Information continues to dribble out about the Rockwall, Tex. “rock wall,” the allegedly manmade brick wall erected by Atlanteans, Carthaginians, or Biblical giants that looks suspiciously like a limestone clastic dyke (because it is, according to 125 years’ worth of geological analysis). As you will recall, Scott Wolter and the America Unearthed crew descended on Rockwall last month to “investigate” the origins of the geological formation. In yesterday’s Rockwall Herald-Banner, we learned more information about this dig. Be sure to take a gander at the photograph attached to the article, which shows the property owner using heavy equipment to “excavate” this supposed proof of prehistoric advanced civilization by smashing it (or at least the rock surrounding it) to pieces while the film crew records the destruction. Science! Hyundai provided the production with “two monster track hoes and a reticulating loader” for unearthing the limestone dyke. Theoretically, of course, one would be a bit more careful if one were actually looking for proof of a lost race of wall builders or the only physical proof of Biblical giants or Atlantis ever found. If the article’s tone is to be believed, all involved are leaning toward a natural geological explanation. “Regardless of what it is, it is an amazing, weird, cool thing,” Wolter told the paper. “I can see why people really got excited about it. I’ve never seen anything like it.” So why are they smashing the wall? To study the pieces of it for paleomagentism, the record of the magnetic field of the earth at the time the rocks formed. “The theory is, if this is a natural feature then all the arrows should be pointing in the same direction because the rock was all made at the same time,” Wolter said. “If it’s a man-made feature, as they put the blocks in they would be rotated and they would not line up, so the arrows should be random going in all directions.” Also, because this is “serious” science, no one is allowed to know the results of the investigation until the show airs later this year. Wolter will not be conducting the tests himself, but rather merely observing the work of John Giessman, a UT-Dallas geologist who has researched paleomagentism and rock magnetism extensively. Ironically, Dr. Giessman has devoted his career to advocating for the importance of science and combating public misunderstanding of science. I wonder if he ever watched the show.
One of the more interesting takeaways from the article is that Scott Wolter and the producers of the show told the paper they were not familiar with the Rockwall rock wall until someone from the town called their tip line (yes, they have a tip line) to ask them to investigate. According to the son of the property owner, a man named Adam Nix of the Collin County Historical Foundation contacted History about bringing the show to town. This is especially interesting since last year an article about the Rockwall rock wall appeared in an anthology of Ancient American magazine articles (The Lost Worlds of Ancient America, 2012) that included not one but two articles by Scott Wolter himself. Is he not familiar with the books he appears in, or the magazine he writes for?
26 Comments
Gunn
5/21/2013 08:17:49 am
http://www.redicecreations.com/radio/2013/05/RIR-130514.php
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5/21/2013 10:36:32 am
I know about Wolter's radio interview. In fact, I was invited to participate in a radio show with Wolter set for this week, but Wolter canceled the appearance as soon as he learned that the show planned to have on people with opposing viewpoints, according to the show's host. I didn't go around screaming about this because, believe it or not, I'm not a dick and I don't report every negative thing the man does. I try to avoid making things personal since Wolter's personality is irrelevant to his arguments. But, after this week, what the hell? There you have it: He refused to appear on a radio show with me.
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5/21/2013 10:38:00 am
I should clarify that arrangements for this show were being made back in the winter, before any of the current hostilities, and when Wolter still was posting on my blog about his desire to seek the truth honestly and collaboratively.
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Mike M
5/21/2013 01:39:51 pm
The picture of a backhoe scraping away at the vertical face of a wall as part of an effort to expose its history reminded me of a classic archaeology text by Mortimer Wheeler, a pioneer of modern field techniques. In his chapter on excavating structures (like walls) he explains and illustrates the importance of documenting the horizontal strata that lie against the vertical face of the wall. This provides the archaeological evidence of events following the construction of the wall. The picture shown here is precisely the wrong way to excavate a wall feature. But of course, this is "America Unearthed." It would almost be disappointing to see any kind of archaeological work done properly.
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Q
5/5/2015 07:38:30 am
I just watched this eppisode, and almost immediately I though, from my layman's perspective (just a smalltown hs "earthsciene" --geology and meteorology-- course) it looked like it was probably natural.
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Professor PhD
10/8/2021 02:44:53 pm
Trust the fake science eh?
Dave Lewis
5/21/2013 06:56:23 pm
Coast to Coast AM had Josh Reeves on May 11. Quoting the show description...
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Jason Alexander
8/24/2013 06:13:04 pm
He convinced someone. Although his ideas are his own. Mr. Sam Osmanagich the discover of the Bosnian Pyramids is slated attend a presentation of his in Texas next Month.
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Chris S
12/18/2013 04:24:47 pm
I can't be the only one who noticed that all his sample cores came from the same stone, right? I mean, the purpose of taking cores in the first place was to see whether different stones lined up magnetically or not. Of course the fact that there was mortar between the different stones would render the hypothesis DOA, but after watching a potentially archaeological significant site dug into with a backhoe, I guess he's not so concerned with the science of it after all.
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Tammy W
12/21/2013 02:13:04 pm
THANK YOU Chris! I am a classically trained musician and not involved in the science community other than being an incredible documentary geek and finding this episode of particularly interesting since I grew up a few hours from this site in Euless, TX. You are the first person that has echoed my thoughts on the lack of diversity of the core samples negating his "conclusive" evidence.
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S
12/29/2013 06:10:57 pm
I just watched the episode, and while it only seems to show them sampling a single block, a little later it shows a wider angle and it appears that they sampled at least 4 different blocks...
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Kevin
1/3/2014 07:18:40 am
This bothered me as well. They were from different stones, but they took very few samples from very few stones that were very close together. Just by chance those blocks could have been placed with the same orientation. I would think to be considered even decent science, that they would take many more samples from a wide variety of stones from all over the wall. I've heard that it's already been proven elsewhere that it is a natural formation, but it still bothered me that THIS was being passed off as serious science.
Nancy N
2/4/2016 01:05:35 pm
I just found this website (Jan 2016) and am SO glad others noticed the restricted area of test borings. Makes me more comfortable with my powers of observation.
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Pat K
12/29/2013 02:17:03 pm
Just watched the episode and noticed the same thing... all the core samples were from the same "block" of stone. Of course the magnetic lines will all be going the same way! If this is natural as the episode suggests, please explain the 90 angle walls, or the fact that the area is a perfectly enclosed area by the wall. If indeed a fracture as he suggests then it should be random or fall within fracture lines, not making a 90 degree angle.
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Brandon
10/31/2022 02:13:07 am
EXACTLY.... An what about the fact that some other more recent world event could have changed the magnetic orientation of the material.. not to mention, they may be stones that were all oriented the same way to begin with.. and whats on the othee side of the wall.. IT NEVER SHOWS US... NO ONE ever shows us.. !!
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Q
11/2/2022 12:00:11 am
I take rhe fact that rhwy nevwr try to ahow ua the other sisw od the wall as good evidence rherw is no other side ro ahow, because its jut a natural rock formation.
Claudia
1/3/2014 08:22:01 am
I just watched the show, and noticed a 90 degree angle wall
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Mike
1/14/2014 08:37:34 pm
Scott Wolter is a fake and a fraud. You ought to contact the police and notify them of this situation. The show glossed over any serious scientific research. Google L A Marzulli, Josh Reeves, or John Lindsey and read or watch their findings.
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Mitch
1/18/2014 07:48:48 pm
All samples came from the exact same stone. I'm watching it again right now. It's a sham. They cored the same stone and then in explaining the theory of the magnetism they showed arrows on all kinds of stones. I saw this when I watched and my search led me to this blog!
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Fred
6/16/2014 07:02:26 am
I have a university degree in geology and am also a published science author and have also worked on the educational staff of a major natural history museum. I have examined clastic dykes in California and the ones I saw, close up, do not look much like the one in Texas in this TV show. For one thing, the clastic dykes I have seen in person are not so uniform in the material that was deposited in them (neither in mineralogy nor grain size). Also, none I have seen or read about run for tens of miles, nor have right angles at any point. I do not know the real origin of the Rockwall, TX dyke (wall?) nor have any good theories. I would like to know, however, why no one has done a thorough survey of the entire deposit or wall and its parameters and real depth. For instance, why no ground penetrating radar studies? There is much to learn about this rock wall or dyke and whatever the TV show crew found or claim to "find" is hardly conclusive or definitive...
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Lisa
1/9/2017 01:35:02 pm
The reason why they won't continue investingating or having any archeologist come in and do their job is because the town of Rockwall is one of the richest counties in Texas. There is so many fancy mansions and condos and lots of corporations that operate on this 20 mile area of the rock wall. Almost the whole town has the Rock wall underneath them. So, they (whoever they are), have been hiding this secret for a long time and will go lengths to keep it from being brought up again. I lived in Garland, a town next door to Rockwall. I grew up there. And never heard anything about this until a couple of years ago. I was so interested in the subject I went to the old court house in town off of Hwy 66 and took a picture of the historical marker with some of the rocks from the wall. Of course these rocks do not look like the rocks that was on the show. So, someone is covering up something and don't want anyone to know. And it's all about the money. That's for sure!
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Entertained
1/4/2015 04:10:33 am
Colavito, what is your obsession with Scott Wolter? Do you have a secret (or not so secret) man-crush on him?
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Laura
2/21/2016 01:13:03 pm
I am a personal friend of Josh Reeves and I can tell you that I have watched his 4 hr long documentary about the wall. He has studied it's mineral composition and even traveled to the quarry from which these materials originated that is located hours south of the wall. The history channel interviewed him months previous to this show's premier and essentially stole this story from him without revealing what they intended to do with the information. It is a total disgrace to those very few that do true research. This is no natural structure because these minerals absolutely do not form together in nature and they're properties once formed are absolutely incredible as far as amplification of energy goes. Please check out his research and take it from there if you want any real answers....And never listen to the History channel because they are only interested in deception when it concerns evidence that goes against commonly accepted belief.
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Vicki Nutter
7/16/2016 12:15:30 pm
What about sonar to get some underground info no digging to get an underground map!
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Lisa
1/9/2017 01:39:28 pm
HERE is the map of the rock wall underneath the town of Rockwall
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Jack Letcher
5/22/2021 01:31:11 am
Sir ;
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