatural History
      • Book Image Galleries
    • Videos
    • Collection: Ancient Alien Fraud >
      • Chariots of the Gods at 50
      • Secret History of Ancient Astronauts
      • Of Atlantis and Aliens
      • Aliens and Ancient Texts
      • Profiles in Ancient Astronautics >
        • Erich von Däniken
        • Robert Temple
        • Giorgio Tsoukalos
        • David Childress
      • Blunders in the Sky
      • The Case of the False Quotes
      • Alternative Authors' Quote Fraud
      • David Childress & the Aliens
      • Faking Ancient Art in Uzbekistan
      • Intimations of Persecution
      • Zecharia Sitchin's World
      • Jesus' Alien Ancestors?
      • Extraterrestrial Evolution?
    • Collection: Skeptic Magazine >
      • America Before Review
      • Native American Discovery of Europe
      • Interview: Scott Sigler
      • Golden Fleeced
      • Oh the Horror
      • Discovery of America
      • Supernatural Television
      • Review of Civilization One
      • Who Lost the Middle Ages
      • Charioteer of the Gods
    • Collection: Ancient History >
      • Prehistoric Nuclear War
      • The China Syndrome
      • Atlantis, Mu, and the Maya
      • Easter Island Exposed
      • Who Built the Sphinx?
      • Who Built the Great Pyramid?
      • Archaeological Cover Up?
    • Collection: The Lovecraft Legacy >
      • Pauwels, Bergier, and Lovecraft
      • Lovecraft in Bergier
      • Lovecraft and Scientology
    • Collection: UFOs >
      • Alien Abduction at the Outer Limits
      • Aliens and Anal Probes
      • Ultra-Terrestrials and UFOs
      • Rebels, Queers, and Aliens
    • Scholomance: The Devil's School
    • Prehistory of Chupacabra
    • The Templars, the Holy Grail, & Henry Sinclair
    • Magicians of the Gods Review
    • The Curse of the Pharaohs
    • The Antediluvian Pyramid Myth
    • Whitewashing American Prehistory
    • James Dean's Cursed Porsche
  • The Library
    • Ancient Mysteries >
      • Ancient Texts >
        • Mesopotamian Texts >
          • Atrahasis Epic
          • Epic of Gilgamesh
          • Kutha Creation Legend
          • Babylonian Creation Myth
          • Descent of Ishtar
          • Berossus
          • Comparison of Antediluvian Histories
        • Egyptian Texts >
          • The Shipwrecked Sailor
          • Dream Stela of Thutmose IV
          • The Papyrus of Ani
          • Classical Accounts of the Pyramids
          • Inventory Stela
          • Manetho
          • Eratosthenes' King List
          • The Story of Setna
          • Leon of Pella
          • Diodorus on Egyptian History
          • On Isis and Osiris
          • Famine Stela
          • Old Egyptian Chronicle
          • The Book of Sothis
          • Horapollo
          • Al-Maqrizi's King List
        • Teshub and the Dragon
        • Hermetica >
          • The Three Hermeses
          • Kore Kosmou
          • Corpus Hermeticum
          • The Asclepius
          • The Emerald Tablet
          • Hermetic Fragments
          • Prologue to the Kyranides
          • The Secret of Creation
          • Ancient Alphabets Explained
          • Prologue to Ibn Umayl's Silvery Water
          • Book of the 24 Philosophers
          • Aurora of the Philosophers
        • Hesiod's Theogony
        • Periplus of Hanno
        • Ctesias' Indica
        • Sanchuniathon
        • Sima Qian
        • Syncellus's Enoch Fragments
        • The Book of Enoch
        • Slavonic Enoch
        • Sepher Yetzirah
        • Tacitus' Germania
        • De Dea Syria
        • Aelian's Various Histories
        • Julius Africanus' Chronography
        • Eusebius' Chronicle
        • Chinese Accounts of Rome
        • Ancient Chinese Automaton
        • The Orphic Argonautica
        • Fragments of Panodorus
        • Annianus on the Watchers
        • The Watchers and Antediluvian Wisdom
      • Medieval Texts >
        • Medieval Legends of Ancient Egypt >
          • Medieval Pyramid Lore
          • John Malalas on Ancient Egypt
          • Fragments of Abenephius
          • Akhbar al-zaman
          • Ibrahim ibn Wasif Shah
          • Murtada ibn al-‘Afif
          • Al-Maqrizi on the Pyramids
          • Al-Suyuti on the Pyramids
        • The Hunt for Noah's Ark
        • Isidore of Seville
        • Book of Liang: Fusang
        • Agobard on Magonia
        • Book of Thousands
        • Voyage of Saint Brendan
        • Power of Art and of Nature
        • Travels of Sir John Mandeville
        • Yazidi Revelation and Black Book
        • Al-Biruni on the Great Flood
        • Voyage of the Zeno Brothers
        • The Kensington Runestone (Hoax)
        • Islamic Discovery of America
        • The Aztec Creation Myth
      • Lost Civilizations >
        • Atlantis >
          • Plato's Atlantis Dialogues >
            • Timaeus
            • Critias
          • Fragments on Atlantis
          • Panchaea: The Other Atlantis
          • Eumalos on Atlantis (Hoax)
          • Gómara on Atlantis
          • Sardinia and Atlantis
          • Santorini and Atlantis
          • The Mound Builders and Atlantis
          • Donnelly's Atlantis
          • Atlantis in Morocco
          • Atlantis and the Sea Peoples
          • W. Scott-Elliot >
            • The Story of Atlantis
            • The Lost Lemuria
          • The Lost Atlantis
          • Atlantis in Africa
          • How I Found Atlantis (Hoax)
          • Termier on Atlantis
          • The Critias and Minoan Crete
          • Rebuttal to Termier
          • Further Responses to Termier
          • Flinders Petrie on Atlantis
        • Lost Cities >
          • Miscellaneous Lost Cities
          • The Seven Cities
          • The Lost City of Paititi
          • Manuscript 512
          • The Idolatrous City of Iximaya (Hoax)
          • The 1885 Moberly Lost City Hoax
          • The Elephants of Paredon (Hoax)
        • OOPARTs
        • Oronteus Finaeus Antarctica Map
        • Caucasians in Panama
        • Jefferson's Excavation
        • Fictitious Discoveries in America
        • Against Diffusionism
        • Tunnels Under Peru
        • The Parahyba Inscription (Hoax)
        • Mound Builders
        • Gunung Padang
        • Tales of Enchanted Islands
        • The 1907 Ancient World Map Hoax
        • The 1909 Grand Canyon Hoax
        • The Interglacial Period
        • Solving Oak Island
      • Religious Conspiracies >
        • Pantera, Father of Jesus?
        • Toledot Yeshu
        • Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay on Cathars
        • Testimony of Jean de Châlons
        • Rosslyn Chapel and the 'Prentice's Pillar
        • The Many Wives of Jesus
        • Templar Infiltration of Labor
        • Louis Martin & the Holy Bloodline
        • The Life of St. Issa (Hoax)
        • On the Person of Jesus Christ
      • Giants in the Earth >
        • Fossil Origins of Myths >
          • Fossil Teeth and Bones of Elephants
          • Fossil Elephants
          • Fossil Bones of Teutobochus
          • Fossil Mammoths and Giants
          • Giants' Bones Dug Out of the Earth
          • Fossils and the Supernatural
          • Fossils, Myth, and Pseudo-History
          • Man During the Stone Age
          • Fossil Bones and Giants
          • American Elephant Myths
          • The Mammoth and the Flood
          • Fossils and Myth
          • Fossil Origin of the Cyclops
          • Mastodon, Mammoth, and Man
        • Fragments on Giants
        • Manichaean Book of Giants
        • Geoffrey on British Giants
        • Alfonso X's Hermetic History of Giants
        • Boccaccio and the Fossil 'Giant'
        • Book of Howth
        • Purchas His Pilgrimage
        • Edmond Temple's 1827 Giant Investigation
        • The Giants of Sardinia
        • Giants and the Sons of God
        • The Magnetism of Evil
        • Tertiary Giants
        • Smithsonian Giant Reports
        • Early American Giants
        • The Giant of Coahuila
        • Jewish Encyclopedia on Giants
        • Index of Giants
        • Newspaper Accounts of Giants
        • Lanier's A Book of Giants
      • Science and History >
        • Halley on Noah's Comet
        • The Newport Tower
        • Iron: The Stone from Heaven
        • Ararat and the Ark
        • Pyramid Facts and Fancies
        • Argonauts before Homer
        • The Deluge
        • Crown Prince Rudolf on the Pyramids
        • Old Mythology in New Apparel
        • Blavatsky on Dinosaurs
        • Teddy Roosevelt on Bigfoot
        • Devil Worship in France
        • Maspero's Review of Akhbar al-zaman
        • The Holy Grail as Lucifer's Crown Jewel
        • The Mutinous Sea
        • The Rock Wall of Rockwall
        • Fabulous Zoology
        • The Origins of Talos
        • Mexican Mythology
        • Chinese Pyramids
        • Maqrizi's Names of the Pharaohs
      • Extreme History >
        • Roman Empire Hoax
        • American Antiquities
        • American Cataclysms
        • England, the Remnant of Judah
        • Historical Chronology of the Mexicans
        • Maspero on the Predynastic Sphinx
        • Vestiges of the Mayas
        • Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel
        • Origins of the Egyptian People
        • The Secret Doctrine >
          • Volume 1: Cosmogenesis
          • Volume 2: Anthropogenesis
        • Phoenicians in America
        • The Electric Ark
        • Traces of European Influence
        • Prince Henry Sinclair
        • Pyramid Prophecies
        • Templars of Ancient Mexico
        • Chronology and the "Riddle of the Sphinx"
        • The Faith of Ancient Egypt
        • Spirit of the Hour in Archaeology
        • Book of the Damned
        • Great Pyramid As Noah's Ark
        • Richard Shaver's Proofs
    • Alien Encounters >
      • US Government Ancient Astronaut Files >
        • Fortean Society and Columbus
        • Inquiry into Shaver and Palmer
        • The Skyfort Document
        • Whirling Wheels
        • Denver Ancient Astronaut Lecture
        • Soviet Search for Lemuria
        • Visitors from Outer Space
        • Unidentified Flying Objects (Abstract)
        • "Flying Saucers"? They're a Myth
        • UFO Hypothesis Survival Questions
        • Air Force Academy UFO Textbook
        • The Condon Report on Ancient Astronauts
        • Atlantis Discovery Telegrams
        • Ancient Astronaut Society Telegram
        • Noah's Ark Cables
        • The Von Daniken Letter
        • CIA Psychic Probe of Ancient Mars
        • Scott Wolter Lawsuit
        • UFOs in Ancient China
        • CIA Report on Noah's Ark
        • CIA Noah's Ark Memos
        • Congressional Ancient Aliens Testimony
        • Ancient Astronaut and Nibiru Email
        • Congressional Ancient Mars Hearing
        • House UFO Hearing
      • Ancient Extraterrestrials >
        • Premodern UFO Sightings
        • The Moon Hoax
        • Inhabitants of Other Planets
        • Blavatsky on Ancient Astronauts
        • The Stanzas of Dzyan (Hoax)
        • Aerolites and Religion
        • What Is Theosophy?
        • Plane of Ether
        • The Adepts from Venus
      • A Message from Mars
      • Saucer Mystery Solved?
      • Orville Wright on UFOs
      • Interdimensional Flying Saucers
      • Flying Saucers Are Real
      • Report on UFOs
    • The Supernatural >
      • The Devils of Loudun
      • Sublime and Beautiful
      • Voltaire on Vampires
      • Demonology and Witchcraft
      • Thaumaturgia
      • Bulgarian Vampires
      • Religion and Evolution
      • Transylvanian Superstitions
      • Defining a Zombie
      • Dread of the Supernatural
      • Vampires
      • Werewolves and Vampires and Ghouls
      • Science and Fairy Stories
      • The Cursed Car
    • Classic Fiction >
      • Lucian's True History
      • Some Words with a Mummy
      • The Coming Race
      • King Solomon's Mines
      • An Inhabitant of Carcosa
      • The Xipéhuz
      • Lot No. 249
      • The Novel of the Black Seal
      • The Island of Doctor Moreau
      • Pharaoh's Curse
      • Edison's Conquest of Mars
      • The Lost Continent
      • Count Magnus
      • The Mysterious Stranger
      • The Wendigo
      • Sredni Vashtar
      • The Lost World
      • The Red One
      • H. P. Lovecraft >
        • Dagon
        • The Call of Cthulhu
        • History of the Necronomicon
        • At the Mountains of Madness
        • Lovecraft's Library in 1932
      • The Skeptical Poltergeist
      • The Corpse on the Grating
      • The Second Satellite
      • Queen of the Black Coast
      • A Martian Odyssey
    • Classic Genre Movies
    • Miscellaneous Documents >
      • The Balloon-Hoax
      • A Problem in Greek Ethics
      • The Migration of Symbols
      • The Gospel of Intensity
      • De Profundis
      • The Life and Death of Crown Prince Rudolf
      • The Bathtub Hoax
      • Crown Prince Rudolf's Letters
      • Position of Viking Women
      • Employment of Homosexuals
      • James Dean's Love Letters
      • The Amazing James Dean Hoax!
    • Free Classic Pseudohistory eBooks
  • About Jason
    • Biography
    • Jason in the Media
    • Contact Jason
    • About JasonColavito.com
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Search

Answering Reader Mail

1/28/2014

59 Comments

 
Before we begin, take a look at this article in the Epoch Times and weep. It takes America Unearthed at face value and presents it as the “History Channel” confirming the cultural impact of Celts on pre-Columbian America, particularly at Anubis Cave in Oklahoma. The Epoch Times is an international, multilingual newspaper and internet news organization publishing in 35 countries. It is one of the most-read publications among the Chinese diaspora. The reporter, Paul Darin, regularly writes credulous articles about UFOs and conspiracies. He has confused America Unearthed for science by placing faith in the History brand name, and he also cites Ancient American magazine as though that amateur diffusionist publication were a serious scholarly journal.

Now on to today’s material.

I get a lot of email from visitors to this website, and it’s just not possible for me to reply to all of it while also working full time, writing this blog, writing books, and having any time left in the day to do anything else. I thought it might be a good idea to answer some of the most frequent questions in a Q&A blog post. The questions below are real questions sent to me over the last few weeks. Some I’ve received in several variants, which I have combined to avoid repetition.

You will notice that the majority of questions are about America Unearthed. I don’t control who sends me questions—it’s what readers are interested in. Indeed, more than a few readers each week think I am Scott Wolter, which saddens me greatly since my name is on my website. I probably get about five America Unearthed questions for every one on another topic.

When is Cthulhu in World Mythology coming out?
I received beta versions of the eBook editions (mobi and epub) late last week, and the publisher tells me that they should be ready to go live in the first week or so of February, with the print book to follow by the end of the month. I will post an announcement once they are available for sale.

What is your opinion of Bigfoot?

I haven’t seen any evidence that Bigfoot exists. I’m not an expert in biology, though, so I don’t feel entirely comfortable declaring categorically that there’s no evidence of it; however, others with more expertise have evaluated the alleged evidence and reached just that conclusion. But I was intrigued to see that my episodic reviews of Ancient Aliens and America Unearthed have apparently inspired others to critique fringe shows episodically. Skeptoid has a weekly analysis of Bigfoot Bounty that points to the ridiculousness of the show’s “evidence.” I’d like to see experts in other areas of fringe-ology taking on still more shows. I’m about at my weekly time limit, or I’d have many more TV reviews. There’s certainly enough crap out there.

What is your training and expertise in the area of American archaeology?  Are you a Ph.D? Has Scott Wolter’s wishful thinking and exploration threatened one of your theories or your livelihood?
Just as Scott Wolter’s academic background is a bachelor’s in geology, my only academic training is a bachelor’s degree in anthropology/archaeology and journalism. I am and remain an interested layperson who enjoys history and hates to see it twisted in service of bad ideas. I don’t have specific pet theories about American archaeology to defend, nor am I paid to discuss American archaeology or to write this blog.

Ancient Aliens and America Unearthed are crap. How do we get this crap, disguised as history, off the air?
Sadly, you can’t. The only way they’ll go away is if the audience stops watching. Until then, the best we can do is to mitigate the damage by making sure the truth is available for those who try to learn more about these shows’ claims.

Finding the children of Jesus would really ruffle the Pope’s feathers, so trying to debunk it could mean you’re carrying water for the Church. What is your religious belief?
I don’t have one. My grandparents were devout Catholics, but that was many decades ago. I have no interest in religion and don’t participate in any religious organizations or events. But even if I did, facts remain stubborn things no matter whether I or the Pope choose to believe them. There still is no evidence of a Jesus Bloodline.

If you were going to hide the Ark of the Covenant, where would you hide it? Oak Island?
I’d send it back through the Sargasso Sea wormhole to the Orion nebula.

Talking about race all the time is typical liberal Democrat socialist race-baiting. What party are you affiliated with in regards to politics?
When I turned eighteen, I received important advice: If you live in New York State, the general election generally doesn’t matter because the Democrat always wins in the cities and the Republican always wins everywhere else. Although this isn’t strictly true, the conclusion is the same: If you want your vote to count, you need to be able to vote in the primary elections. I have been a registered Democrat since I was eighteen for just that reason, but that has never dictated my voting choices. I’ve voted for candidates from both parties. In fact, if I recall correctly, my first ever general election ballot was cast for a Republican in a local race. When I was in college, I was roundly criticized for being too conservative for the extremely liberal politics of Ithaca, New York, especially because I voiced opposition then to what I saw as the college’s obsession with race and racism. On the other hand, I also received criticism from my conservative extended family (they are Republicans) for being too liberal. I am not sure, though, what any of this has to do with fringe history claims, or why readers want to know this about me but not David Childress or his ilk.

You only debunk from books and the internet, but Scott Wolter does real field research. How can you criticize him? Have you traveled to any of the places you debunk?
I wish I had all the money in the world and could jet off to one site after another. I’ve personally examined Mystery Hill in New Hampshire, and I’ve traveled frequently to Washington, D.C., site of alleged Freemason symbolism. That’s how I knew that the so-called “vagina” symbol around the Washington Monument had been added only a few years ago. I also grew up in a town that had at its center a Native American mound similar to those seen in the Midwest.

But it’s important to distinguish between conducting field research and standing in front of a site and taking its picture. Very little of what is seen on America Unearthed is scientific field research, and Wolter doesn’t do the nuts and bolts of archaeology, such as excavation, except in the rarest of circumstances (e.g., “Giants in Minnesota”), and then only for a few hours—not the weeks or months needed to do high quality field work. In general, most of the “fieldwork” seen on America Unearthed is a visual analysis of the texture of a rock, which is not a recognized way of dating an artifact’s age with any precision.

I recognize that there is a benefit to examining evidence in person, but it is up to the claimant—be he Scott Wolter, Giorgio Tsoukalos, David Childress, etc.—to provide enough evidence to judge his claim. If his argument fails basic tests of logic or basic evaluations of the evidence, then there isn’t really any reason to fly out to Egypt or Arizona to stand in front of the building. That kind of work becomes necessary only when an argument is strong enough to require confirmation of its truth. That said, I generally target my comments to questions of texts, symbolism, and other intangibles because that is where my expertise, such as it is, lies. The overwhelming majority of claims on Ancient Aliens or America Unearthed are claims made for or about ancient texts and mythological sources.

There were also some one-off questions I have no idea how to answer.

When I leave the Air Force next year, I think I want to maybe hike the Grand Canyon to look for the Ark of the Covenant. How can I get Google Earth to show me if the line through Stonehenge in England and Stonehenge in America lines up with the Grand Canyon? I think the Ark was following the sun. I love your show by the way!
I guess you’d use Google’s Great Circle mapper, but you’ll be disappointed, both because it doesn’t align and because I’m still not Scott Wolter.

Check out the Baha’i Faith! Read the history. You’ll find what you’re looking for about the Templars and the World Order.
Um, OK?

Would you like more information concerning an extremely ancient stone carving civilization once living in the Tararua District, Dannevirke, New Zealand estimated at 5 million years B.C.?
I imagine that if true more important people than me would have liked to see it first, if there were any evidence such a thing ever existed.

59 Comments
Tara Jordan link
1/28/2014 07:18:02 am

"more than a few readers each week think I am Scott Wolter, which saddens me greatly since my name is on my website"

Hilarious.The wisdom of America Unearthed audience.Le principe de précaution oblige, no personal attacks on Scott Wolter.....

Reply
Q
1/28/2014 11:00:55 am

"no personal attacks on Scott Wolter...."

One thing about Scott, he genuinely sincerely and seriously believes in everything he presents and preaches. He's no fraud.

Reply
Gunn Sinclair link
1/28/2014 12:48:33 pm

Beg to differ in opinion about this in a neighborly fashion.

Much of what Wolter presents and preaches is mere speculation, and I think he recognizes that much of what he presents is, in fact, fringe speculation. But that's the nature of the show, and sometimes (?) he goes too far...like linking in that stupid underwater dinosaur lurking in the weeds at Rock Lake to the next AU episode. What was that all about? Oh well, it's a good thing it's only mostly entertainment.

No, he's not a fraud, and he doesn't mind stirring up controversy...that's what sells. It's a good gig if one can hoist himself up by the boot-straps to do it. Of course, there are some things he probably really does believe in which are highly speculative, and in my opinion of no value to exploring real history...well, such as the Jesus bloodline, if he stills believes in it at all. Maybe he really never did. Who knows. He's a tricky one to judge. I wouldn't want the job.

Somebody in a recent blog suggested Jason could have a debunking show, and I think this is true if he can muster up the pizazz of personality equal to Wolter. What is this saying?

The French lumberjack look would have to go--along with the safety goggles. Bulldozer shorts might help, depending on how buff Jason's managed to stay over this harsh winter. The backpack is a must. He can carry a ton of books around instead of rocks...no tearing at the seams!

Walt
1/28/2014 02:31:15 pm

"Somebody in a recent blog suggested Jason could have a debunking show, and I think this is true if he can muster up the pizazz of personality equal to Wolter."

I didn't mention it when I made that suggestion, but I do think Jason would have to hire an on-air personality. Out of the half dozen I can think of from these shows, the host of "Cities of the Underworld" would be a good fit.

I still think Jason should pick the episode of whichever show upset the most experts, then try to convince them to donate some cash for a pilot via crowdfunding.

Jim
1/28/2014 03:23:38 pm

Q, just curious on what you are basing your assertions of Scott Wolter's sincerity of belief? I have neither met nor communicated with him in any fashion, so I can only base my opinions of him from his show and blog. I never took him to be a malicious deceiver; however, I'm not convinced that what he presents isn't tainted by an underlying agenda either. Again, this is purely my opinion and not based on any contact with Scott, so take it for what it's worth...

That aside, sincerity of belief is independent from validity of belief, and a belief unsupported by objective, demonstrable evidence is religion, not science.

LynnBrant
1/28/2014 10:31:47 pm

I've come to doubt that he sincerely believes ANY of it.

Jason D.
1/29/2014 08:40:49 am

"I've come to doubt that he sincerely believes ANY of it."

I don't agree. I do think some things are forced on him by the producers though, especially this season. You can really see the difference between the episodes where the core concept is something of his vs something a producer came up with. His own energy level and presentation is noticeably different.

New Book on the marriage of Jesus
1/28/2014 09:30:25 pm

This may be published this year, originally intended several years ago

Simcha Jacobovici, Barrie Wilson, "The Lost Gospel: Decoding the Sacred Text that Reveals Jesus' Marriage to Mary Magdalene" (544 pages, Pegasus publishing)

Reply
Matt Mc
1/29/2014 12:43:40 am

I shudder to think what kind of weird claims that would be made if Simcha Jacobovic and Scott Wolter teamed up. I can only handle so many facts being ignored by these guys on a one on one basis. Although maybe if they formed up as a singularity people who normal don't would start seeing through all the pseudo historical BS they both spout.

Gunn
1/29/2014 02:19:55 am

Since The Lost Gospel was not canonized, it is still lost to the Bible (IMO), and therefore unreliable, so that this proposed title would naturally be fraudulent and in no way sanctioned by church authority.

From a traditional Christian viewpoint, denying Christ's divinity (becoming carnal) is the evil associated with this concept of Jesus being married.

Of course, this entails belief in the "fringe speculation" (not really) here that God is real in the first place. I see this Lost Gospel/Jesus marriage idea as stemming from spiritual wickedness in high places, which is the normal Christian counter-view to the book's message.

Needless to say, this a bone of contention with Wolter for me, too, unless we have him pegged wrongly about his own belief in this.

The Other J.
1/28/2014 07:18:57 am

"If his argument fails basic tests of logic or basic evaluations of the evidence, then there isn’t really any reason to fly out to Egypt or Arizona to stand in front of the building. That kind of work becomes necessary only when an argument is strong enough to require confirmation of its truth."

This. ^^^thisthisthis^^^

I'm guessing it's a basic lack of education or knowledge about how arguments work that leaves people confusing the surface impression of standing next to a supposed artifact to actually presenting a sound argument with valid evidence about that artifact.

That same lack of knowledge leads them to attack criticisms of AA and AU claims because they don't recognize that the claims being made don't require a travel budget.

It's interesting, because that kind of vociferous support would generally only come from a show aimed at a low-information audience. If a show aimed at a more informed audience presented similar fringe claims but in a more thorough an scientific way, it just wouldn't last -- its own methods and its audience would be attacking its claims from within.

That's kind of where I think Nat Geo's British version of Ancient X-Files was more of a success. Rather than positing a fringe claim as true or false, a topic was simply presented as something worth exploring, and then both the fringe claims and science challenging the fringe claims were presented (the Bosnian pyramids episode was particularly good for this).

I'm afraid that show is done for, though.

Reply
Tara Jordan link
1/28/2014 07:36:32 am

I love the idea of a 5 million year old Bigfoot civilization living in the Grand Canyon XD

Reply
DAN D
1/28/2014 07:57:43 am

Take heart, at least they don't confuse you with Giorgio.

Your Blog pic is a dead giveaway........perhaps a new hairdo is in order. ha

Tara Jordan link
1/28/2014 08:37:30 am

At least I am not pretending to be cute.

RLewis
1/28/2014 07:56:01 am

Since many of them continue to confuse Jason with SW, I would say it's their powers of observation that are lacking

Reply
The Other J.
1/28/2014 07:59:53 am

I like to imagine there are a few people out there mistaking Wolter for Jason (instead of Jason for Wolter), and asking him why he keeps attacking his own show.

Gunn
1/28/2014 01:08:01 pm

And some of the misguided, imagined people might even say, "Great idea to attack the show instead of the person!"

And Wolter (actually, Jason) might answer: "Well, we got new rules around here--even for myself, and it's been working great!"

RLewis
1/28/2014 08:20:31 am

Jason, have you ever thought of having a YouTube channel? It's the way of the world these days (along with Twitter and Facebook, etc).
I know you're busy, but you would probably reach a broader (and maybe a younger) audience. Maybe you could work with a host who could do most of the leg-work and search the internet/TV for wild claims and ask you to comment on/review the theories.

Reply
Only Me
1/28/2014 09:23:39 am

That's a great idea, except when Chris White of Ancient Aliens Debunked fame did just that, most of the comments on the video were from people who attacked him for his religious beliefs. They were so invested in the AA bandwagon, they simply could not address the evidence and analysis without turning into rabid dogs.

I see the same thing happening if Jason were to take his reviews to YouTube. The same accusations he receives daily in his mail and on this blog would spill over, and I doubt the effort would be worth the hassle.

Still, it's a great idea.

Reply
RLewis
1/28/2014 09:42:38 am

I'm not thinking about a talking head - but an interactive program with a (probably female) host.
I couldn't care less about the comments under the videos.

Derrick
1/28/2014 09:46:52 am

He already got YouTube videos, they under the multimedia button. They pretty short and from a while back so I can understand how you didn't notice them. There not very many and I can understand that due to just how much effort can go into them.

Reply
Jason Colavito link
1/28/2014 12:48:56 pm

As Derrick noted, I did do some YouTube videos, but to do them right takes a whole day of work or more. It's too much of a time suck for something that returns about 1,000 views.

Reply
Tara Jordan link
1/28/2014 06:29:43 pm

You only need help.What if someone converted (recording-mixing-editing) some of your best articles into audio/video?

Gunn
1/28/2014 01:53:43 pm

The irony seems to be thick enough here, but maybe that depends on the exact, hair-splitting definition of irony:

Jason: "...I voiced opposition then to what I saw as the college’s obsession with race and racism."

Is this actual irony, or only if Jason intended it as irony? The Other J., I would venture to guess that only Jason is qualified to give answer, but who knows? (We got peace here, Bro., so give it a shot.)

Jason, how could I let this slide...it seems almost out of context in your life; like a switch-around in viewpoints, from one earlier scene to this later one here. Why were you focused in disagreement about the college's over-concern with matters racial, etc., yet you sometimes seem to have the same preoccupation of thought here on this blog?

I'm asking this nicely, and because race seems to pop up so often in your analysis of things, to the point where it seemed to be noticeable--and not be me only. Thanks for the indulgence.

(I'm curious about this odd "reverse-metamorphosis," if that's what happened in your life.)

Reply
Rev. Phil Gotsch
1/28/2014 03:51:06 pm

I also have noticed and wondered about the ongoing fascination with "race" ...

Reply
The Other J.
1/28/2014 04:30:48 pm

I'm not going into any definitions of irony -- I teach an entire unit on it. That's for the forums.

To be fair, Jason has repeatedly said he dislikes discussing race, I'm assuming because it can be such a volatile and emotionally-charged issue with very little science to back the claims often made about "race" as a monolithic thing.

However, Jason has only brought it up when AA or AU brings it up by doing things like proclaiming Irish Scottish Vikings gave Native Americans their culture and religion, or white gods taught dark people how to build monuments while they left white people alone because they could build their own monuments just fine.

Those are pretty extraordinary claims that takes agency away from the people who are said to have received some superior's culture, and extraordinary claims take a lot more than speculation and looking at a rock to prove them. Where it gets frustrating for many of us is when the so-called anomalies have perfectly sound explanations that are dismissed or special pleaded out of the discussion.

In short, if people don't like Jason discussing race, talk to Prometheus Films. If they didn't base so much of their work around race-based theories of cultural origination (thank you Frank Joseph), then you probably wouldn't see race discussed here nearly as much.

Reply
Only Me
1/28/2014 04:40:24 pm

All of this ^^^^^^. Something that has been reiterated, many ways, far too much. Yet, there are those who would rather point fingers at Jason than address the issue.

As has been said before, ideas can't be fully divorced from their racial/political bias, regardless of who supports them or who investigates their origin.

Rev. Phil Gotsch
1/28/2014 11:17:07 pm

"Cultural Diffusion" =/= "Race"

Jason Colavito link
1/28/2014 11:28:35 pm

In response to all of these comments, let me make a couple of points:

1. I don't like talking about race, but it is where my analysis leads me. Even if I don't like the conclusion, I'm not going to wish it away just because it isn't pleasant. There isn't really any way around it since the origin of the ideas promulgated by fringe history is in Victorian racism. What else can I possibly conclude about David Childress's vision of Pacific prehistory where a white ruling elite literally lorded it over dark-skinned peoples as their masters and living gods? Or when Graham Hancock specifically identifies his "lost" super-civilization with "white" people who gave civilization to all non-white peoples? A key fringe history text is literally called "White Gods" and explores how white people gave civilization to the whole world after the Ice Age.

2. If America Unearthed were hosted by someone like the late Ivan Van Sertima and spent 90% of its time promoting a conspiracy whereby black Nubians bequeathed civilization and religion to the Americas and built all of the Native structures in honor of African gods, you would have no trouble identifying this as Afrocentrism. But when the script is Eurocentric, the default tendency of our culture to see white as normal and neutral somehow makes it look different. It isn't.

Reply
Byron DeLear link
1/29/2014 03:19:54 am

In the interest of disclosure and sharing, I wrote a piece for Examiner covering the ongoing debate between fans and detractors of America Unearthed based on some of the back-and-forth here on Jason's blog.

It is entitled "Semiotics and symbolism at the founding of Washington DC and USA."

Enjoy!

(link is on my name)

Gunn
1/29/2014 03:40:15 am

My takeaway is that the key word in all this is "Eurocentric," for which spell-check disagrees. The charges involve this perceived eurocentricism, another trouble-maker according to spell-check. Oh well, we all know the intended meaning...I think.

Uh, maybe not. The other important word, "interpretation," isn't being considered here yet.

Don't get nervous about this illustration. If I, as a white person with DNA stemming from NW Europe sees what I perceive to be medieval Scandinavian evidences all around me up here in MN, and I pursue these likely evidences (in my mind then, if you must), am I being Eurocentric...which seems to be a negative charge? You see the problem? It's in the interpretation.

And then there's reading into it, too, where we must now land. In college, Jason disliked all the references to race, etc., which must have bothered him; yet now comes this morphing where everything Wolter does stems from an improper view of race and race relations. To me, way too much seems to be race-based in Jason's mind, leading to this minority view here that he sometimes engages in "race-baiting," another negative word.

But the problem, again is possibly looking too deeply into Wolter's heart...at his intentions. He is guilty of extreme insensitivity according to Jason, even if his intentions were not purposeful to deceive, etc. He's creating this racially-charged, anti-Native American scene on AU, according to Jason...but others don't see it this way at all.

I'm one of them. So, BTW, why all the focus on race? But then, maybe some of us are misinterpreting Jason's words. But, we still have this odd viewpoint contrast between college and Jason's present work, which on the surface seems, well, incongruous at the least--concerning matters of race.

I don't see an agenda with Wolter being Eurocentric in a purposeful and negative way...I think it just looks this way to some because he looks mostly for past history with European connections. I don't see what he's doing as "bad." He opens up discussion, which is good. I don't think he's fooling many people in this mostly entertainment format.

Wolter believes there are evidences to look for all around America, apparently, and I'm not so sure he'll always concentrate on so-called "white" evidences. Maybe he'll latch onto a Chinese trail pretty soon. Maybe our interpretation of him is too harsh, since we don't know his heart. I don't see any harm being done to Native Americans by Wolter, which seems to be Jason's main charge. He's a man of European extraction looking for mostly European evidences in America, so what?

Maybe he'll stumble across something from somewhere else. Israel? That doesn't automatically peg him as overtly "Eurocentric." It pegs him as looking for basically anything non-Native American. But he does include Native American information in the shows, just not the way that makes all people happy. I think he's trying to be fair in Native American considerations, but that he's being somewhat misinterpreted as to his intentions.

The blog host keeps saying he's not saying Wolter is a racist, but the exchanged, operating word seems to be "Eurocentric"--said with a bad taste in his mouth.

CFC
1/29/2014 05:33:34 am

I read your article Byron. It is always good to get different perspectives so thanks for taking the time to weigh in on this discussion.
Without someone like Jason, the public wouldn't know that much of what America Unearthed is claiming isn't true, would they?
In the end I sincerely believe people prefer truth and it's what we should expect from programming, even if fantasies can be alluring.

Gunn link
1/29/2014 05:35:11 am

PS, for what it's worth, I didn't intend for my above post to be placed after Byron DeLear's. It happened because I was working on it so long.

In response to Byron's article: I thought it very fairly balanced the viewpoints of Jason and Co., and some of us who think perhaps he has gone too far in chastising Wolter. Also, it was all said in a pleasant, friendly manner, which shows that the two "camps" can be co-appreciated at the same time. No one has to win.

Also, Byron brings up the obvious, that Washington DC's layout and symbolism appearing to have Masonic influence is not an illusion.

Great writing, Byron Delear! (And it's nice that you are a peacemaker here today, whether intentional or not.)

The Other J.
1/29/2014 05:36:58 am

Gunn, by that logic, if I went to Boston or Five Points or Barbados, I'd see evidence of my ethnic heritage all around -- Irish pubs, Irish faces, Irish places. If I dug around a bit, I'd even find Irish people and artifacts going back a few centuries.

So I suppose since they've been hanging out for a few centuries, more of their stuff is around now than other people's stuff. And since I see a reflection of my own ethnic heritage all around me, in locations where others of my ethnic group have settled in the past, that should give me cause to question if my people weren't there before anyone else, basically showing a weird egocentric need for the world to reflect ME, correct?

By that same logic, most people in the New World who descended from West Africa have an argument that West Africans were in America before Native Americans. That's going to get difficult on Barbados, though, because the West Africans and Irish were both brought there at the same time during the slave trade. So were BOTH of their ancestors there before the Arawaks and Caribs? No harm in asking, right? And as long as I'm asking, let's just assume it's true since it's POSSIBLE (and it's possible because, abracadabra, I asked the question), and in that way claim any Arawak or Carib artifacts as clearly influenced by their West African-Irish forebears who probably taught them how to build huts and make axes.

Of course that only works if you dismiss any counterarguments to my claims of artifacts showing evidence of prior West African-Irish settlement. It's a lot easier to keep repeating the case if you just ignore the criticisms and change the subject instead of directly addressing them.

The asking the question can be misguided if you're not fully informed. The persisting with the question in the face of counter-evidence is what smacks of Eurocentrism, even if it doesn't "feel" that way.

(Check your Oxford on Eurocentrism; it's been in use since the 1960's. "Arawaks" is also alerting spell-check; does that mean they aren't real? Spell-check isn't the arbiter of lexical ontology. Might also want to look up "red herring.")

Jason Colavito link
1/29/2014 07:14:57 am

Gunn, I'd like to see the purposeless, positive way of being Eurocentric. I would disagree, though, that no harm is done. There is certainly harm in appropriating the accomplishments of Native culture and assigning them to the inspiration of Europe, Africa, or aliens without anything resembling solid evidence.

Gunn link
1/29/2014 12:07:17 pm

The Other J., you seriously misinterpreted this so-called logic you're trying to attribute to me. I am probably some Scandinavian, but I'm mostly English, Welsh, French, Scottish and Irish...that I know of. I'm not looking for Scandinavian stuff up here because I'm Scandinavian. How strange to think so, and that this would be a part of my logic-base? Your whole premise is flawed.

Jason: "Gunn, I'd like to see the purposeless, positive way of being Eurocentric."

You are taking two magnets and switching them around to oppose one another. You're right, there is no such thing. How can it be purposeless and still positive? It's a set-up proposition, unless this term, Eurocentric, can be looked at by you as possibly neutral or positive, and not necessarily negative.

Jason, about Wolter: "...appropriating the accomplishments of Native culture and assigning them to the inspiration of Europe."

As Steve used to say, "Reeeeealy?" Over and over again, or just once or twice? I think the harm is at least 98% imagined, and yet this is one of Jason's main negative charges against Wolter. In my view, this 2% is offset by drumming up 98% interest in history, which is great. Just my take.

Joe
1/29/2014 03:18:52 pm

Gunn,

I think that it has been repeated several times by many here that we do not think Scott is racist. The main point that we have is the starting point on his approach. He is utilizing theories that were created in the 1800's by people that had racist agendas at the time of their creation. If Scott wanted to discuss possible European voyages into North America prior to Columbus he needs to start at a point of actual evidence instead of pure fictitious speculation. I think Jason's main point all along is that Scott is being willfully ignorant on the origin of the theories he utilized. Not that he needs to be defended but to me Jason is not trying to add racism to the argument, but just pointing out that many of these fringe theories come from a racist intention back when written in the 1800 or early 1900's. It would be like discussing a belief in an advance Martian culture based on the description of the “canali” in the late 1800's by Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. These were false observations that many believed to be true at the time. However over time these theories, like many Wolter uses, have been proven false .

I think if Scott was serious about exploring the potential of Europeans coming to North American prior to Columbus he would work from a point that we actually know about and exploring beyond that. In his Viking episode he does talk about L'Anse aux Meadows but only appears to give it lip service and immediately jumps to assuming they moved further south. He is willing to spend entire episodes about the proven false claims of Burrow Caves, under water lake pyramids and naturally occurring rock walls in Texas. But barely any time talking about actual archaeological evidence at L'Anse aux Meadows or talking about the Cahokia site.

Wolter is constantly claiming he is searching for the “truth” in his comments. But I find it extremely difficult to do so if you are starting from false theories.

Gunn link
1/30/2014 05:43:19 am

Joe, I agree with much of what you've said here.

"I think if Scott was serious about exploring the potential of Europeans coming to North American prior to Columbus he would work from a point that we actually know about and exploring beyond that."

My feeling is that his best playground will end up being right in his own back yard, where he began from...just a bit further west on that same straight compass line from Duluth. I know where to look, but it didn't come easy.

Some things can't be explained away, and when that happens, historical significance takes over. I think it looks like this is what happened with the Georgia-Maya. (See Thornton's link in the blog from a few days or so ago.)

Gunn Sinclair link
1/30/2014 02:39:52 pm

Joe: "If Scott wanted to discuss possible European voyages into North America prior to Columbus he needs to start at a point of actual evidence instead of pure fictitious speculation. I think Jason's main point all along is that Scott is being willfully ignorant on the origin of the theories he utilized."

Looking back over your comment, I certainly can't agree with this, Joe. Many credible people believe Wolter did begin at a point of actual evidence instead of pure fictitious speculation.

Bottom Line: I don't believe Wolter is being willfully ignorant about his original speculation--which is slowly yet perceptibly gaining wider acceptance for being genuine. It is my sincere belief that Wolter will have the last laugh concerning this Old Troublemaker up here that skeptics want to avoid talking about because it makes them nervous.

I'd like to see a near-future blog heading:

"Reducing the --- to Its Simplest Message."

Ultimately, we would find that many people over the years, including Wolter, attempted to add to the message, unnecessarily confounding the simple story. The true, simple story is hard to see because of this continual clouding, adding codes and secret messages and inappropriate meanings to the message...bogus land claims, bogus search parties and politically correct reasons for massacre, just the beginning. Let's strip away the nonsense and see what stands, without nervousness.

Seeker
1/30/2014 04:26:56 pm

Beautifully stated.

Seeker
1/30/2014 04:37:00 pm

Beautifully stated, Jason.

And by some glitch, this comment ended up down below under a comment Gunn Sinclair made--which is not where I put it.

Channel Surfer
1/28/2014 03:22:25 pm

Yeah...I totally love your show too, Jason.

Reply
Walt
1/28/2014 03:58:31 pm

"Wolter doesn’t do the nuts and bolts of archaeology, such as excavation, except in the rarest of circumstances (e.g., “Giants in Minnesota”), and then only for a few hours—not the weeks or months needed to do high quality field work."

I think you're being generous calling what he did in the "Giants of Minnesota" episode archaeology. It looked like somebody tossed hand grenades from a helicopter. A shot of him standing in front of those holes reminds me of Caddyshack.

Reply
The Other J.
1/28/2014 04:34:27 pm

"License to kill history by the government of the United Nations. Man, free to kill history at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is an academic. And an academic will never quit - ever. They're like the Viet Cong - Academic Cong. So you have to fall back on superior production visuals and superior archaeoastronomy. And that's all she wrote."

Reply
Walt
1/28/2014 05:07:41 pm

Priceless. I can just picture SW saying that in front of those holes in his best Carl Spackler voice.

tacitus
1/28/2014 09:05:41 pm

Well I am doing my bit to reduce the audience. Ancient Aliens and America Unearthed are not being watched in my house. I never watched Ancient Aliens having gotten over that stuff 30 years ago. And America Unearthed has become so bad it just tipped my "its not only a waste of time, plus its not even fun" button. AU was occasionally interesting in that I would hear about some weird anomaly I never ran into before, but that has worn off primarily due to the cheesy presentation and annoying music as well as its tendency to gloss over everything and make gross (and often misleading) oversimplifications. I am continuing to watch Oak Island however; which has been mildly interesting and it seems to be more coherent than most.

Reply
An Over-Educated Grunt
1/29/2014 12:33:14 am

I haven't been in a position to watch either for a month or so, but when I do, it's not particularly because I believe either, it's so I can demonstrate to my kids what wrong looks like. I don't trust schools already under tremendous pressure from above to teach a very limited list of topics with teaching them to examine arguments for weak points, tear holes in them, and see if anything falls out of the holes, so I use AA and AU. It's even started working, as my kids are less likely to believe in monsters in the woods at night than they are to believe in squirrels. Small victories...

Reply
RLewis
1/29/2014 01:58:47 am

I wouldn't feel too secure. If you read the review linked above, you'll find that squirrels may draw Bigfoot to your area.

titus pullo
1/29/2014 06:58:32 am

While these programs are fun to watch at time even though you know how each episode will end (no definitive proof)..I do wonder if there is any evidence of precolumbian visits by Europe to the Americas besides the Viking presence in NF. Surely Colonial Peoples would have found Greek or Roman or Carthagian ruins. Sunken vessels would have been found by now and so on. Instead you get "hints" or "possiblities" or downright frauds.

I think history would be much richer if in fact Chinese Fleets made it to California in 1400 or Polynesian Catamarans to Chili in 1,000 and yes even Normans to New England in 1,200..but there is no direct evidence. Just like UFOs...I spend hours looking at NICAP and Mufon reports when I was in college as a physics major. With I think one exception (the supposed UFO electronic warfare attack on a missile base in ND in 67..) there were obvious explanations..

Bring me a Bigfoot corpse or live one and I'll believe...bring me the wreckage of a UFO or a captured alien and I'll believe...dig up under controlled conditions a Roman Centurian in Virginia and I'll believe..until then..all this stuff is just popular myth...

Reply
Dan
1/29/2014 07:15:04 am

Like many of us, I've been watching AA and AU pretty much only to have a context when I read Jason's review. But with AA, its also for the sheer comedy of it. I never get angry watching that show, just basically amused and sometimes get a nice belly laugh.
AU is different. I sometimes can only watch for a while because its infuriating to watch. I generally turn it off when I find myself yelling at the screen.

Reply
Jason Colavito link
1/29/2014 07:19:02 am

I used to get angry at Ancient Aliens in the early days when it used to pretend to be serious, but now it's just so goofy I can't do more than muster up a dull groan.

Reply
RLewis
1/30/2014 12:43:42 am

The excerpt below from Scott Wolter's blog shows that he is aware of the racist slant of 19th century views on Native Americans. Why does he not mention this on AU?

[While we're on the subject of apparent cover-ups... My best guess the reason few of us heard about Cahokia in school growing up was because Native Americans living in complex cities would have been giving them too much credit. I suspect it was a leftover intentional omission from the "dehumanizing of Natives" days of Manifest Destiny.]

Reply
Jason Colavito link
1/30/2014 01:24:39 am

It's a great question. There's obviously a logical contradiction between claiming that the Victorians were trying to downplay the accomplishments of Native Americans while simultaneously asserting that the Victorians' theories that did just that are somehow nevertheless true. The only way to resolve this tension is by imagining a conspiracy, and Wolter does just that.

Reply
Gunn
1/30/2014 05:54:10 am

Is there such a thing as a double imagining of conspiracies here? That Wolter would see a conspiracy for Cahokia to be minimized, and that Jason would see in Wolter's mind an ever-continuing conspiracy to deny Native Americans their due?

Wolter is constantly being aligned with the Victorians as though it is a modern conspiracy against Native Americans. I think too many conspiracies are being considered here, which, again, involve intent and judging, a nearly impossible task.

Jason Colavito link
1/30/2014 05:56:32 am

Scott Wolter isn't conspiring to suppress the truth about Native Americans. He just doesn't seem to have thought through the logical conclusions to the ideas he proposes, nor does he seem aware of the irony in his views.

Gunn
1/30/2014 09:15:05 am

Okay, Wolter isn't part of a conspiracy to deny Native Americans their due. Right. I think you said he is imaging a conspiracy, though, in response to RLewis suggesting that Wolter sees a long-ago loose conspiracy to underplay Chokia. RLewis was saying that Wolter has awareness of potential problems with his own viewpoints, but just because Wolter recognizes shortcomings about how we were not taught about Chokia, doesn't mean he's recognizing other possible shortcomings concerning viewpoints of the Victorian age, as relating to his "wayward" speculations.

In this case, again, we would have to guess what's in his head and heart, and we cannot accurately do this. Maybe it would be a good idea for Wolter to publicly explain this paradoxical situation that keeps us guessing about his motives or lack of motives. I guess it would be a good question for his blog, to help clear this up--as it seems, still, to be a major bone of contention. Perhaps he will grace us with clarity about this, if it's really that important.

Rev. Phil Gotsch
1/31/2014 03:13:02 am

Jason … The facts of history ARE often "tragic," but I don't think history is necessarily "ironic" … Facts and just facts, which of course are always subject to interpretation …

But, no … Scott Wolter is in no respect anti- Native American or any such thing ...

tubby
1/30/2014 06:23:27 am

This may or may not have come up, but as I recall the Epoch Times is the pet paper of the Falun Gong. While I was living in Flushing their.. uh.. representatives were handing out English language copies and it more or less looked like a gushing about their favorite flavor of Chinese culture and history.

This was also around the time when they seemed to be beefing up their presence in Flushing which lead to some kind of fight breaking out on Main Street a couple blocks north westish of the subway station. They ended up being exiled with police supervision to the library side. Considering they were pretty pushy with trying to get people to sign a paper renouncing membership in the Chinese communist party it's not really surprising something happened. About a month after that they (and their paper) seemed to disappear.

Reply
tubby
1/30/2014 06:25:08 am

Excuse me, the fight happened north eastish of the subway station, not northwest.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Blog
    Picture

    Author

    I am an author and researcher focusing on pop culture, science, and history. Bylines: New Republic, Esquire, Slate, etc. There's more about me in the About Jason tab.

    Become a Patron!
    Tweets by JasonColavito
    Picture

    Newsletters

    Enter your email below to subscribe to my newsletter for updates on my latest projects, blog posts, and activities, and subscribe to Culture & Curiosities, my Substack newsletter.

    powered by TinyLetter

    Blog Roll

    Ancient Aliens Debunked
    Picture
    A Hot Cup of Joe
    ArchyFantasies
    Bad UFOs
    Mammoth Tales
    Matthew R. X. Dentith
    PaleoBabble
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Alternative Archaeology
    Alternative Archaeology
    Alternative History
    Alternative History
    America Unearthed
    Ancient Aliens
    Ancient Astronauts
    Ancient History
    Ancient Texts
    Ancient Texts
    Archaeology
    Atlantis
    Conspiracies
    Giants
    Habsburgs
    Horror
    King Arthur
    Knights Templar
    Lovecraft
    Mythology
    Occult
    Popular Culture
    Popular Culture
    Projects
    Pyramids
    Racism
    Science
    Skepticism
    Ufos
    Weird Old Art
    Weird Things
    White Nationalism

    Terms & Conditions

    Please read all applicable terms and conditions before posting a comment on this blog. Posting a comment constitutes your agreement to abide by the terms and conditions linked herein.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    RSS Feed

Picture
Home  |  Blog  |  Books  | Contact  |  About Jason | Terms & Conditions
© 2010-2023 Jason Colavito. All rights reserved.

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Legends of the Pyramids
    • The Mound Builder Myth
    • Jason and the Argonauts
    • Cult of Alien Gods >
      • Contents
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
    • Foundations of Atlantis
    • Knowing Fear >
      • Contents
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
    • Hideous Bit of Morbidity >
      • Contents
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
    • Cthulhu in World Mythology >
      • Excerpt
      • Image Gallery
      • Necronomicon Fragments
      • Oral Histories
    • Fiction >
      • Short Stories
      • Free Fiction
    • JasonColavito.com Books >
      • Faking History
      • Unearthing the Truth
      • Critical Companion to Ancient Aliens
      • Studies in Ancient Astronautics (Series) >
        • Theosophy on Ancient Astronauts
        • Pyramidiots!
        • Edison's Conquest of Mars
      • Fiction Anthologies >
        • Unseen Horror >
          • Contents
          • Excerpt
        • Moon Men! >
          • Contents
      • The Orphic Argonautica >
        • Contents
        • Excerpt
      • The Faust Book >
        • Contents
        • Excerpt
      • Classic Reprints
      • eBook Minis
    • Free eBooks >
      • Origin of the Space Gods
      • Ancient Atom Bombs
      • Golden Fleeced
      • Ancient America
      • Horror & Science
  • Articles
    • Skeptical Xenoarchaeologist Newsletter >
      • Volumes 1-10 Archive >
        • Volume 1 Archive
        • Volume 2 Archive
        • Volume 3 Archive
        • Volume 4 Archive
        • Volume 5 Archive
        • Volume 6 Archive
        • Volume 7 Archive
        • Volume 8 Archive
        • Volume 9 Archive
        • Volume 10 Archive
      • Volumes 11-20 Archive >
        • Volume 11 Archive
        • Volume 12 Archive
        • Volume 13 Archive
        • Volume 14 Archive
        • Volume 15 Archive
        • Volume 16 Archive
        • Volume 17 Archive
        • Volume 18 Archive
        • Volume 19 Archive
        • Volume 20 Archive
      • Volumes 21-30 Archive >
        • Volume 21 Archive
        • Volume 22 Archive
    • Television Reviews >
      • Ancient Aliens Reviews
      • In Search of Aliens Reviews
      • America Unearthed
      • Pirate Treasure of the Knights Templar
      • Search for the Lost Giants
      • Forbidden History Reviews
      • Expedition Unknown Reviews
      • Legends of the Lost
      • Unexplained + Unexplored
      • Rob Riggle: Global Investigator
    • Book Reviews
    • Galleries >
      • Bad Archaeology
      • Ancient Civilizations >
        • Ancient Egypt
        • Ancient Greece
        • Ancient Near East
        • Ancient Americas
      • Supernatural History
      • Book Image Galleries
    • Videos
    • Collection: Ancient Alien Fraud >
      • Chariots of the Gods at 50
      • Secret History of Ancient Astronauts
      • Of Atlantis and Aliens
      • Aliens and Ancient Texts
      • Profiles in Ancient Astronautics >
        • Erich von Däniken
        • Robert Temple
        • Giorgio Tsoukalos
        • David Childress
      • Blunders in the Sky
      • The Case of the False Quotes
      • Alternative Authors' Quote Fraud
      • David Childress & the Aliens
      • Faking Ancient Art in Uzbekistan
      • Intimations of Persecution
      • Zecharia Sitchin's World
      • Jesus' Alien Ancestors?
      • Extraterrestrial Evolution?
    • Collection: Skeptic Magazine >
      • America Before Review
      • Native American Discovery of Europe
      • Interview: Scott Sigler
      • Golden Fleeced
      • Oh the Horror
      • Discovery of America
      • Supernatural Television
      • Review of Civilization One
      • Who Lost the Middle Ages
      • Charioteer of the Gods
    • Collection: Ancient History >
      • Prehistoric Nuclear War
      • The China Syndrome
      • Atlantis, Mu, and the Maya
      • Easter Island Exposed
      • Who Built the Sphinx?
      • Who Built the Great Pyramid?
      • Archaeological Cover Up?
    • Collection: The Lovecraft Legacy >
      • Pauwels, Bergier, and Lovecraft
      • Lovecraft in Bergier
      • Lovecraft and Scientology
    • Collection: UFOs >
      • Alien Abduction at the Outer Limits
      • Aliens and Anal Probes
      • Ultra-Terrestrials and UFOs
      • Rebels, Queers, and Aliens
    • Scholomance: The Devil's School
    • Prehistory of Chupacabra
    • The Templars, the Holy Grail, & Henry Sinclair
    • Magicians of the Gods Review
    • The Curse of the Pharaohs
    • The Antediluvian Pyramid Myth
    • Whitewashing American Prehistory
    • James Dean's Cursed Porsche
  • The Library
    • Ancient Mysteries >
      • Ancient Texts >
        • Mesopotamian Texts >
          • Atrahasis Epic
          • Epic of Gilgamesh
          • Kutha Creation Legend
          • Babylonian Creation Myth
          • Descent of Ishtar
          • Berossus
          • Comparison of Antediluvian Histories
        • Egyptian Texts >
          • The Shipwrecked Sailor
          • Dream Stela of Thutmose IV
          • The Papyrus of Ani
          • Classical Accounts of the Pyramids
          • Inventory Stela
          • Manetho
          • Eratosthenes' King List
          • The Story of Setna
          • Leon of Pella
          • Diodorus on Egyptian History
          • On Isis and Osiris
          • Famine Stela
          • Old Egyptian Chronicle
          • The Book of Sothis
          • Horapollo
          • Al-Maqrizi's King List
        • Teshub and the Dragon
        • Hermetica >
          • The Three Hermeses
          • Kore Kosmou
          • Corpus Hermeticum
          • The Asclepius
          • The Emerald Tablet
          • Hermetic Fragments
          • Prologue to the Kyranides
          • The Secret of Creation
          • Ancient Alphabets Explained
          • Prologue to Ibn Umayl's Silvery Water
          • Book of the 24 Philosophers
          • Aurora of the Philosophers
        • Hesiod's Theogony
        • Periplus of Hanno
        • Ctesias' Indica
        • Sanchuniathon
        • Sima Qian
        • Syncellus's Enoch Fragments
        • The Book of Enoch
        • Slavonic Enoch
        • Sepher Yetzirah
        • Tacitus' Germania
        • De Dea Syria
        • Aelian's Various Histories
        • Julius Africanus' Chronography
        • Eusebius' Chronicle
        • Chinese Accounts of Rome
        • Ancient Chinese Automaton
        • The Orphic Argonautica
        • Fragments of Panodorus
        • Annianus on the Watchers
        • The Watchers and Antediluvian Wisdom
      • Medieval Texts >
        • Medieval Legends of Ancient Egypt >
          • Medieval Pyramid Lore
          • John Malalas on Ancient Egypt
          • Fragments of Abenephius
          • Akhbar al-zaman
          • Ibrahim ibn Wasif Shah
          • Murtada ibn al-‘Afif
          • Al-Maqrizi on the Pyramids
          • Al-Suyuti on the Pyramids
        • The Hunt for Noah's Ark
        • Isidore of Seville
        • Book of Liang: Fusang
        • Agobard on Magonia
        • Book of Thousands
        • Voyage of Saint Brendan
        • Power of Art and of Nature
        • Travels of Sir John Mandeville
        • Yazidi Revelation and Black Book
        • Al-Biruni on the Great Flood
        • Voyage of the Zeno Brothers
        • The Kensington Runestone (Hoax)
        • Islamic Discovery of America
        • The Aztec Creation Myth
      • Lost Civilizations >
        • Atlantis >
          • Plato's Atlantis Dialogues >
            • Timaeus
            • Critias
          • Fragments on Atlantis
          • Panchaea: The Other Atlantis
          • Eumalos on Atlantis (Hoax)
          • Gómara on Atlantis
          • Sardinia and Atlantis
          • Santorini and Atlantis
          • The Mound Builders and Atlantis
          • Donnelly's Atlantis
          • Atlantis in Morocco
          • Atlantis and the Sea Peoples
          • W. Scott-Elliot >
            • The Story of Atlantis
            • The Lost Lemuria
          • The Lost Atlantis
          • Atlantis in Africa
          • How I Found Atlantis (Hoax)
          • Termier on Atlantis
          • The Critias and Minoan Crete
          • Rebuttal to Termier
          • Further Responses to Termier
          • Flinders Petrie on Atlantis
        • Lost Cities >
          • Miscellaneous Lost Cities
          • The Seven Cities
          • The Lost City of Paititi
          • Manuscript 512
          • The Idolatrous City of Iximaya (Hoax)
          • The 1885 Moberly Lost City Hoax
          • The Elephants of Paredon (Hoax)
        • OOPARTs
        • Oronteus Finaeus Antarctica Map
        • Caucasians in Panama
        • Jefferson's Excavation
        • Fictitious Discoveries in America
        • Against Diffusionism
        • Tunnels Under Peru
        • The Parahyba Inscription (Hoax)
        • Mound Builders
        • Gunung Padang
        • Tales of Enchanted Islands
        • The 1907 Ancient World Map Hoax
        • The 1909 Grand Canyon Hoax
        • The Interglacial Period
        • Solving Oak Island
      • Religious Conspiracies >
        • Pantera, Father of Jesus?
        • Toledot Yeshu
        • Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay on Cathars
        • Testimony of Jean de Châlons
        • Rosslyn Chapel and the 'Prentice's Pillar
        • The Many Wives of Jesus
        • Templar Infiltration of Labor
        • Louis Martin & the Holy Bloodline
        • The Life of St. Issa (Hoax)
        • On the Person of Jesus Christ
      • Giants in the Earth >
        • Fossil Origins of Myths >
          • Fossil Teeth and Bones of Elephants
          • Fossil Elephants
          • Fossil Bones of Teutobochus
          • Fossil Mammoths and Giants
          • Giants' Bones Dug Out of the Earth
          • Fossils and the Supernatural
          • Fossils, Myth, and Pseudo-History
          • Man During the Stone Age
          • Fossil Bones and Giants
          • American Elephant Myths
          • The Mammoth and the Flood
          • Fossils and Myth
          • Fossil Origin of the Cyclops
          • Mastodon, Mammoth, and Man
        • Fragments on Giants
        • Manichaean Book of Giants
        • Geoffrey on British Giants
        • Alfonso X's Hermetic History of Giants
        • Boccaccio and the Fossil 'Giant'
        • Book of Howth
        • Purchas His Pilgrimage
        • Edmond Temple's 1827 Giant Investigation
        • The Giants of Sardinia
        • Giants and the Sons of God
        • The Magnetism of Evil
        • Tertiary Giants
        • Smithsonian Giant Reports
        • Early American Giants
        • The Giant of Coahuila
        • Jewish Encyclopedia on Giants
        • Index of Giants
        • Newspaper Accounts of Giants
        • Lanier's A Book of Giants
      • Science and History >
        • Halley on Noah's Comet
        • The Newport Tower
        • Iron: The Stone from Heaven
        • Ararat and the Ark
        • Pyramid Facts and Fancies
        • Argonauts before Homer
        • The Deluge
        • Crown Prince Rudolf on the Pyramids
        • Old Mythology in New Apparel
        • Blavatsky on Dinosaurs
        • Teddy Roosevelt on Bigfoot
        • Devil Worship in France
        • Maspero's Review of Akhbar al-zaman
        • The Holy Grail as Lucifer's Crown Jewel
        • The Mutinous Sea
        • The Rock Wall of Rockwall
        • Fabulous Zoology
        • The Origins of Talos
        • Mexican Mythology
        • Chinese Pyramids
        • Maqrizi's Names of the Pharaohs
      • Extreme History >
        • Roman Empire Hoax
        • American Antiquities
        • American Cataclysms
        • England, the Remnant of Judah
        • Historical Chronology of the Mexicans
        • Maspero on the Predynastic Sphinx
        • Vestiges of the Mayas
        • Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel
        • Origins of the Egyptian People
        • The Secret Doctrine >
          • Volume 1: Cosmogenesis
          • Volume 2: Anthropogenesis
        • Phoenicians in America
        • The Electric Ark
        • Traces of European Influence
        • Prince Henry Sinclair
        • Pyramid Prophecies
        • Templars of Ancient Mexico
        • Chronology and the "Riddle of the Sphinx"
        • The Faith of Ancient Egypt
        • Spirit of the Hour in Archaeology
        • Book of the Damned
        • Great Pyramid As Noah's Ark
        • Richard Shaver's Proofs
    • Alien Encounters >
      • US Government Ancient Astronaut Files >
        • Fortean Society and Columbus
        • Inquiry into Shaver and Palmer
        • The Skyfort Document
        • Whirling Wheels
        • Denver Ancient Astronaut Lecture
        • Soviet Search for Lemuria
        • Visitors from Outer Space
        • Unidentified Flying Objects (Abstract)
        • "Flying Saucers"? They're a Myth
        • UFO Hypothesis Survival Questions
        • Air Force Academy UFO Textbook
        • The Condon Report on Ancient Astronauts
        • Atlantis Discovery Telegrams
        • Ancient Astronaut Society Telegram
        • Noah's Ark Cables
        • The Von Daniken Letter
        • CIA Psychic Probe of Ancient Mars
        • Scott Wolter Lawsuit
        • UFOs in Ancient China
        • CIA Report on Noah's Ark
        • CIA Noah's Ark Memos
        • Congressional Ancient Aliens Testimony
        • Ancient Astronaut and Nibiru Email
        • Congressional Ancient Mars Hearing
        • House UFO Hearing
      • Ancient Extraterrestrials >
        • Premodern UFO Sightings
        • The Moon Hoax
        • Inhabitants of Other Planets
        • Blavatsky on Ancient Astronauts
        • The Stanzas of Dzyan (Hoax)
        • Aerolites and Religion
        • What Is Theosophy?
        • Plane of Ether
        • The Adepts from Venus
      • A Message from Mars
      • Saucer Mystery Solved?
      • Orville Wright on UFOs
      • Interdimensional Flying Saucers
      • Flying Saucers Are Real
      • Report on UFOs
    • The Supernatural >
      • The Devils of Loudun
      • Sublime and Beautiful
      • Voltaire on Vampires
      • Demonology and Witchcraft
      • Thaumaturgia
      • Bulgarian Vampires
      • Religion and Evolution
      • Transylvanian Superstitions
      • Defining a Zombie
      • Dread of the Supernatural
      • Vampires
      • Werewolves and Vampires and Ghouls
      • Science and Fairy Stories
      • The Cursed Car
    • Classic Fiction >
      • Lucian's True History
      • Some Words with a Mummy
      • The Coming Race
      • King Solomon's Mines
      • An Inhabitant of Carcosa
      • The Xipéhuz
      • Lot No. 249
      • The Novel of the Black Seal
      • The Island of Doctor Moreau
      • Pharaoh's Curse
      • Edison's Conquest of Mars
      • The Lost Continent
      • Count Magnus
      • The Mysterious Stranger
      • The Wendigo
      • Sredni Vashtar
      • The Lost World
      • The Red One
      • H. P. Lovecraft >
        • Dagon
        • The Call of Cthulhu
        • History of the Necronomicon
        • At the Mountains of Madness
        • Lovecraft's Library in 1932
      • The Skeptical Poltergeist
      • The Corpse on the Grating
      • The Second Satellite
      • Queen of the Black Coast
      • A Martian Odyssey
    • Classic Genre Movies
    • Miscellaneous Documents >
      • The Balloon-Hoax
      • A Problem in Greek Ethics
      • The Migration of Symbols
      • The Gospel of Intensity
      • De Profundis
      • The Life and Death of Crown Prince Rudolf
      • The Bathtub Hoax
      • Crown Prince Rudolf's Letters
      • Position of Viking Women
      • Employment of Homosexuals
      • James Dean's Love Letters
      • The Amazing James Dean Hoax!
    • Free Classic Pseudohistory eBooks
  • About Jason
    • Biography
    • Jason in the Media
    • Contact Jason
    • About JasonColavito.com
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Search