First, a quick note: Actor Thomas Jane signed on to narrate Sirius, a crowd-sourced “documentary” opening this month that claims that UFOs can provide unlimited free energy, provided that viewers give the filmmaker, osteopath and ufologist Steven Greer, money. Free energy and modern UFO sightings are beyond my scope, but Greer also claims that he found a very tiny alien mummy in the Atacama Desert and will be overturning all scientific dogma by releasing the results of DNA tests conducted on the corpse in his film. Images of the body show what appears to be an artificial doll-like body. The weirdly articulated joints and hard, smooth appearance suggest artificiality. I love the weasel words Greer uses, stating that a leading authority on skeletal abnormalities declared that the body is “unlike any known skeletal structure found in humans”—not that it is an actual creature. Anyway, I thought some of you might be interested.
Moving on. Yesterday, I discussed how Olaus Magnus’ History of the Northern Peoples (1555) provided a source for the younger Nicolò Zeno in creating his hoax narrative about how Prince Zichmni founded a colony on Greenland in the shadow of a (fictitious) volcano. This got me wondering how other parts of the Zeno Narrative can be related to literary antecedents. I wonder whether Zeno was attempting to reverse and rework the adventures of King Arthur and the Argonauts in the North.
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In researching the Henry Sinclair story, I’ve found one claim repeated frequently in the recent literature: The Mi’kmaq (Micmac) people worshiped Henry Sinclair as a god named Glooscap, and the myth of Glooscap is identical to the history of Henry Sinclair. Glooscap was first introduced to non-Native audiences through the 1894 book The Legends of the Micmacs by Silas Rand, the basis for many later retellings. Most subsequent writers are not aware that Rand’s stories were not meant to be comprehensive or definitive since folklore takes many forms and undergoes many variants across time and space.
Well, if there is a cult of Henry Sinclair in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, it’s worth looking for. Sadly, this is another case where alternative writers simply repeat each other and never check the sources. But in checking those sources, I also discovered some interesting facts about the Nova Scotia connection that pretty much negate any attempt to identify Sinclair with Oak Island. Let me start with something fun: The ad agency behind OnStar wants me to put them in touch with Giorgio Tsoukalos so he can star in their new ad campaign. Let's all point out right now that OnStar would be ill served by tying their brand, supposedly known for reliability and accurate, helpful information, to Giorgio Tsoukalos, who is clearly not a reliable source of accurate information. I promise to make merciless fun of any such ad and to do my best to point out the idiocy of OnStar tying itself to Ancient Aliens.
Today, I’m going to share a few facts about America Unearthed and its predecessor, Holy Grail in America, that help explain some of the deception we see on the show. First, the easy piece: On the Hooked X website (as of this writing), Scott Wolter claims that “Committee Films won the 2009 National Association of Television Production Executives (NATPE) Best New Documentary Film for Holy Grail in America in January of 2009.” |
AuthorI 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. Newsletters
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