More Details Emerge on "America Unearthed" Investigation of Rockwall, TX Rock Wall

5/21/2013

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

Jason, "It's okay to say, 'I don't know.'"

Jason Colavito link

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.

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.

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.

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.

So to check my hunch I googled Rockwall Texas Geology, which is how I ended up here.

before I could write a post, I got a call and watched the end, where Wolter declares it is a natural formation of a sandstone dyke pushed up through the surrounding clay.

So, I'll try to make it short:

I have seen this show before, and sometimes I feel wolter stops short of saying its 100% false, and says its 99% unlikely, but its possible.

This happens all through the show, even though, from his tones and facial expressions I often get the impression he already knows its bunkum, and is genuinly dissapointed, but is just trying to keep the show entertaining by maintaining suspense. Which I hate, but I get it. This is also true at least up until the show airs he does the same behavior, but its to ensure people who have thwir interest piqued will watch. If he doesn't get people to watch, then he loses his meal ticket, so I can abide this.

Now I suspect he knew going in this was bunk, and if not, then immediately upon seeing the wall, based entirely on his tone, body language, and phrasings.

But he needs to do the show complete.

Whatever, thats how that all works, and whatever he needs to do to keep interest so long as he isn't lying, whatever.

In any case, all I really came to point out, because for the most part I thought rhis was all very good discussion, is

1) Its actually quite reasonable to assume that Wolter is not reading ever article in the pulications which choose to publish his writing. Most people would not. Granted this may be the type of thing he was interested to read, any number of perfectly acceptable reasons exist to justify him not being aware of them.

2) Someone mentioned an archeological dig wouldn't be performed this way because you would want to be aware of and documebt,the strata of materialsin the area as you dig.

However, in the situations where:

A - you believe its probably a natural feature
B - you are on private property, with a time crunch, and the land owner has already admitted to completely digging up all the surround area far deeper then you plan to, and done so with heavy equipment, and then back filled it all, which is supported by eye witnesses, photos and maps of the excavation.

C) and is willing to go that route again just to get you down to the location.

All of that strata would be useless to you. Its been thougroughly mixed and contaminated, unless absolutely no other option existed you would start elesewhere for the dig and do it in that style.

If no other pption existed there would be no need to do more than sift for what it contained and ensure you are not digging past the area which was already dug and back-filled.

All artifacts would be suspect, they may have been added later, and their location in the pit would give you little to no indication of their actual place in the pile.

So for those reasons I gotta give it on this one, your show is about investigating the claim, you are already pretty sure its false, and you can't trust any minor artifacts you dig up as being authentic or determine what their origin in the mix was, so why not just dig up the dike with heavy machinery again.

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...

"Reeves shared his research into a mysterious wall buried under Rockwall, Texas. The ancient structure was built by an advanced civilization that pre-dated the arrival of Native Americans, he revealed. Beneath Rockwall are crystals with strong piezoelectrical properties, Reeves reported, noting how they may have been part of a harmonic energy generator used to launch spacecraft. His investigation into who could have built the wall, as well as the archaic mounds found all over the world, uncovered evidence for a race of giants."

Reeves wasn't particularly convincing.

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.

C2CAM you need to be a little out there to be on the show. But the information is still valid.

Check it out if your in Texas
https://www.facebook.com/events/509138675834131/?ref=3

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.. !!

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.

Its such a rudimentary thing for any human to think whata on rhw orhwr side, that the only reason they would ever dig that largw a hole and not work to uncover the "top" of the wqll and thwn dig down rhe orhwr side ro expose it (which wouod make it quite clearly a wall and not just a geologic feature) is becauwr there is no other side, because ir is just a big slab of rock bwcause ir 8a jiat a gwologic feature.

when something like that which ia obvious as a way to prove a point and not much work isnr undertaken its a red flag that it would undermine their position

Claudia

1/3/2014 08:22:01 am

I just watched the show, and noticed a 90 degree angle wall

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.

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!

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...

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!

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?

Dude, spend more time investigating aliens and leave the geology to experts

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.

Vicki Nutter

7/16/2016 12:15:30 pm

What about sonar to get some underground info no digging to get an underground map!

1/9/2017 01:39:28 pm

HERE is the map of the rock wall underneath the town of Rockwall

http://ancientexplorers.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/07/map.jpg

Jack Letcher

5/22/2021 01:31:11 am

Sir ;
I ,.. E-mailed this letter to Scott Wolter .
Some months back, approximately 7or 8 months ago actually
Noting my concerns on the conclusions of their Paleomagnetic findings.... This is the E-mail I sent Scott

Scott
I believe that a "misassumption" of the Paleomagnetic tests, has been made. Though I have no Doubt that the test itself was " Factual. " There is an unperceived false reading. Not, an intentional human, or mechanical error. We are unfortunately, being blinded by it's principle guidance. And are not heeding other highly probable additional facts. Facts that must be considered as an inclusive factor. Not just ( Looking for the natural flowing alignment in the Earths magnetic field ) Period … end of thought .
Of course the "ROCK" being tested, should only have been found in alignment if it were a natural occurrence. And this is Exactly !! what has been found a "Natural Occurrence".!!!
It's always been said;… the Earth heals itself … to me, this speaks volumes … Volumes of Time … That have taken the Rockwall, and slowly covered it with the centuries that past. And the millions of years that followed. The earth healed itself by "Enveloping" the Rockwall with it's unique and powerful magnetic field. And slowly corrected the geomagnetism that had been displaced. I truly believe this is the reason for the perfect paleomagnetic test findings. That quite truthfully, should have been found. And the unfortunate conclusion, the " Rockwall " received.... I hold no Degrees or certificates in any professionalism , to help confirm this Hypothesis. I've brought this to your attention, because I realize " you do."!!! And that you have the ability to understand that of which I am trying desperately to convey. I hope I haven't stepped too far out of the realm of probabilities . But I believe we have been here and gone. More times than we will ever know.
Lost in time, so to speak, To discover, be discovered and rediscover. Time, and time again. To write history and rewrite history. And then… Begin…and even begin again. I know that everyone wants and needs only the facts.
And when we come face to face with the facts. We can't just, step over, step around .Or just walk on by ?
We need to pay heed, and Except the evidence, even when facts may leave us in confusion,
of what once was, "was".!!! … and not pretend it could never have been.
I couldn't settle with "nothing" being said or left on a positive note, on behalf of the Rockwall.
And yes , it would seem,.. I too,.. am a believer, in the "man made theory ".
I hope that you can some how reaffirm the town of Rockwall that this is a conclusion, that I believe holds merit.
My thoughts also came to light for the Rockwall . Was with the Discovery of a 400 million year old Hammer ,
of which too !!…was found in Texas.
I Only Hope, that reaching out to you.
Will help you with your continued Quest, to an …
… America Unearthed …… Before We Bury it Again.
…… Jack Letcher ……