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 Scrapbook
      • 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

Review of America Unearthed S02E05: "Grand Canyon Treasure"

12/29/2013

177 Comments

 
Well, this was a new one: For the first time, a government official issued a warning about an episode of America Unearthed. An article in the Centralia (Illinois) Morning Sentinel reported earlier this week (in print only, not online) that an Illinois state archaeology official asked viewers to exercise caution when evaluating claims about the alleged Egyptian artifacts of Burrows Cave, which Illinois considers a hoax. Illinois shouldn’t be too worried, though. While Wolter, in edited remarks, betrayed no doubt that the Burrows Cave artifacts were genuine in 2009’s Holy Grail in America he later went on record on his corporate website as declaring several Burrows Cave artifacts a “hoax.” However, if you believe his Akhenaten to the Founding Fathers (2013), despite “one absolute fake and likely three additional ones” he now says “a final conclusion … cannot be reached due to a lack of evidence” (p. 160).

Nevertheless, there is reason for some concern. America Unearthed chose not to disclose that its Burrows Cave “expert,” Harry Hubbard, is co-owner of Alexander Helios (formerly called Ptolemy Productions), an organization set up in the 1990s to financially exploit the Burrows Cave “mystery” (and that of competing nearby caves) across a series of media properties, including books, DVDs, on-demand video, etc., in which Hubbard claims that Alexander Helios, son of Cleopatra VII, brought Egyptian treasure to Illinois. He also the body of Alexander the Great rests in the caves. This financial conflict of interest really ought to have been disclosed since Hubbard stands to gain massively from national television exposure. But don’t take my word for it. Alexander Helios put out a press release directing viewers to its online shop and the variety of products available for purchase. At one point, Alexander Helios was attempting to sell allegedly “authentic” Illinois Caves Egyptian and Roman artifacts for prices ranging from $45,000 to $2.5 million. If the artifacts were genuine and retrieved after 1989, sale would be illegal under Illinois law (20 ILCS 3440) because the state forbids the removal of grave goods without a permit and Alexander Helios claims that the cave is Alexander Helios’ tomb, complete with skeleton. Today the company settles for selling Hubbard’s books for $10 a pop. Obviously, Hubbard can be relied upon to declare any Burrows Cave or “Egyptian” material authentic since it goes directly to his bottom line.

With that in mind, let’s spend a few minutes thinking about the role of Egypt in American history. As always, if you are familiar with the background, you are welcome to skip down to the “Episode” heading for the episode review.

Egypt in America

For the long shadow that Egypt casts over history, especially fringe history, it is somewhat surprising that Egypt is one of the least-invoked cultures said to have “discovered” and colonized America in ancient times. The reasons for this are twofold: First was a practical reason: Egypt was not known in the nineteenth century to have had a major seafaring tradition, and it was difficult to argue that they somehow developed ships capable of sailing the oceans without leaving behind a trace. This would change with the discovery in 1954 of full-sized ships buried near the Great Pyramid, and the subsequent discovery of seagoing vessels used for African coastal voyages.

The second reason was ideological: The most important claimants to America were the Lost Tribes of Israel, through whom America absorbed the mantle of Promised Land. To have Egyptians in America would be to ally the continent with Pharaoh, the biblical oppressor of Israel. Ideologically, this simply would not do in the eighteenth or nineteenth century, when allying one’s homeland with God was a key component of national identity. Egypt, like Babylon, was a place where God’s grace did not extent. Josiah Priest, one of the most popular early authors on the “ancient mystery” genre reached just this conclusion: America had been inhabited by a lost white race, probably the Lost Tribes of Israel—not Egypt.

This changed for a number of reasons as the nineteenth century wore on. First, Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt launched the French Egyptomania, which spread to Britain and to America. As Americans began importing mummies and Egyptian artifacts to fill museums and cabinets of curiosities (as Edgar Allan Poe described), the old civilization of Egypt took on an air of the romantic. By the end of the nineteenth century, a full-scale effort was underway to make Egypt acceptable to pious audiences. Adapting the myth of the Two Pillars found in Flavius Josephus, in which Seth’s children build a pillar of stone in Siriad (Egypt) (Antiquities of the Jews 1.2.3), Victorian scholars began to see in the Great Pyramid of Egypt a building created by Israelites to encode God’s plan, laying out mathematically the entire history of the earth.

The apex of this line of thought was Scottish astronomer Charles Piazzi-Smyth’s Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid (1864), which reclaimed the Great Pyramid for the Abrahamic faiths through math and wishful thinking:

The Great Pyramid, a pre-historic and entirely pre-Mosaic monument, had remained sealed in all its more important divisions, from the date of its foundation up to an advanced period of the Christian dispensation; and was then found, on being opened and examined, entirely free from that accursed thing which formed the leprosy of the East in ancient days—idolatry.

In other words, a belief in the divine purpose of the pyramid could let good Christians enjoy Egyptian civilization without worry that they were endorsing Pharaoh.

As religious orthodoxy declined in the nineteenth century, especially after Darwin’s Origin of Species, Egypt began to loom ever larger. The nascent sciences of anthropology and archaeology adopted the idea of cultural evolution, and they looked to Egypt and to Mesopotamia as the first great civilizations. These cultures were quickly becoming not God’s enemies but the foundation of Western civilization itself.

The American congressman Ignatius Donnelly captured the trend well when he decided in his 1882 Atlantis: The Antediluvian World that the greatest ancient civilization, Atlantis, bequeathed its civilization to both the peoples of the Americas and to the peoples of the Old World—thus accounting for “Egyptian” elements in America, such as pyramids, hieroglyphs, and mythology: “the mythology of Egypt and Peru represented the original religion of Atlantis, which was sun-worship.” In so doing, Donnelly proposed a connection between the Americas and Egypt that allowed for Egyptian-style influence without the need for actual Egyptians. This was a step up from Josiah Priest, who proposed that Atlantis had been the land bridge that let the Hebrews walk to America.

It was from the Atlantis story that modern claims for Egyptians in America indirectly emerged, influenced strongly by the Egyptomania spawned by the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922 and the subsequent use of Egyptian motifs in Art Deco design. Shortly after, the “sleeping prophet,” Edgar Cayce, claimed to have been an Egyptian priest named RaTa in a previous life, and this RaTa was, just as in Donnelly, a worshipper only of the sun and, as in Piazzi-Smyth, the architect of the Great Pyramid as part of God’s plan. RaTa apparently revealed that the original records of Atlantis could be found in Egypt and America: “And in the temple records ...in Egypt... Also the records that were carried to what is now Yucatan in America...” (session 440-5, September 8, 1935). It astonishes me how believers ignore that Cayce’s description of Atlantean life is so clearly derived from Victorian fringe history, Freud’s Moses and Monotheism, and other obvious sources. RaTa is essentially Akhenaten filtered through Theosophy.

But the real push to find Egyptian antiquities in America came after zoologist Barry Fell started an epic quest to identify scratch marks around the world as evidence of a Greco-Egyptian circumnavigation of the world by a sailor named Maui and Eratosthenes during the reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes in 232 BCE. His “discovery” of scratches in Indonesia that he tied to Maui led him to search for other ancient voyages, culminating in America B.C. (1976), his epic of how scratch marks worldwide show that Europeans of every shade of white civilized the non-white parts of the world: Phoenicians, Greeks, Irish, and many more. Fell’s work fed back into Cayce’s, and some confused fringe historians today misidentify RaTa as the voyager of 232 BCE.

By this point, the religious stigma of Egypt had fallen away, and as a result of countless mid-century fringe history and ancient astronaut writers like Erich von Däniken, Egypt was now an “ancient mystery” and the target of mystery-mongering authors, the ultimate source of high technology, lost magical powers, and esoteric truth. It was in this context that shortly after the 1970s fringe history craze a series of fake antiquities that seemingly confirmed every aspect of America B.C. started to emerge from Burrows Cave in Illinois beginning in 1982. That the Burrows Cave artifacts were fake was so obvious that even Barry Fell himself confirmed that one was in fact a poor copy of an illustration from America B.C., complete with Fell’s own transcription error!

Scott Wolter has long been interested in Burrows Cave, and he discussed the site in his first Committee Films/History Channel production, Holy Grail in America (2009). I’ve written about it before, and I will reprint that discussion below, in slightly edited form:

Burrows Cave

The so-called Burrows Cave is an “ancient” site that dates all the way back to 1982, when Russell Burrows began hawking artifacts in a faux-Egyptian art style that he claimed to have found in an Illinois cave. When investigators from the Early Sites Research Society tried to pin down the location of the cave and its supposed wonders, they came up empty-handed. Burrows refused to tell anyone where the cave is, despite regularly producing phantasmagorical new “artifacts” in a range of ancient art styles. Thousands of such artifacts appeared, and Burrows asserted that $60 million in gold was buried in the cave, which he worried that the Illinois state government would “steal” from him, prompting him to claim to have dynamited the cave entrance in 1989.

Investigators found evidence that the Burrows Cave hoax had ties to Mormon cult archaeology, and some fringe groups suggested that the objects were the fabled Temple Treasure of Solomon, lost when Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem in 568 BCE. This aligned with Mormon claims that Jews fled Jerusalem and came to America. Among supporters of this view is the convicted neo-Nazi pedophile Frank Joseph (a.k.a. Frank Collin), who edited articles about the cave in his magazine Ancient American with funding from Mormon extremists. Ancient American also published some of Scott Wolter’s only non-self-published reports using his “new science” of archaeopetrography. Another supporter of this view is Arnold Murray, a Christian extremist, who believes that the British were some of the Lost Tribes of Israel and therefore Anglo-Saxons in America are God’s chosen people, and America His chosen kingdom.

Other fringe writers differed from the Mormon/Evangelical-influenced view, however, concocting a conspiracy whereby the Knights Templar found the treasure buried in Jerusalem while headquartered on the Temple Mount and spirited it away to America after the suppression of their order in 1307. The treasure was meant to be the patrimony for a new state, one celebrating the “sacred feminine” and ruled by the Bloodline of Christ, a state represented by the Kensington Rune Stone, the major land claim to the entire Mississippi watershed.

Here’s how the story played out in Holy Grail in America:

Narrator: Legend says the cave lies somewhere along a branch of the Little Wabash River in Illinois, in an area known as Little Egypt.

Wolter: I find it kind of ironic that we have this cave that’s down in that same area that has many artifacts with Egyptian iconography and symbolism, so it’s a very interesting coincidence.

Narrator: All of the artifacts show Egyptian and religious scenes, a reverence of gods and goddesses that was part of a Gnostic belief system strictly forbidden by the Church, but allegedly practiced by the Templars.

Wolter: What we have here are, uh, appears to be a female goddess figure, perhaps with a dog or wolf’s head holding a crosier vertically and an Egyptian-style ankh in the right hand.

[The narrator asserts that Burrows Cave is located in the “supposed rune stone land claim.”]

Wolter: If you could prove you navigated to the headwaters of a major waterway and buried this land claim, you could claim that entire waterway and the land adjacent to it. By placing a land claim, these people claimed the Mississippi watershed and the Red River watershed to the north all the way to Hudson’s Bay, which is essentially over half of the North American continent.

[…]

Narrator: … Most archaeologists think they’re fakes, part of a fantastic hoax. … It is very doubtful that these objects of dubious origin represent the Templar treasure.

It is interesting that in 2009 producers Maria and Andy Awes maintained enough journalistic sense to present the mainstream point of view, while Wolter (in the edited remarks shown in the program) betrayed not a hint of doubt that the obviously fake material was anything but legitimate. (Wolter would later revise his opinion after discovering evidence of a hoax.) Note, though, that Burrows Cave was attributed in this documentary to an unnamed “legend” rather than the actual facts to give it a patina of age and mystery it does not deserve.

The "Egyptian" Grand Canyon Cave

Against this rather straightforward progression of fringe ideas about Egyptian voyages to America is the story of the Grand Canyon cave where modern legend imagines that the Egyptians had some sort of magical tomb, temple, or base. This story was the subject of one of the very first skeptical articles I ever wrote, back in 2002, and nothing has changed any of the conclusions that were already obvious back then.

The story begins in March of 1909 when on a newspaper called the Arizona Gazette began recording the adventures of an explorer called G. E. Kinkaid. On April 5, 1909 it published under the headline “Explorations in the Grand Canyon” the story of how a Smithsonian scholar named S. A. Jordan and an adventurer named G. E. Kinkaid had found a series of caves in the Grand Canyon stuffed with artifacts of no certain provenance and room for 50,000 (!) people. I have of course placed the full text of the article in my Library.

The article is and remains a hoax, not dissimilar to the great Moon Hoax of 1835, Mark Twain’s Petrified Man hoax of 1862, or, more closely still, the Atlantis hoax of 1912, when William Randolph Hearst’s New American ran a two page “report” about an archaeologist’s discovery of proof of Atlantean influence on ancient cultures worldwide. We’ll look into the characters involved more below, but suffice it to say that 1909 was in the middle of a period of rampant hoaxing, what by some accounts was the heyday of hoaxing. In 1899, reporters from four Denver newspapers hoaxed the claim that American businesses were bidding for the right to demolish the Great Wall of China. In October 1899 McClure’s Magazine published a story claiming that a live wooly mammoth had been found and killed. The magazine had to apologize that it wasn’t labeled as clearly as it could have been that it was fictional after readers complained to the Smithsonian about the death of the last mammoth. In 1909, Wallace Tillinghast hoaxed a super-advanced airplane that supposedly could travel 120 miles per hour.

More darkly, the Russian government hoaxed the anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion in 1903, and someone—it’s still not known for certain who—faked the Piltdown Man skull in 1912, impacting scientific understanding of evolution for four decades.

The Arizona Gazette article, backed by no contemporary documentation, very clearly falls in line behind its more famous contemporaries. This becomes still clearer when we look at other troubling signs. The article never quotes S. A. Jordan, and it mistakenly calls the Smithsonian Institution the “Smithsonian Institute.” No records document the existence of S. A. Jordan, G. E. Kinkaid, or any Smithsonian expedition to the Grand Canyon in 1909. (There was a real S. A. Jordon—note the spelling—but he was a European field archaeologist.)

While fringe writers see this as proof of a conspiracy, the Smithsonian itself has repeatedly fielded questions about the 1909 article. In 2000, the Smithsonian wrote in response to one inquiry from the old Sightings website:

The Smithsonian Institution has received many questions about an article in the April 5, 1909 Phoenix Gazette about G. E. Kincaid and his discovery of a 'great underground citadel' in the Grand Canyon, hewn by an ancient race 'of oriental origin, possibly from Egypt.' According to the article, Prof. Jordan directed a major investigation of the 'citadel' that was mounted by the Smithsonian.

The Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology, has searched its files without finding any mention of a Professor Jordan, Kincaid, or a lost Egyptian civilization in Arizona. Nevertheless, the story continues to be repeated in books and articles.

Note the peculiar phrase in quotation marks. It will come up again.

The Smithsonian gave a nearly identical reply to Jack Andrews in 1999.

Contrary to modern claims that the cave system described in the article was the work of Egyptians, the article suggested that its closest connection was to the Tibetans, in keeping with Theosophical ideas about the mysterious East. Consider the ancient statue supposedly found in the caves: “The idol almost resembles Buddha, though the scientists are not certain as to what religious worship it represents. Taking into consideration everything found thus far, it is possible that this worship most resembles the ancient people of Tibet.” The article has Kinkaid tell readers that the cave was filled with objects like those from “oriental” (i.e. Asian) temples and Malay-style figures.

At no point does the article ever claim that the caves are Egyptian. That connection comes from confusion over a few lines of the article, where the writer tries to use Hopi myths about the tribe’s origin in an underground civilization to suggest, as Theosophy had done, that a lost civilization from Asia or Atlantis was the origin point for both Egypt and the Native American cultures:

Egypt and the Nile, and Arizona and the Colorado will be linked by a historical chain running back to ages which staggers the wildest fancy of the fictionist. […] There are two theories of the origin of the Egyptians. One is that they came from Asia; another that the racial cradle was in the upper Nile region. [German historian Arnold Hermann Ludwig] Heeren [1760-1842], an Egyptologist, believed in the Indian origin of the Egyptians. The discoveries in the Grand Canyon may throw further light on human evolution and prehistoric ages.

Heeren was not an Egyptologist, though as an early nineteenth-century historian of antiquity he did speculate on the ancient Vedic origins of Egypt, in keeping with the then-popular theory that India was the cradle of the Aryan race and thus the oldest civilization on earth.

The author of the newspaper article is trying to imply that the cave was a prehistoric relic of the lost civilization that gave rise to Egypt and the Americas—that the Native Americans were the degenerate remains of a once noble Asian civilization. This is entirely in keeping with turn of the twentieth century speculation about the origins of Native Americans and the longstanding belief that Native peoples were degenerate, decayed, and doomed to cultural extinction.

Modern fringe writers, ignorant of the historical context, misread this as suggesting that the Egyptians had occupied the Grand Canyon caves. This is not at all what the obviously more educated hoaxer intended. That hoaxer was trying to fabricate evidence for a Theosophy-style lost civilization that spawned both Egyptians and Native American cultures from a heartland in central Asia, then believed to be the oldest civilized area on earth, in keeping with early claims for the antiquity of Sanskrit, the presumed language of the most ancient Aryans.

This hoax was not interesting enough for other newspapers to pick up, probably because it was so easily disproved with a simple telegram to the Smithsonian. It languished until David Hatcher Childress dug it up and published a discussion of it in Lost Cities of North and Central America, which was reprinted in Nexus magazine in 1993.

Childress misread the article and announced that the inhabitants of the cave were Egyptian—and that the Smithsonian was engaged in a cover-up, even though to confirm it he did nothing more than call the switchboard. He talked to a staff archaeologist who denied the story, and he concluded that this suggested a conspiracy:

Is the idea that ancient Egyptians came to the Arizona area in the ancient past so objectionable and preposterous that is must be covered up? Perhaps the Smithsonian Institution is more interested in maintaining the status quo than rocking the boat with astonishing new discoveries that totally overturn the previously accepted academic teachings.

Childress claimed as evidence two “facts”: First, he said that the Grand Canyon was filled with Hindu and Egyptian place names, which he believed were used to signal the true history of the caves. Second, he claimed that the government forbids all public access to the “Egyptian” areas of the Grand Canyon. As it happens, in the 1880s (before the newspaper hoax) the U.S. Geological Survey tried mapping the Grand Canyon and, having run out of local names, the surveyors used names from Greek, Roman, Germanic, Egyptian, and Hindu mythology. A known individual—Capt. Dutton—began using the Hindu and Egyptian names because he found Native American names “ugly.” Other members of the Survey team disagreed violently, and there were many arguments before the names were finally officially accepted in 1923 simply through inertia. (Some were still angry about it decades later!) The “Egyptian” area of the canyon is open to tourists, with the caveat that there is little water and few trails, so it is recommended only for experienced hikers. The only area closed to the public under any circumstances is Furnace Flats (AG9), an unstable archaeological site with masonry. Limited other areas, mostly access roads, are also off limits.

As should be obvious, the 1909 Arizona Gazette hoaxer took the Tibetan and Egyptian inspiration for the article from the pre-existing Hindu and Egyptian place names applied by chance to the canyon two decades earlier.

After a pirated copy of Childress’s article was published online on May 8, 1993 with a directive to repost and share, the story became a staple of fringe history. David Icke, among others, adopted the tale of the cave for his The Biggest Secret: “My own research suggests that it is from another dimension, the lower fourth dimension, that the reptilian control and manipulation is primarily orchestrated.” He further claimed that the Freemasons hold dark rites in the cave to honor the reptilians. In so doing, he originated the phrase “oriental or possibly Egyptian origin” to describe the caves, which you will recognize from the Smithsonian’s statement. (See, I told you it would pop up again!)

Weirdly enough, all of this ended up tying back to Edgar Cayce when 1990s-era writers began to speculate that John Ora Kinnaman, a maverick archaeologist who sought to validate Cayce’s prophecies, had provided proof of the caves’ existence. In the 1950s, Kinnaman tried to prove that the Great Pyramid was 35,000 years old and claimed that a giant crystal under the pyramid allowed the Egyptians to send instant telepathic messages to the Grand Canyon. For 1990s writers, this became “evidence” that Kinnaman knew of the Grand Canyon “find” but conveniently failed to mention it. Kinnaman also claimed to have found the Atlantean Hall of Records, which housed the Ark of the Covenant. Does Scott Wolter know about this?

As always, not a shred of evidence exists that this cave ever had a physical reality.


The Episode

We open with an oral account of the discovery of Burrows Cave in heavily processed video made to look grainy, as though pirated. In archival footage Russell Burrows (who no longer speaks to Scott Wolter) describes the artifacts from his cave as Egyptian as the on-screen graphics state in a disarmingly direct way that the objects found in cave are real and (in passive voice) are believed to come from Egypt. The graphics tell us that Burrows won’t say where the artifacts come from, and then we’re off to the opening credits.

At the South Rim of the Grand Canyon Scott Wolter tells us about all the caves in America that hide remarkable treasures that “are just waiting to be found,” including the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail. He tells us that ancient Egyptian riches vanished from now-empty tombs and (instead of, say, being melted down by ancient tomb robbers) may have come to America, and therefore he’s looking for ancient Egyptian remains in the Grand Canyon. This bothers me because the original article from the April 5, 1909 Arizona Gazette (discussed above) has nothing to do with the Egyptians but was attributed to lost ancestral race related to the Tibetans. You can even hear Wolter read aloud that the people migrated “from the Orient” in the article, and Egypt is not the Orient. He calls the paper the Phoenix Gazette even though the paper itself lists its title as the Arizona Gazette.

The show gets a summary of the article from Jerry Wills, whom it describes as a Grand Canyon explorer. He is instead a medical intuitive and energy healer—in short, a New Ager. He believes that by laying hands on sick people he can reconstruct their broken bodies and awaken them from comas. He says he can cure blindness, cancer, and AIDS. He says on his website this is God working through him and claims that Fox News has documented his work performing “miracles” for more than a decade. Wolter explains that the Smithsonian denies that the article is true, but he sniffs that this may be evidence of a conspiracy. Wills plans to take Wolter to the site his wife, another New Age healer, claims is where the Smithsonian explored the site. Wills claims that government “stealth helicopters” followed him as he searched for the cave. Wolter says that he won’t be scared off by the government.

We then go to commercial.

Returning, we get a recap of what hasn’t happened so far. Wolter summarizes the wealth of Egypt but fails to remind viewers that the 1909 article he’s investigating isn’t about Egypt. In fact, he explicitly misstates the content of the article, asserting that it claims an Egyptian origin for the tomb that simply does not exist. The article says it is a Native site with art similar to Tibetan sculpture. He says that the “reward is too great” to be intimidated by the government.

Wolter plans to ask the Zuni for information about the Egyptian tombs, and he speaks with Clifford Mahooty, a Zuni elder and ancient astronaut theorist currently working the fringe science conference circuit and a friend of David Childress. This is the first Native American ever to appear on America Unearthed. Mahooty tells Wolter that the Zuni believe in passages and canyons within the Grand Canyon, but here Mahooty is telling Wolter not actual Native American lore but rather stories derived from the alternative/fringe history literature! It’s rather depressing to see that Mahooty has simply absorbed Childress’s ideas and is regurgitating them under the name of Native lore, mixing them freely with the underworld of pre-1993 documented Zuni myth. Here, for your edification, are documented Zuni myths collected by the Smithsonian (and thus the conspiracy!) before Childress created the modern myth of the Grand Canyon tomb. Oh, the Zuni also believe the underground people were strange Lovecraftian reptile-monsters.

Wills shows Wolter video of planes buzzing an expedition to the alleged Egyptian cave, and Wolter suggests that it was the government trying to scare them off. Funny, it was “helicopters” before the commercial break, but now it’s small planes. Consistency must not be a gift from the divine healing power Wills channels. Wolter and Wills fly to the cave location in a helicopter, and Wolter is angry that “the government” in the form of the FAA does not allow helicopters to descend below the Grand Canyon rim, as though he didn’t know that before going up. These flight rules he is angry about were proposed in 1996, adopted in 2000, and were officially put into effect in 2012 to prevent noise pollution, over the objection of amateur pilots groups. The rules were required by law following action by Sen. John McCain in 1987 after a plane and helicopter crashed into each other in the canyon the previous year, killing 25 people. It took 25 years for the legally-required rules to be written and imposed, hardly the mark of a powerful conspiracy. In short: No aircraft in the canyon to (a) prevent crashes and (b) stop noise pollution.

After the break, Wolter and Wills leave the helicopter on the edge of the canyon above the spot where the alleged cave supposedly sits. Wolter claims that the government is “hiding” something, and he calls the low-flying plane, seen in old, pre-rules video as proof of government conspiracy. The Grand Canyon has, and I am not making this up, 57,000 flights over and through it each year. Guess what: It was a tourist plane flying under the old pre-2012 rules.

Wolter says that while he’s sure the government is hiding something, the cave can’t be accessed, so he (a) wasted our time, (b) asserted a conspiracy he can’t prove, and (c) completely misreported the contents of the 1909 article to assert an Egyptian influence that the article does not support.

Wolter then moves on the Burrows cave, where he meets Harry Hubbard. The show, as I noted above, fails to note Hubbard’s financial conflict of interest, describing him only as an “artifact hunter,” not as the co-owner of a company designed to financial exploit the site. Hubbard shows Wolter fake artifacts that he claims are “reproductions” of original pieces from the Burrows cave. They are laughably bad forgeries that resemble no known Egyptian artifacts. Many are childlike in their crudeness. Hubbard says that the cave has one female corpse and the corpses of thirteen kings.

We then get another commercial.

After the break the on-screen graphics tell us that Egyptian treasure “could be” in the Grand Canyon or Illinois. Wolter tells Hubbard that the artifacts that Russell Burrows showed him were fakes, and after this Burrows refused to speak to Wolter. Wolter plays archival footage he shot of Burrows in 2010 in which Burrows describes finding the cave. Hubbard explains that Burrows tells a different story about the cave each time he tells it, but nevertheless he thinks the artifacts are real (as we would expect of someone with a huge financial stake in the story).

Wolter breaks down why the Burrows Cave “Isis Stone” was a fake: It’s carved on a used American tombstone. But, he says, fakery doesn’t prove that the unknown cave itself is fake. He shows us an “Egyptian shaman” and a cartouche, both carved on black stones. Neither looks at all like an Egyptian artifact of any known provenance. They’re forgeries.

Hubbard shows us Alexander Helios scratched into a flat stone in a crude caricature unfit for any real Hellenistic artist. This fellow was the son of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony, and Hubbard and Wolter speculate that Alexander Helios fled the Mediterranean with Egypt’s treasure (at age 10!) to come to America to escape Octavian (soon to be Augustus) as he conquered Egypt. The fact is that Alexander Helios didn’t “disappear” under Octavian’s conquest of Egypt. He was taken to Rome and paraded through the streets. According to Cassius Dio’s Roman History (51.15.6), he was pardoned, but he was almost certainly kept under Roman control, as were all political prisoners. While we cannot prove this definitively, it was typical Roman practice to keep a pardoned ex-royal under house arrest in a palace in Rome. How would Alexander have been fleeing persecution by Octavian if he had just been pardoned? History records no more of Alexander Helios, and modern historians suspect that he died not long after, possibly on Octavian’s orders. Had he escaped, anti-imperial, pro-Senate historians would have mentioned such a humiliation of the first Roman emperor.

As we head to another commercial, Hubbard and Wolter make plans to visit the Alexander Helios cave, which is apparently separate from the Burrows Cave, using a “secret” treasure map. The land owner, Stephen Weilbacher, refuses to let Hubbard on his property, which is something I’d like to know more about. But alas, we instead get Wolter bullying a skeptical Weilbacher, forcing him to listen to Wolter loudly assert the reality that Alexander Helios “disappeared” from history and came to Illinois in the first century BCE.

Wolter and Weilbacher march into the woods in search of the cave, and Wolter repeats that Burrows’s hoaxing and fabrication calls into question his alleged discovery. The two men find a natural rock shelter, and he asks if it is possible to descend while the cameraman is standing below in the shelter filming him. Wolter notes that a rock shelter is not a cave, but he says he isn’t ready to give up on the idea that ancient Egyptian dug tombs around here somewhere. Wolter tests the rocks and determines it is “possible” that the Egyptian carved “caves” and filled them with treasure. He neglects to note that this method also “proves” that it is “possible” that space aliens, Knight Templar, or anyone else could have done the same. Not a single trace of anything Egyptian was found.

Weilbacher expresses skepticism and notes that the area and culture around Cairo, Illinois uses fanciful Egyptian names, probably inspiring Burrows. Wolter refuses to accept this and aggressively asserts that there is an “astounding truth” that the government is covering up. (By naming the city for an Islamic-era Egyptian city?) He produced absolutely zero evidence of anything and concludes with a conditional tense assertion that ancient tomb-caves “could” exist and a declarative statement that the “geology” allows for such constructions, thus eliding the conditional and the declarative to make viewers think he found something he did not.

177 Comments
A Guy
12/28/2013 04:33:23 pm

My first thought while watching this was so someone or a group of people claim to know where a cave is that could hold millions (billions?) of dollars worth of artifacts was and they tried to get to it once but it was hard so poopy I guess we will never try again... Seriously? And then for Wolter to show up and claim to be someone who wants to prove that America has long, long been inhabited by other cultures to not even give it one tiny shot to get to the cave to me proves how fake this show is. If Wolter was that concerned and set in his mission, he could have found some expert, advanced rock climbing/repelling people to give it a shot to go down there. Or, hell, I don't know, maybe go to the opposite side of the canyon with a high powered looking device of some sort to see if he could even see a cave.

Just a couple thoughts. Sorry for the massive run on sentences but its late and I don't care at the moment.

Reply
geo dowser
12/29/2013 10:22:01 am

the site and artifacts are for real. i know this for a fact.
been there and done that ! I would question most why
nobody will help with this amazing find after so many years.
that is the real mystery. Wolter has one of the largest collection and he would not have bought them all up if he didnt first forensically test them. unfortunately those that do not do the research will never know the truth, and rely of skeptical opinions. there was little time allowed to disclose all the verifiable facts, but for one know that early on, it was proven that the majority of the stones inscribed are from a unique geologic formation ONLY found in Italy.. please keep an open mind "we" need your help and support. _please_
> anon supporter in the know.

ps i will try to make myself available here to help w/ any sincere questions, but not here for debate... i am in a unique independent position as a first hand observer with no ties to anything or anyone. i am one of a handful of people who actually know where this site is personally.. I/We want to help and have everyone know the truth, thru their own personal experience of knowing..

Reply
Gunn
12/30/2013 03:50:33 am

One of the items was obviously made from an old grave stone. Anyone can see that the hoaxer carelessly left a few letters on the back. That hoaxed item, included with the others, renders all the items suspicious. Explain the use of a fairly modern gravestone in making one of the objects. I would think that this Burrows fellow either had a great sense of humor, or else an evil streak, or possibly both...he doesn't seem to be on the level. God be the judge, if the courts won't do the job.

Diana Tyler
2/11/2014 04:04:37 am

Why is the government protecting this cave in the Grand Canyon? Why won't they let professionals in to see what is there? What is the harm of letting it be known that there are artifacts there?

geo dowser
12/29/2013 10:23:15 am

the site and artifacts are for real. i know this for a fact.
been there and done that ! I would question most why
nobody will help with this amazing find after so many years.
that is the real mystery. Wolter has one of the largest collection and he would not have bought them all up if he didnt first forensically test them. unfortunately those that do not do the research will never know the truth, and rely of skeptical opinions. there was little time allowed to disclose all the verifiable facts, but for one know that early on, it was proven that the majority of the stones inscribed are from a unique geologic formation ONLY found in Italy.. please keep an open mind "we" need your help and support. _please_
> anon supporter in the know.

Reply
geo dowser
12/30/2013 12:44:36 pm


Gunn wrote

12/30/2013 11:50am



One of the items was obviously made from an old grave stone. Anyone can see that the hoaxer carelessly left a few letters on the back. That hoaxed item, included with the others, renders all the items suspicious. Explain the use of a fairly modern gravestone in making one of the objects. I would think that this Burrows fellow either had a great sense of humor, or else an evil streak, or possibly both...he doesn't seem to be on the level. God be the judge, if the courts won't do the job.

Hi Gunn. Thank you for your comments.
Burrows , [TG] is not really the important issue, but rather the site and artifacts. If it had been anyone else or if things had been different from the get go, there would already be a world renound museum and interpretive center onsite, solving the state of illinois fiscal crisis in one swoop.... regarding this marble hoax and the veracity of the artifacts in general.. For what ever reason a few fakes were in the mire, but very easy to pick out from the genuine artifacts...obviously thats why we know the fakes, probably done for greed , curiosity and to throw off any legal claims, ie you are not breaking the law if you are considered selling home made artifacts, like home flint knapping, meanwhile selling the good stuff to those in the know....[ differentiated from tomb looting ]

These artifacts have been collected by various local famnilies,
for years and years prior to Burrows being around, from the area, so it is inconcievable for a forger to go around burying fakes for years and years, only for Burrows
to come around to find them all buried in silt, in a 500ft hand chiseled cavern, to sell them.cheap.
There are records of his daily toils in the dirt , the need, request for a new pickup truck , gas, supplies from his money partner...none of these records would be relevant. or exist if they were just forging thousands and thousands of stones, only found in ITALY by the way. [there are exceptions] There are just so many obvious situation facts present to the observer that one can only make the logical conclusion once one knows ALL the facts, that the majority of the artifacts and basic story are true.Dont write this off till you really know.

Then factor this. If there was not enough factual information and truth present, not to mention the fact there even IS this Story, and Artifacts with a consistent and plausible origin....

I would never have been able to verify the location that all this took place. It would have never happened. I wouldnt be writing this.

I am taking time to write in the hopes that someone who reads thru this and can see the light, will contact me and arrangements can be made to secure the site. More than ample evidence is available if needed ,and can be provided. There are 20 years of documents recording every aspect of this find.

Funny thing is now that the History Channel has been to the site the owner will want a bunch more money lol. Its still worth it, tho

Its ALL there tho, mark my word.

Gunn
12/30/2013 02:18:49 pm

geo dowser, see my comment down later in this thread. to J. A. Dickey.

deo gowser link
11/27/2014 09:58:43 pm

I know this for a fact as well. My grandpa found the cave and kept some artifacts. They are in his garage. I can't show them because the government would get mad. We have a mummy and an early Egyptian plasma rifle. It runs on figs. We used it to blast out a hole for my swimming pool. You can read about it all in my upcoming book "Egyptians of Camden New Jersey: The early Years". Visit my website and get an official replica an artifact.

Peter Struzzieri
6/7/2018 08:34:40 am

Geo Dowser,
Have info about Burrows Cave for you.
On the road, text me to confirm who you are.
631 252-7770

geo dowser
12/29/2013 10:23:55 am

the site and artifacts are for real. i know this for a fact.
been there and done that ! I would question most why
nobody will help with this amazing find after so many years.
that is the real mystery. Wolter has one of the largest collection and he would not have bought them all up if he didnt first forensically test them. unfortunately those that do not do the research will never know the truth, and rely of skeptical opinions. there was little time allowed to disclose all the verifiable facts, but for one know that early on, it was proven that the majority of the stones inscribed are from a unique geologic formation ONLY found in Italy.. please keep an open mind "we" need your help and support. _please_
> anon supporter in the know.

Reply
Jeanne
12/31/2013 01:21:00 am

I am on a quest for rest of the remains of Paul Bunyon and Babe the blue Ox...I found bones in the state park and I am convinced they are authentic...but the park "government" is shutting down our search for the truth there. The Smithsonian refuses to send a crew to help me too. I am sure there is treasure that Paul collected thru the years and it is there waiting to be found. I will call Scott on this

Jenny Fambro
3/19/2015 01:58:07 pm

I believe you and I want to go with you.

geo dowser
12/29/2013 10:25:08 am

the site and artifacts are for real. i know this for a fact.
been there and done that !

Reply
Martin R
12/29/2013 12:11:22 pm

No questions, no debate. Just accept your word without proof? Please provide proof of this historic find.

Harry
12/31/2013 12:03:19 am

geo dowser,

What are your qualifications for judging whether the artifacts are genuine? If you relied on someone else, who is he/she and what are his qualifications? If you cannot answer these questions, please do not expect anyone sensible to take you seriously.

Corey
12/29/2013 03:48:04 pm

Could this show and Ancient Aliens meet and combine efforts... Like Growing Pains and Just The Ten Of Us...Yo Coach!

Reply
Sam
1/12/2014 05:39:21 pm

America Unearthed and Wolter are so far disappointing in their conclusions. The results of this episode are that someone could have dug a hole at sometime and buried something. I hope that future episodes are more conclusive and more interesting.

Reply
Rogosh
1/20/2014 08:23:33 am

Or simply send a drone down with a camera on it... Wolter doesnt even seem to try at times. Like the pyramids in the lake on saturdays episode, he could have gotten the gps from the local lake society.

Reply
sam
10/13/2014 11:29:00 pm

If you want the truth go to FALLING INTO BURROWS CAVE BY RICHARD FLAVIN, i found this after minutes of research. Far more interesting than the hoax itself.

Reply
wayne
8/25/2015 10:18:11 am

NO.....don't you see? It's IMPOSSIBLE!!! The guys who tried - armchair friends of the new-ager on the show got VERY TIRED!! 800 feet!!! It's over TWICE that. LOL

At one point he even says you'd need "mountaineers".....(though he also says it would be "impossible" to carry enough water...lol). Here in the Canadian Rockies, you could walk into any pub and find dozens of people who could get down that cliff without drama.....actually add in frozen ice walls, and a winter white-out storm before they'd even begin to be challenged....lol.

Well....greatest discovery in modern archaeology, and vast treasure......it's right below us...but...we'd need mountaineers...and a "lot of rope"..... time to give up....

Reply
Martin R
12/28/2013 04:34:59 pm

I'd sure like to see the video footage left on the "cutting room floor" from the interviews from the likes of Weilbacher.

It appears as if Wolter is completely gone. Then again, he also understands who (or what) butters his bread. I mean, he can't really believe this stuff, can he?

Reply
LynnBrant link
12/29/2013 12:06:00 am

No, he doesn't believe it. Which makes it far worse, IMO.

Reply
Clint Knapp
12/29/2013 10:19:00 am

Exactly. I wonder what it's like shamelessly promoting and pretending to get angry about things you don't believe in for money. Is Wolter's self-esteem really so low he needs to stoop to selling out his own credibility in the hopes the producers will give more airtime to his pet theories?

This show has rapidly gone from quaint fringe nonsense to a sad display of a man with no qualms about destroying his own public image.

Shane Sullivan
12/29/2013 01:22:20 pm

Clint, not to dog pile the guy, but I'm not sure how many of his own pet theories he believes. I mean, he likes and approves of the the Freemasons and their noble conspiracy, but he seeks to expose them for all the world to see? Either he doesn't really believe in the conspiracy, or he doesn't really like the Masons.

Or maybe he believes in the conspiracy but he disapproves of it, despite stating that he thinks the conspiracy is well-intentioned and that he is, for some reason, fond of the Freemasons themselves...

Jeanne
12/31/2013 01:25:52 am

It is just about the money. Every episode gets nuttier ....funny except it feeds into the " hate your evil government"... Assault on reason..expertise..preference for "gut check" instead of the work of study. This is a dangerous path that this old lady has watched really spread in America. Shows like this with wide viewing spread that stupidity faster than the print media of earlier times. Sad

Kelly
3/2/2014 06:33:19 am

Haha, I love when he pretends to get mad and starts to curse. Hilarious TV.

Mark M
12/28/2013 05:55:58 pm

I really just dont get it how the History channel is willing to lose so much credibility airing nonsense like America Unearthed. I mean hello??? how can it be that some of histories greatest mysteries/legends that have perplexed so many proven experts and learned scholars for centuries but now one guy has all the answers - and all within just the last year or 2? Really??? When Wolter golfs does he drain 18 hole-in-ones?? I know Im speaking the obvious here in a way and I guess Im just venting but really, how stupid do they think we are? So the Ark is in America, along w the Holy Grail, Viking and Templar writings, treasures, and land markers, Egyptian treasures....did I leave anything out?? When Wolter is arguing w his critics why doesnt anyone just flat out ask him about this?

One of the sadest things about this whole hoax-history-reality-show era we are unfortunately stuck in ia that there is sooo much to real history throughout the world that is simply fascinating so who needs this garbage??? HC should ashamed and go back to their origins and cancel shows like this.

Another thing thats so silly about Wolter and these guys who are always searching for lost treasure hoards, grow up. Unless your Howard Carter and find an ancient sealed tomb that luckily wasnt looted, these treasures are gone - spent, and spread around over the centuries and diluted into history. I mean when tomb robbers rob a tomb does it seem reasonable they sailed across an ocean to an unknown contintent and buried it all somewhere??? Same thing with pirate booty hoards, Bkackbeard, Captain Kidd, whomever - its not lying in some cave somewhere waiting for Indiana Jones - or Scott Wolter - to find it. They lived off of it and spent it! And what they didnt likely trickled down thru their decendants and spread out across time and civilization. Not saying theres no artifacts or anything of value still buried out there in places but c'mon this idea of all these lost treasure troves everywhere is so silly.

HC, you're better than this.....aren't you....?

Reply
LynnBrant
12/29/2013 12:45:33 am

They know how stupid we collectively are, that's the problem. And no, History Channel is not better than this.

Reply
Jack
12/29/2013 04:04:52 am

"I really just dont get it how the History channel is willing to lose so much credibility airing nonsense like America Unearthed..."

Follow the money...

Unfortunately good journalism is hard to find these days. Even mainstream news media editors are biased, pressured to show whatever gets the most viewer share, making dumb consumers even dumber. Only when viewers stop watching purported "news" or "history" in favor of well-written, evidence-backed stories that are not taken out of context, and actually educate us, will these programs disappear. "America Unearthed" is an entertainment show about unearthing and giving a public forum to America's charlatans and nuts. It's amazing what comes out of Wolter's mouth as their primary spokesperson.

Reply
TheDirector3
2/7/2014 03:58:44 pm

History Channel was awesome in the beginning, then the best ratings they got were stories about Hitler, then it was theories about him, then the occult, then Ancient Aliens and Pawn Stars got huge ratings, then they try to expand or replicate those shows with big ratings to draw revenue and THAT'S how you end up with America Unearthed. It's all about money and not "History" or "Evidence". ...happened before...MTV used to show music videos..

Reply
Kelly
3/2/2014 06:39:16 am

I do think shows like this, and Ancient Aliens, etc. are hilarious and entertaining, but it is a shame that it is coming at the cost of actual educational programming about history. I think they last time they tried was the Dark Ages, which they promoted the hell out of, but it was a big disappointment. With just my undergrad history degree, I could see how many facts and much of the timeline they got wrong. They are clearly only interested in producing entertainment.

Reply
redfoot12
12/28/2013 11:53:06 pm

I guess the one positive I take from this series is that it makes me appreciate the natural beauty and diversity of different parts of the country. Not much of an endorsement for its content, I know.

Reply
Sacqueboutier
12/29/2013 12:18:49 am

Even government black copters won't frighten him off. Such a manly man.

Reply
Frank
12/29/2013 12:57:26 am

I watched season 1 with guarded interest. Found it as something to pass the time. This episode really left me feeling like I just wasted an hour of my life. Complete garbage....I mean the entire episode was more laughable than usual, with the possible exception of the giants episode in MN a few weeks back. I would also like to know more about why the landowner at the end of the hour would not let the other individual onto his land, my guess is there is some kind of restraining order because he would chop up the natural beauty of the area in search of some junk that is completely bogus. I love archeology and American hisrory but whoever signed off on this show at the history channel is seriously off their rocker.

Reply
Frank
12/29/2013 01:10:47 am

Oh, and do not get me started on the ridiculous idea of a pyramid being inside a cave in the middle of the Grand Canyon which is also large enough for 50K ppl.

This junk takes far less research (obviously) and effort than the actual historical documentaries which used to be aired on this channel, and as a result cheaper and better for the channels bottom line. Its too bad it comes at the expense of clogging up our brain cells with rubbish.

Reply
Michael Haynes
12/29/2013 01:17:12 am

It usually takes me a couple of commercial breaks in America Unearthed before my mind starts recognizing all the red flags popping up in the show's contents but last night's episode was like watching a Soviet May Day parade from start to finish. From those opening flashes of obviously faked Egyptian artifacts to Scott examining sandstone so brittle that any attempt to carve a tunnel into it would lead to instant collapse, this episode had the flimiest basis of all the myths the series has so far examined. I didn't dislike the show entirely, though: I thought his helpicopter pilot was pretty cute, and I enjoyed the interview with the Zuni tribal elder, which I think you, Jason, might have forced the producers' hands in putting on the air. Maybe we'll see more Native Americans appearing in future episodes giving their takes on these claims.

Perhaps what we saw last night is a myth that is only half-cooked and not ready to serve. Egyptians in America hasn't had as many people propagating it as the Knights Templar-Freemason stories. People are still adding elements to it to see what will stick in the public imagination. I think this myth is still a few decades away from fooling people.

I haven't seen Scott post his blog yet on this episode, but I'd be interested to see his take on it.

Reply
That crazy hair guy
12/29/2013 01:36:46 am

Hey that chopper pilot was very attractive. Let's get her in more episodes,

Reply
Jason Colavito link
12/29/2013 01:39:20 am

That's the problem with using a half-formed claim from a David Childress book and a David Icke book: There's no history to it. Worse, Wolter didn't even READ the actual "historical" source and went instead with Childress's misunderstanding of it.

I like the way the show edited the Native American elder's comments to elide actual oral histories with secondhand Childress stories he heard and then lets Wolter's narration re-imagine the conversation much later on as confirming an "encounter" with non-American visitors from the east.

Reply
MOTHER76
8/25/2014 06:55:04 pm

PLEASE SEE COMMENT AT BOTTOM OF PAGE

Reply
Titus pullo
12/29/2013 01:33:51 am

Why did I watch this episode? Scott goes. To the Grand Canyon and talks about a supposed cave. Scott flies over said canyon. Nice video of the canyon. Hey Scott why not send a small drone to find the cave? Scott. Goes to Illinois and looks at bad art. Some nice footage of streams and rocks in the woods. The first sane person on the show since that gut in the Roanoke episode tells Scott hoe implausible his theories are. End of episode. Maybe I watch the show for the camerawork. Nice vistas of. Places. Or maybe I need to get a life.

Reply
Jason Colavito link
12/29/2013 01:36:17 am

The camera work and cinematography on America Unearthed have been consistently excellent. I wish the camera people had jobs shooting scenery for better shows.

Reply
Mike
12/29/2013 02:59:17 am

The film work is good. My son who wants to go into film production watches the show for cinematography pointers. He is a junior and we are looking at film schools. We live in western ny and he is looking at your old stomping grounds Jason, Ithaca and Rochester institute of technology. The way tuition has inflated is total sticker shock. Maybe he should produce a documentary on aliens and Joseph smith as we live down the road from hill comorah

Gunn Sinclair link
12/29/2013 03:03:55 am

I agree; and the shows are as consistently nonsensical as the camera work is excellent. I guess there are only so many new artifacts to look into.

I would advise Scott to look closer at specific sites along the Whetstone River in SD, since this is what I see as a convergence point between two major river routes. I now believe this is "the" major landing area for medieval Scandinavians.

Apparently, being good Scandinavian water adventurers, they had discovered two different routes coming together near the mouth of the Whetstone, which empties into the beginning of the MN River, just south of Big Stone Lake. One route comes in from the St. Lawrence Seaway, via, Lake Superior/Duluth, while the other route came down from Hudson Bay, and culminated at Grand Traverse, by Big Stone Lake, also.

To me, this means that Runestone Hill was probably chosen as an obscure point of land partly at least because it is on the direct compass line between the Whetstone River and Duluth. This, by extrapolation, may mean that the Whetstone River area is more important than the Runestone Hill location...which ended up getting more attention (so far) because of the KRS having been deposited there as a memorial (not as a land claim).

I'm saying for the first time that I think Runestone Hill's main purpose was that of a geographical land marker, perhaps looked at in medieval times as a sort of ley-line marker between Duluth and the main "landing area," that being the Whetstone River area, including Milbank, Corona, Wilmot, and a few other small hamlets just across the MN border, in SD.

Pools of fresh spring water would be important, as seems to be the case where I myself discovered a large flat-topped stonehole rock with a slab cracked out of it...which may in itself be a geographical marker of sorts. You can see this rock I found in Wilmot and compare it to a runestone rock I found online, in Sweden. The similarities are peculiar, to say the least:

http://www.hallmarkemporium.com/discoveries/id27.html (scroll to bottom)

Also found at this site were multiple stonehole rocks and a rock carving (purposely left unidentified at this time as a convenience to the land-owner). There is also a flat rock which should be flipped over within what appears to be a man-made design in this small valley of medieval-seeming wonders. Perhaps Wolter would like to flip this rock over. Also, where is the slab of rock cracked off the larger rock? Not far away, I think. That, too, should be flipped over. Wolter needs to back up and re-visit some of the sites he visited when writing the hooked X book.

Some of these sites can be looked at by professional archaeologists, who should accompany him to make sure things are done right, keeping provenance intact. He needs to go to places where actual artifacts can be found, undisturbed, below the surface of the ground. Yes, instead of jumping all around America, looking at goofy stuff, he needs to focus on what he knows is real...Scandinavians coming to MN and SD back in a medieval time-frame. Then he needs to focus on hot-spots, like the "landing area" of the Whetstone River--and the accompanying pools of fresh spring water.

This is the best advise I can give him: return to your roots. Look west, young man, look west--to Wilmot!

(And that's all I'll say about that.)

Jason Colavito link
12/30/2013 11:37:02 pm

For those of you who enjoy the production design of America Unearthed, there's a new article about how it's done quickly with computer-aided coloring.

http://www.digitalfacility.com/article/The-H2-Channels-America-Unearthed-Series-Travels-Through-Time-with-SPLICE-and-DaVinci-Resolve-home-2987873

Matt Mc
1/2/2014 03:24:45 am

Will using the Davinci will hep speed up the process one can get the same product using Magic Bullet Lut Buddy. The DaVinci systems are great but are very expensive. Someone learning can easily afford the $49 dollars a month using Adobe CC suite and Premiere Pro. Plus Premiere will run on any system and does not require proprietary hardware.

Color Correction is a true art and can take years to properly learn, I highly recommend if color correction is something people are interested in pursuing finding a telecine lab in your area and interning there or going in and talking to the color correctionist about mentoring. While schools will teach the basic of color correction the only way to truly learn it is through mentoring, it is long and tedious work and not for everyone.

Also don't confuse the camerawork with Color Correction. AU is highly processed, the cinematography of the show is consistent with the average travellogue type show and nothing spectacular. Lets face it filming vista and someone talking are really not that hard. Shows like AU are really not that good for learning. Same thing goes with its editing techniques it is really basic and offers nothing out of the ordinary. What the show does have is decent equipment and a competent technical staff. I don't see AU winning an emmy anytime soon for its technical merits.

Also about going to school for production. Good idea teaches a great foundation but more importantly is getting a camera and a editing system and getting out there and doing it. Get that internship or find another way to get into a production house and learn from those working. School can help in this field but unlike other career paths does not mean getting a job. Doing is what gets you the work, learn all the ends and outs of a camera, build your own camera rigs, learn lenses and filters, learn all the different tape formats and how the grain is different and the advantages of using them. Do not become digital reliant (meaning learn the process the long way). There is a long standing saying in the TV production world we are not here to work when things can go right, a monkey can learn to focus and aim a camera, we are here for when things go wrong, A monkey cannot take apart a camera, gerry rig a new casing and finish the shoot, that is why the professionals are there. 90% of the time the job is very easy, its that 10% that you work you ass off. Schools sadly cannot teach in field troubleshooting only doing can.

So in short if your son wants this as a career get him a camera and a basic edit kit, Let him at it, IT is long boring work mostly. Lots of planning and repetition. Remember also it is a highly competitive work place and those who get jobs are people who have made connections and sometimes have little talents. I am not trying to sound discouraging but it is a hard field to work in with high turnover and layoff rates. Production houses open and close almost as fast as restaurants and I have seen many a very skilled worker give up and move into other career paths in my 25 years. The other warning I will say with schools (I myself have a BA in Film Production and and MA in Film history) they focus not enough on trade skills, this field is a trade and many many people have never set foot in a school. Honestly most of the cameramen I work with never finished Junior College TV production classes. So school is not a given in the production field, trade skills are.

I wish you son luck there is great fun to be had, but it is not easy and it is a long rough road with long hours and is very hard on the family. TV production also has a high divorce rate.

Now I am not trying to discourage at all, just trying to get away from the myth of what this field is, I see to many you kids with these great ideals who are shocked once they start working, they hate the months of wrapping cables and archiving but that is where you start.

LynnBrant
12/29/2013 01:37:42 am

Is everyone's notify of new comments by email working? Mine suddenly isn't.

Reply
Sacqueboutier
12/29/2013 03:21:30 am

Wolter needs to spend less time watching and rewatching Nicholas Cage movies, and spend more time doing a real geologist's job. Leave archeology to the experts.

Reply
Michael
12/29/2013 03:54:55 am

I had a real hard time believing they never told the very attractive pilot Heather what they're intentions were before they took off. Do you suppose it was a way to get her some air time?i also have a hard time believing the claim that you need huge amounts of water in order to descend down the mountain. How about this clever idea. Descend the water down to were your going first.

Reply
LynnBrant link
12/29/2013 04:19:37 am

Question for anyone - How do you think claims like Egyptians in the Grand Canyon will impact Scott Wolter's image among established academics in archaeology and history? There was a time when he wanted to be respected by them. It would seem he has totally given up on even being noticed by the scientific community. If, like a blind squirrel finding a nut, he stumbled upon something worth a closer look, it would be instantly trashed instead because of the source. OK, I guess I've told you what I think. What do you think?

Reply
Only Me
12/29/2013 07:37:21 am

In answer to your question...it probably won't do any more damage than his support of other far-fetched hypotheses. It may be, as it applies to Wolter, par for the course.

He IS noticed by the scientific community, albeit, with a collective sigh of exasperation. His constant outbursts against academia in general, the Smithsonian, specifically, and the government as the omnipresent puppet master, hasn't done much for his credibility.

I would hope, in spite of the above, that if he found something truly game-changing, the scientific community would welcome the opportunity to examine it. The only questions I have are:

Would he ALLOW such an examination?

How will he react if the conclusions are out of alignment with his expectations/beliefs?

Reply
Mark E.
12/29/2013 04:22:42 am

This is quite entertaining: http://youtu.be/27puuu2OnmU

"Join Christopher O'Brien, David Hatcher Childress, Clifford Mahooty, Gary David, JC Johnson and Ronald Regehr as we explore this volatile situation where past meets present in a struggle for precious Native American sites verses modern exploitation---- and much more."

Reply
Scott Hamilton
12/29/2013 04:26:06 am

Two thoughts:

1. Did any culture really use big carved rocks as "land deeds" applying to entire rivers? How would that work with competing claims? Doesn't seem like it would work particularly well unless the entire area was mapped already -- in which case I'd think it would already be claimed.

2. The Piltdown hoaxer's identity strikes me like the Roanoke colony: a made-up mystery. I guess there wasn't a confession or a legal conviction, so technically we can't know for sure, but the preponderance of the evidence points towards to Charles Dawson and no one else. He was the only person there when all the disputed finds were found, and he had a long history of faking "transition" artifacts.

Reply
Jason Colavito link
12/29/2013 04:52:24 am

It's extremely likely that Charles Dawson faked the artifacts (he'd faked other fossils before), though several other potential hoaxers have been proposed. If I had to bet, my money would be on Dawson, too. I don't see anyone else who could have done it.

Reply
Harry
12/29/2013 11:17:33 pm

I am sure that Dawson was the chief, if not sole, culprit. Zoologist Martin Hinton reportedly left a trunk containing hippopotamus teeth treated in a manner similar to the Piltdown specimens, suggesting that he might have assisted Dawson in that particular fraud (the motive most often ascribed to him is to play a joke on Smith Woodward). Since he outlived the exposure of the fraud, it is possible that he was trying to determine how the fraud was perpetrated, but he evidently never announced the results of his experiments.

Zoologist and author Stephen Jay Gould blamed Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit who took part in the dig. However, the specimens Teilhard "found" were cruder and he found them later and in circumstances that were more obviously suspicious. I am inclined to believe that he realized that Piltdown man might be a fake and was testing Smith's gullibility and/or trying to alert him to the fraud without hurting his feelings.

Gunn link
12/29/2013 03:48:22 pm

Well, the Roanoke Colony isn't a made-up mystery, though. There is an incredible amount of information available about the several voyages to the island. The only mystery is what exactly happened to the people. There are real, actual clues about what happened to them, including first-hand accounts from Native Americans who lived there. They gave information about what happened to a surveyor just over a hundred years later. The bottom line is that many of them were almost certainly absorbed into various Native cultures, even inland, according to those in the know at that time.

I wouldn't trust ANY of the Burrows Cave items. To anyone who purchased or otherwise acquired any of the items, I would be quick to realize that they are 100% fake. Don't fool yourselves. If only one item is shown to be a hoax, such as the stone with the earlier, overlooked grave markings on the back, they are all hoaxed. Who would entertain the thought that authentic and hoaxed items would be found together--in such a circumstance? Somebody should be prosecuted if the statue of limitations hasn't run out, because of offering some of these fakes for sale for outrageous sums of money. Why isn't this acknowledged as criminal fraud, when it is at this scale, and for obvious profit?

Scott Hamilton, interesting question about rocks and land deeds. In the case of the KRS, apparently the party of men were exploring up to the origination of the Chippewa River, where they ended up getting into trouble. From my comment up above in this thread, you can see that I believe the area was mapped. I think you are correct in assuming that some of the mapped land was probably taken (hence, possibly, even the stonehole encircled Runestone Hill), and yet the message of the KRS seems to indicate that the men were in a way land prospecting.

Farther west, along the Whetstone River, much land seems to have been marked out for possession. By the way, it's conceivable that the land was purchased by the Scandinavians, not grabbed, in that Whetstone River, SD, area. They must have had a good enough relationship with the locals for at least a while...before becoming Mandans, ha! ha! Because of the many stoneholes with accompanying rock carvings spread over this area, it is quite easy to see that a great effort was made to carve up the land along the Whetstone River. We're talking about a long stretch of river, with multiple sites. If the men were walking, we're talking about them being in the area for quite a spell, of course depending on how many were spreading out, marking out the land. There was a major effort to map out and acquire land at one time up here, back in medieval times.

The KRS is most likely just a memorial stone in all this. However, Runestone Hill probably pre-existed, marked up with stonehole rocks some time earlier. Why? Well, it's on the EXACT line between the Whetstone River and Duluth. Beyond that, I don't really know whether sacred geometry was attempted at Runestone Hill or not. Maybe the peninsula-island knoll was just encircled with a dozen or more stonehole rocks for no particular reason at all, but that would be illogical, wouldn't it? If the rocks do in fact make up a secret geometric grid, maybe that's where the Holy Grail is buried, where X marks the spot. (Just kidding, as I believe the Holy Grail is the Holy Spirit.)

Reply
Varika
12/30/2013 01:02:59 pm

TBH, I'm pretty sure that Los Angeles proves that no matter how you claim your water sources, somebody bigger and more politically bloody-minded will steal them eventually. But no, unless a culture built settlements all along a given river, it would be impossible to claim the whole river.

Reply
Titus pullo link
12/29/2013 04:44:18 am

Hey how did the Egyptians get down to the level to dig the cave if modern rock climbers couldn't get there? And how did they move tons of relics to this cave? Common sense is an uncommon virtue on this show

Reply
Varika
12/30/2013 01:03:51 pm

Oh, no, Titus. They have PLENTY of common sense. They've never bothered to get the box out, dust it off, and use any of the contents!

Reply
Jose Simental
1/5/2014 02:36:09 pm

Titus, Varika,

As acclaimed ancient astronaut theorist Dr. Tsoukalos would say if asked that question: "All the evidence points to an alien intervention."

:-)

Jose

RLewis
12/29/2013 04:49:08 am

I think someone took the "UN" out of America Unearthed. Here is another episode where they talked about artifacts/sites but didn't show them.
It seems they could have used the same "technology" to get to the Grand Canyon caves as the original 1909 explorers, i.e. a wooden boat. If they didn't need helicopters and expert mountaineers then, there should be no reason for them now. BTW, it seems they could have saved the expense of a helicopter by simply using the road that the helicopter landed on (I'm sure they could have gotten the attractive pilot to drive them there).

Reply
Deb
12/29/2013 04:52:08 am

Mike,
Got my TV production degree from Ithaca (and minor in History.) Would highly recommend the program there. They also have some really great scholarships available through the Park School (Communications.)

To Everyone Else: Was I the only one who noticed the overt Apple product placement in this episode?
Also, if it is nearly impossible with modern technology to get to the "Egyptian Cave" in the Grand Canyon, if there even is a cave at that spot, how could a civilization of 50,000 have lived there? They would have to have had to get there (and known there was somewhere to go to in the first place-- remember you can't see it from the top or the bottom of the Canyon) and be able to come and go from time to time for supplies. How could they do that?

Reply
Jason Colavito link
12/29/2013 04:54:26 am

Aliens.

Scott Wolter's show has trouble working through the logic of its claims since it cares more for throwing up one "mystery" after another than for making sense of any of them.

Reply
Mike
12/29/2013 05:55:07 am

Thanks Deb!

His mom and were science majors and having a kid interested in film was a nice surprise. But I really had no idea where to look at colleges...i went to Georgia tech and they sure don't have film majors...ha ha

Reply
Rev. Phil Gotsch
12/29/2013 05:09:11 am

The "America Unearthed" H2 TV show … is a TV SHOW …

It is commercially produced and broadcast in order to try to attract viewers to try to induce them to look at the adverts …

The H2 TV shows AREN'T of the quality of "NOVA" or "Frontline" ...

Reply
Jason Colavito link
12/29/2013 05:21:28 am

That doesn't condone lying to the audience, Phil, nor does it condone failure to disclose conflicts of interest or guests' belief that they were chosen by God to deliver miracles. The fact is that vast number of H2 viewers think a show is true because it's on a channel that says it offers, and I quote, "more 2 history." Doesn't say anything about lying to people for cash.

Reply
Rev. Phil Gotsch
12/29/2013 06:05:26 am

EVERY commercially produced TV show partakes of SOME of that kind of Problem …

Even SOME that are actually quite GOOD yet have an *over*the*top* aspect that is NEVER made clear to the viewing public …

E.g., the series, "How The Earth Was Made" features real live geologists out there in nature, examining formations and whacking off specimens and hauling them back to the lab for tests and exams …

THEN the geologist*of*the*day solemnly informs the breathless viewers that, "Yes … these volcanic lava flows around the region of Lake Superior PROVE that there were volcanic eruptions here millions of years ago …" (creating the TOTALLY false impression that this is an unexpected NEW discovery made only last year by Prof. Dr. Anderson while the video cameras were rolling over his shoulder …)

"No, Virginia … It isn't ONLY the 'H2 America Unearthed' TV shows that have SOME decided huckster aspects for the sake of making the advertisers happy …"

Jason Colavito link
12/29/2013 06:14:18 am

If we all followed your example, Phil, nothing would ever get better because we'd all accept falsehoods and lies as the price of living in a fallen world. Sometimes you have to advocate for truth and stand up for the facts against lies of every stripe... and why am I telling this to a clergyman? Surely the Bible tells you a thing or two about the importance of standing up for truth even in the face of error and lies.

Just because everyone else lies doesn't make lying right. If I had infinite time, I'd call out every manipulation and lie on television, but I don't have that kind of time. In my narrow field, this show is currently the most popular, and it therefore deserves more attention.

I complain about the manipulations on Ancient Aliens and Unsealed: Alien Files all the time, but I don't see you getting your knickers in a twist over those shows. Surely you have an opinion about two shows that specifically instruct viewers that God is an alien and that it's a good idea to worship Satan. Or is that entertainment for you, too? Would you tell your congregants that they should just kick back and enjoy shows that tell them why they should pray to Satan, as Ancient Aliens did?

Steve
12/29/2013 09:25:42 am

Gosh, no arrogance in that response, Jason.

This is Jason saving all the uneducated, unbathed masses from their own stupidity. Thank God you're here to save us all from ourselves Jason.

Steve
12/29/2013 09:29:14 am

I've got a perfect analogy for you, Jason. News organizations that used to report on the progress of Santa Claus. Hell, even NORAD turned their website over to tracking Santa.

Should they have run a disclaimer, Jason? ATTENTION CHILDREN: SANTA IS A FICTIONAL CHARACTER, USED IN THE MODERN ERA TO SELL MORE PRODUCTS FROM TOY MANUFACTURES.

Jason Colavito link
12/29/2013 10:42:11 am

That's hardly a perfect analogy, Steve, and I'm honestly shocked that you are so vehement in your support of falsehood, obfuscation, and lies. Do you believe Scott Wolter *should* be misrepresenting the 1909 newspaper article to the audience? (I posted the whole article so you can see the misrepresentations for yourself.) I just don't see why you and Phil are angry that viewers like me would prefer Wolter not blatantly lie about the material he's discussing.

Do you know many other clergy who write frequent and passionate defenses of why Exodus 20:16 is suspended in the presence of advertising money?

You and Phil both seem to think that we, as a society, must accept things the way they are rather than advocate for change--which is very ironic since you and Phil both do so in order to support Scott Wolter's quest to advocate for change!

Clint Knapp
12/29/2013 11:17:08 am

Well, Steve's the descendant of Jesus according to Wolter, and Phil claims to be a Reverend. Maybe they're the unstated "people we know" from Wolter's radio interview who can't be proven to be in the Priory of Sion.

Perhaps the trolling is the Priory's new, secret method of passing vital information and we should all find the hidden message by some combination of counting Phil's ellipses and applying those numbers to Steve's letter-count and reversing it.

I like that. I think I'll make a TV show about it and get a couple episodes in before I just start wildly blathering about whatever crosses my mind. Kind of like now, but in HD.

Joe
12/29/2013 01:35:57 pm

I think there is a big difference between creating a sense of drama for the purpose of television entertainment and perpetuating outright falsehoods. Again I think we all understand that commercial TV shows with creative editing will attempt to create a sense of drama to keep the audience tuned in and willing to sit through the commercials. But that is what we do not see on AU, instead we see a constant repetitiveness to each episode, the total lack of follow up and the evidence that is presented is found to be lacking. Jason takes his time to review each of these episodes and then takes the time to research the claims that are presented and shows the origin of the idea and presents evidence and arguments to counter the claim that SW presents. Now do the defenders of SW counter Jason's columns with counter arguments? No, instead they claim it is “just a TV show” which is no defense at all or in Steve's case make personal attacks against Jason and others that comment on this blog. How is this exactly defending SW at all. In fact the dear Rev. who states he is Wolter's personal friend and colleague has stated that he does not believe in Wolter's ideas at all but wants to make sure that the arguments do not get personal. If this is the case why are you not reprimanding Steve for his behavior?
Also there seems to be a constant image of lack luster attempts on this show. In the viking episode he doesn't have the rune stone sent to a second expert for review. In the subsequent comments on his blog he doesn't even bother to learn where the translation went to and when it came back “inconclusive” he did not bother to send to a second person for follow up. Now in the latest episode he doesn't even attempt to search for the cave. Instead just complains about the government not letting an aircraft descend into the canyon. It is not like this was all filmed last week, this was done months ago and prior to filming I am sure the producers set up arrangements at each location. The show just comes off as a lazy attempt to explain fringe theories.

Gunn
12/29/2013 04:32:36 pm

"The show just comes off as a lazy attempt to explain fringe theories."

I agree with your summation, joe. There really does have to be more research and more detailed information given. And more science, please. A&E should hire someone to research the episodes alongside Wolter's own research (or lack thereof). For example, there is in MN back in the late 1800's not just the one account of giants Wolter focused on, but a published account (Pioneer Press?) of a gravesite with TEN giants, some of them women. But this account wasn't even given to help bolster the overall thrust of the show if I recall correctly. I'm still wondering about that particular "giant" gravesite. The show left me hanging on the MN "giants" enquiry.

I think it comes across as laziness, because some of the subjects could have been better researched for details that would be important to the audience. Better background information. At least they FINALLY (I picked up this habit from Varika) got the American Indian perspective...man, did that ever back-fire on you, Jason. Right--that one was your fault: A good joke from A&E on you, personally, perhaps. Good one. Ha! Ha! A parody of what you wanted....

Gunn link
12/30/2013 03:07:15 am

Jason: "Sometimes you have to advocate for truth and stand up for the facts against lies of every stripe... and why am I telling this to a clergyman? Surely the Bible tells you a thing or two about the importance of standing up for truth even in the face of error and lies."

Jason, I very seldom give you a compliment, but I do like your approach to Truth...keeping in mind, "What is Truth?" I consider looking for Truth to be an honorable thing. We have to be open to what Truth may reveal. Lies are no good. Satan is The Father of Lies.

Harry
12/29/2013 06:34:48 am

Rev. Gotsch,

Your example from "How the Earth Is Made" is not the same thing at all. If scientists test a theory 100 times, the 100th test is just as much "proof" as the first one. The geologist who says that it "proves" volcanic eruptions is making a valid point. At best, you can say that he is misleading viewers about when a discovery was made and, arguably, leading them to believe that there is less evidence for the theory than there actually is.

Shows like "America Unearthed," on the other hand, mislead viewers by trumpeting theories for which there is little or no evidence or for which the supposed evidence is of dubious validity. That is a HUGE difference.

Reply
Rev. Phil Gotsch
12/29/2013 08:45:40 am

I juxtaposed "America Unearthed" and "How The Earth Was Made" simply to illustrate that ALL commercially produced TV shows have at least SOME over*the*Top -- "hype" -- aspects, which DO mislead naive viewers …

Again, e.g., NOWHERE in the beginning, midst, or conclusion of any of the episodes of "How The Earth Was Made" is it ever so much as HINTED that the investigations and explorations portrayed are OLD news …

That is my point … The viewers of such TV shows LOVE to be drawn into the thrill of FRESH discoveries, the drama of mysteries being explained (virtually) *LIVE* as the breathless audience waits in eager anticipation … It's how ALL such TV shows are done ...

Harry
12/29/2013 01:10:13 pm

Sorry, I just don't get your point. Not all lies or misleading statements are equal. If I try to frame someone for a crime of which I know that person is innocent, will you say, "Well, no big deal! Everyone lies!"

RLewis
12/29/2013 06:50:10 am

RE:"The H2 TV shows AREN'T of the quality of NOVA or Frontline"

From NOVA's website:
"Here at NOVA, we believe that science is neither sacred lore nor secret ritual, but rather curious people exploring interesting questions. NOVA's approach, developed over more than a quarter century, is to select a topic of great interest to viewers and then produce a film that is as entertaining as it is informative, using the tools of good pacing, clear writing, and crisp editing".

Is that too much to ask?

Reply
Rev. Phil Gotsch
12/29/2013 02:42:46 pm

"NOVA," since its inception (1974) has been uniformly a SUPERB series of TV shows -- ALL of them produced for NON-commercial TV …

In my opinion, "NOVA" has NO equal ...

Jon
12/29/2013 07:18:54 am

I... Wow. This is insane. What a waste of time. This show would fit right in as entertainment on TLC, which long ago forgot what the L used to stand for.

I feel like we should petition H2, which has apparently also forgotten what the H used to stand for, to stop airing this farce. However, since it makes them money and they've obviously decided that profit trumps any intellectual integrity that they previously had, we'd most likely have to settle for a disclaimer. Something along the lines of "This episode is pure conjecture and speculation." Unfortunately, anyone dumb enough to believe this crap isn't going to understand what that means.

Also, what is with this obsession over the Smithsonian Institution? What have they done, or not done, to invite this fear and hatred? Is it their exhibitions of Native American culture, "ignoring" European involvement in pre-Columbian America due to lack of physical evidence?

Maybe the Smithsonian Channel should commission a series debunking the programming on H2.

Or better yet, H?2.

I'm pretty proud of that. If anyone starts using that, I want credit ;)

Reply
Dan
12/29/2013 07:27:27 am

This episode was full of deep belly laughs, maybe more than usual. A couple of favorites not previously mentioned:
> Hubbard's claim that the Burrows Cave contained a solid gold tomb, but it was melted down and sold for the gold.
> Wolter's claim that Burrows Cave is likely inaccessible because of "decades" of wear and the possibility of the movement of stones. This of course after Burrows himself had no problem entering his "cave" after 2000 years of dormancy.

Reply
Discovery of America
12/29/2013 07:44:50 am

And the KSR is the Rosetta Stone, the cornerstone of Wolter's mindset towards his whole research

Reply
Gunn
12/29/2013 04:46:04 pm

I'm glad you said "KSR," so that the comment is rendered as practically meaningless. I think, perhaps, Wolter is actually straying too far from the KSR.

Discovery of America
12/29/2013 11:25:55 pm

When the provenance of the Kensington Rune Stone appears then all the conjectures and theories dressed up as facts will stop. But that's like hoping for the evidence of Bigfoot.

Gunn Sinclair link
12/30/2013 03:28:43 am

Big Feet are imaginary, like UFO sightings. They leave behind no credible evidence. The KRS is not imaginary, but a physical object.

Frankly, you are quite ignorant, in my opinion, to compare the two. Once again, too, the KRS does have provenance. One can separate out the provenance...the truthful aspects, if you will, from the blatant lies and nonsense people try to attach to it.

That's what I try to do here. I purposely come against those like you who would openly declare that the KRS is non-existent as a viable historical artifact. You are too sure of yourself. Please consider not making such ignorant statements here about the KRS. I am a defender of the KRS; that's what I do. It needs defenders because of folks like you, and because of folks who don't mind pooping on the grave of an honorable Christian man.

You made the judgment, in error. Some are seeking further truth about the KRS, while others seek to ignorantly break it apart. You are not qualified to make the call, sounding rather instead like a Banty rooster just making noise here. It's way already past waking up time...so go back to your roost, noisy little rooster.

Leslie Harris link
1/3/2014 04:40:34 pm

The funniest thing in the whole episode was when Wolter told Weilbacher that he had been investigating a cave in the Grand Canyon. I didn't see no cave, and neither did Wolter.

Reply
J.A. Dickey
12/29/2013 08:47:13 am

MR. BURROWS & A SMALL AND FINITE GOLD SUPPLY.
Were the gold objects made in order to legitimize the stone
ones? If he had a big lump of gold and a handful of objects
he'd make, only to copy them before melting them down, we
end up with a heck of a lot of lead with a gold veneer and the
dazzling illusion of a vast treasure. Gold is difficult to date,
but its metallurgy content can be analyzed. The stone artifacts
if thought real and genuine could command big money at an
art auction. Cleopatra VII was Greek in ancestry, and is a
descendant of Alexander the Great's cousin. Her son by Caesar
normally would have had old heirlooms like from a Macedonian
noble's tomb. The styles would mix Roman, Greek & Egyptian.
The same goes for a younger half-brother by Marcus Antonius.

The unmarked planes and helicopters in the Grand Canyon just
might not be Uncle Sam's. The border has illegal activity often!!!

Reply
J.A. Dickey
12/29/2013 09:44:50 am

The three "artifacts" SW has, that he shows to Mr. Hubbard,
the "Isis" stone, the black marble one with the 3-D face, and
the flat one with a cartouche, did he actually purchase them
from Russell Burrows and then draw the line at further artwork?

Reply
Gunn
12/29/2013 05:01:41 pm

An embarrassing question, no doubt. We know about where collectible agates in MN come from--the aforementioned Lake Superior lava, but what about the forgeries? Were they always "forgeries?" Were they always worthless...in one's mind? At any rate, they could seem collectible to someone who collects rocks in the first place...and which can in-and-of-itself be an innocent, pleasant pastime. Some Burrows Cave items do appear somewhat artful, for what that's worth...garden stones? Yes, over in the fantasy section of the garden, over by the fairy. Huh? Yah, ya betcha by gollie, eh? Eh? Why not?

geo dowser link
12/30/2013 11:19:39 am

Good Comments JA

Q Were the gold objects made in order to legitimize the stone
ones?

The "gold objects" lead based gold coated castings of authentic ptolmic bars, coins etc were found , left or recovered from a safe deposit box of a deceased partner. It is felt that they were swapped out for the real ones. There is no other reason as they are and never were for sale or out in the market. It is further proof of what was actually recovered from the cave. There are bank records and private records that attest to what actually went down and why. There is no big mystery as to what was and happened if one reads all the material available. Reading articles on the internet will not give the infomation needed for an unbiased and truthful understanding..

Her son by Caesar
normally would have had old heirlooms like from a Macedonian
noble's tomb. The styles would mix Roman, Greek & Egyptian.

This is correct and this is what we find in the tombs, exactly as you would expect.

Reply
Research chemist
12/29/2013 08:51:54 am

" Cleopatra VII was Greek in ancestry, and is a descendant of Alexander the Great's cousin."

This of course cannot be verified. Treat ancient history, especially genealogies, with the utmost of caution.

Reply
TONY S.
5/16/2017 01:02:41 am

That's completely asinine. Of course it was verified. Have you read any ancient history or archaeology books?

Reply
Will
12/29/2013 09:13:41 am

I went to that Alexander Helios website and looked at the "artifacts" in the main page slideshow.

Did the Egyptians really make anything that used clay and gold spray paint?

Maybe the AAT's got it wrong and the Dendera "Lightbulb" was actually an ancient version of a spray paint can or spray system.

Reply
geo dowser
12/29/2013 09:52:09 am

Hi Folks,
I guess all the skeptics naturally hang together....lol
Anyway i also know that skeptics naturally love the truth too,
so for the record, this is the real deal .... the Illinois Caves Part.
I have studied this at close hand for many years .... and been to the cave. its real, I just happened to have access to the truth and thought i would mention it, to be impartial. We just need recognition and funds to secure the site, and all this controversy will be put to rest.
a million people with one dollar each and we can open the cave. its that simple. specutation is a waste of time. I am actively scanning the internet to assimilate everyones feelings now that the show aired and i can see we still have a long way to go....its not about profits or book sales , but the truth. so be it.

Reply
RLewis
12/29/2013 10:13:15 am

Fine, just release one artifact to be authenticated by a widely recognized authority and I will be happy to join your fight for the truth.
Or, how about a photograph of the inside of the cave?

Reply
geo dowser
12/29/2013 12:57:34 pm

Hi,
A verifiable authentication would be a good thing. I know that some of the stones had gone to archeo forensics specialists other than Scott Wolter, however i do not have copies of those but probably available. What is authentic is once you actually become familiar with the stones and can decipher them, they explain themselves, just as you are reading this. The stones speak for themselves once some basic understandings/symbols are understood. There are far too many to have been faked, and the before hand knowlege of the Eustrucian Script to do so, is insurmountable.

Why would the attorney general of the state of illinois, have oversight over a large amount of gold replicas donated to goodwill,
that originally were in the possesion in a murdered mans safe deposit box ? Independent photos show similar gold artifacts in the possesion of the deceased [ jack ward , burrows "partner"]

You just cant make up stories and forgeries like this.... it runs too deep. There is more first hand documentation of every detail of this discovery than any other. There are detailed day by day notes by Burrows saved by Ward, requesting this and that.... to the point that Ward was maintaining records of the weight of gold removed... Alot of these details are not out easy to see/read but they are there.

Regarding the pictures at Illinoiscaves.com they re not the best but representative of whats there.... there are and i have much higher resolution photos and details are quite remarkable.... it takes hrs and hrs to get the gist of this, but i am just trying to keep the optimistic door open for any that care... its worth it. and just imagine.

Oh, to be honest i have not been IN the cave... or else i wouldnt be writing this lol, but i have been right to where it had been blown up,
and on top of the site is where i mostly worked to determine the validity of the man made cavern system... and yes it is there.... you might say that i was an outside independent contractor.. and feel the truth is important... otherwise i wouldnt bother. i am not really involved in any of this nor care to be.

LynnBrant link
12/30/2013 01:40:36 am

I've seen about 70 of the alleged Burrows cave stones. My reaction was that they looked brand new, were well done, and could have been commissioned from somewhere in Asia for a few bucks each.

Will
12/29/2013 10:16:14 am

Look at this site that links off the Alexander Helios site:

I see nothing. Plus the images are super small.

http://www.illinoiscaves.com/images.htm

Reply
Will
12/29/2013 10:16:31 am

Look at this site that links off the Alexander Helios site:

I see nothing. Plus the images are super small.

http://www.illinoiscaves.com/images.htm

Reply
Clint Knapp
12/29/2013 11:02:44 am

It's not about profits or book sales, but conveniently you need exactly one million dollars to open a cave that does not belong to you? If there's any semblance of truth to your claim answer the following:

What is your real name?
Under what authority are we to believe a word you say?
Why is the figure precisely one million dollars?
If you have been in the cave and examined true artifacts, do you have pictures and video of them in situ?
If yes to the previous; why are you withholding them if your claim is to be taken as legitimate?

Of course, I don't expect you can answer any of these satisfactorily or without citing vague conspiracies and cover-ups, because everything you've said reads like a poor attempt at running a con.

Reply
geo dowser
12/29/2013 01:10:36 pm


Hi Clint,
Thank you for your reply, however it is hard to operate under the suspicion of a con understandibly. If i was running a con i wouldnt be wasting my time emailing in earnest lol a goup of known ahead of time skeptics promising them the truth.... i dont even know the meaning of trolling.
In anycase i am operating from a position of sincerity and curiosity as to why so many folks just follow the leader and write off things that they have not personally experienced.

I was hoping to be able to reply in email and edit easier but it doesnt seem that way so i will make do.

What is your real name?
geo dowser
What is your authority ?
I have no authority per se but am aware of the circumstances needed to aquire and secure the actual site [ @100ac]
10k an acre is not alot these days, but triple going farm acreage.

I can no longer continue as this method of reply [form]is too unwieldy,
but know i care, am sincere, and looking for the right minded folks to bring this saga to its rightful conclusion _already_ !

geo dowser
12/29/2013 01:20:42 pm


Hi Clint,
Thank you for your reply, however it is hard to operate under the suspicion of a con understandibly. If i was running a con i wouldnt be wasting my time emailing in earnest lol a goup of known ahead of time skeptics promising them the truth.... i dont even know the meaning of trolling.
In anycase i am operating from a position of sincerity and curiosity as to why so many folks just follow the leader and write off things that they have not personally experienced.

I was hoping to be able to reply in email and edit easier but it doesnt seem that way so i will make do.

What is your real name?
geo dowser
What is your authority ?
I have no authority per se but am aware of the circumstances needed to aquire and secure the actual site [ @100ac]
10k an acre is not alot these days, but triple going farm acreage.

I can no longer continue as this method of reply [form]is too unwieldy,
but know i care, am sincere, and looking for the right minded folks to bring this saga to its rightful conclusion _already_ !

Only Me
12/29/2013 11:14:36 am

You wouldn't also happen to know if a previously unknown relative of mine did, in fact, recently die and leave a rather large sum of money in a Nigerian bank, waiting for me to send the necessary processing fees to legally claim said sum?

If you are, I propose a trade. I'll send you a dollar and you make sure I get the rather large sum of money from the relative I didn't know I had. Then, and only then, will I be in a financially secure position to fund your efforts at Burrows Cave.

Is it a deal?

Reply
RLewis
12/29/2013 11:17:28 am

Any day now I expect to inherit several millions of dollars from a Nigerian Prince. If you can send me your bank account information I can forward some of the funds to you.

Reply
geo dowser
12/29/2013 01:30:58 pm

he he good one lol.
Thats great and we appreciate it.
I have been trying to get them Nigerians to send us money for years !
All of our account information is now available on the NET compliments of Target Corp [ google thousands of target accts hacked ]

geo dowser
12/29/2013 01:32:15 pm

he he good one lol.
Thats great and we appreciate it.
I have been trying to get them Nigerians to send us money for years !
All of our account information is now available on the NET compliments of Target Corp [ google thousands of target accts hacked ]

just shut it already
12/29/2013 02:05:09 pm

Also this is your best friend from high school and I'm trapped without my passport. All I need is two grand to get home. Help me out? Also you've won the lottery and I just need $500 to process your claim. Anyone interested in ocean front property in Nebraska? What? It's all totally true!

Reply
SaQ
1/29/2014 08:56:29 am

I'm interested. I have been looking to contact Harry Hubbard as well. what do you need?

Reply
J.A. Dickey
12/29/2013 10:18:37 am

http://whofortedblog.com/2012/09/23/indiana-jones-olney-illinois/

i found this link when trying to get a short online biography of
Russell Burrows, if this article is correct, Frank Joseph had done
time at the same prison Burrows had been a guard at, and FJ
has said he took a trip with RB to a cave that is 40 miles away
from the site SW was taken to. SW acts as if he did do a cash
outlay and then had second thoughts. I think the vanishing gold
is something done to distract the Id of those who question the
provenance of the carvings. RB was in retirement in the 1980s.

Reply
J.A. Dickey
12/29/2013 11:31:00 am

http://www.flavinscorner.com/falling.htm

here's another link about F.J (C) and his connection
to this. in it Richard Flavin says he has interacted
with Hubbard, who he describes as a "punk" in the
article from his site. Was RB helped with his hoax?
Is an earlier hoax from the Edwardian era a template?

Reply
Gunn
12/30/2013 02:13:13 pm

Thanks for the link. It was practically a book, but I think it was very telling, from one man's point of view--and what a view!

I hope "geo dowser" takes the time to read it.

I didn't realize there was such a market in such fabrications back in the '80's. I noticed they started selling the fakes at places that sold arrowheads and such, to appear to certain suckers...the same ones who would buy freshly-knapped "rare" spear points. Frankly, I'm amazed at the number of these items that were sold. Just the sheer number of them makes me cringe, into the thousands...and then the fake Michigan objects, too.

It seems like with the amount of information out there online about this Burrows Cave hoax, it would all end, collapsing upon itself. Yet, somehow, the forgeries are deemed collectible, and many have left their place of fabrication to become curiosity pieces within collections. I think of the reference to old people (from the link) having been suckered and embarrassed over Burrows Cave frauds.

geo dowser, you need to do some serious research to both straighten yourself out and to keep you from pestering others with this nonsense. Very obviously, this man, Burrows, should have been prosecuted, but he managed to slip through the cracks.

marc morris
12/29/2013 12:05:14 pm

why did wolter say tut's sarcophagus was made of solid gold when it was made of wood with a gold overlay? why did he call alexander helios Egyptian when he was Macedonian and roman? why did he say alexander had to flee octavius when his sister selene , as well as pompey's son sextus were left alone? why would alexander go to north America instead of Parthia or Macedonian controlled bactria? and IF YOU CAN'T SEE A CAVE FROM BELOW BECAUSE IT'S TOO HIGH AND YOU CAN'T SEE IT FROM ABOVE BECAUSE IT'S TOO LOW, HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW IT'S THERE?

Reply
Jason Colavito link
12/29/2013 12:20:24 pm

Did you expect them to do research for the show? They only read other fringe sources. Real facts don't cross their radar.

Reply
geo dowser
12/29/2013 01:19:53 pm

Its a shame yet destiny for a show like American Unearthed to portray such an important archeo / cultural find such as
Lowrys/Burrows/Illinois Caves.

Jason i got sidetracked in the comments, and said error hence the multiple posts.... sorry.

I am hoping to speak with you in some other mode/fashion, so as to give you another source of information from which to base and write your opinions ons... You have a great blog and interesting views !

To be clear i will make available to you any information you seek about this topic, so you can make your own decisions .... thanks geo

geo dowser
12/29/2013 01:21:44 pm

Its a shame yet destiny for a show like American Unearthed to portray such an important archeo / cultural find such as
Lowrys/Burrows/Illinois Caves.

Jason i got sidetracked in the comments, and said error hence the multiple posts.... sorry.

I am hoping to speak with you in some other mode/fashion, so as to give you another source of information from which to base and write your opinions ons... You have a great blog and interesting views !

To be clear i will make available to you any information you seek about this topic, so you can make your own decisions .... thanks geo

note> page says
There was an error submitting your comment. Please try again

Rev. Phil Gotsch
12/29/2013 01:17:58 pm

There were multiple nested coffins holding the mummy of King Tutankhamun … the inner one being indeed SOLID gold ...

Reply
marc morris
12/29/2013 12:17:37 pm

sorry but it's bugging me that I wrote that tut's sarcophagus was made of wood. I should have written that his coffin was wooden. the sarcophagus was granite.

Reply
Dan
12/29/2013 12:34:03 pm

This site has a pretty thorough debunking of Burrows, his "cave", and the obvious fake artifact selling scam surrounding him.
http://www.criticalenquiry.org/burrowscave/burrows.shtml

"The artifacts themselves are by all accounts ludicrous, obvious fakes created by someone who paged through various books, found likely-looking inscriptions, and copied them onto available pieces of stone. Many of the "rock art pieces" depict the same "lantern-jawed" profile of a human male, and numerous artists and archaeologists have noted that all appear to have been drawn by the same individual. Several pieces have been recognized as copies of known artifacts that have been depicted in various books over the years, and Barry Fell commented that the "Elephant stele" was an obvious copy of one he depicted in his book America BC. The forger even copied a mistake Dr. Fell made on the transcription in the first edition, which allows the forgery to be dated to sometime after 1976."

Reply
Dan
12/29/2013 12:37:19 pm

This site has a pretty thorough debunking of Burrows, his "cave", and the obvious fake artifact selling scam surrounding him.
criticalenquiry dot org
"The artifacts themselves are by all accounts ludicrous, obvious fakes created by someone who paged through various books, found likely-looking inscriptions, and copied them onto available pieces of stone. Many of the "rock art pieces" depict the same "lantern-jawed" profile of a human male, and numerous artists and archaeologists have noted that all appear to have been drawn by the same individual. Several pieces have been recognized as copies of known artifacts that have been depicted in various books over the years, and Barry Fell commented that the "Elephant stele" was an obvious copy of one he depicted in his book America BC. The forger even copied a mistake Dr. Fell made on the transcription in the first edition, which allows the forgery to be dated to sometime after 1976."

Reply
tubby
12/29/2013 01:16:09 pm

I've seen culinary tourism shows that charter expeditions into jungles to discuss bush meat, but Wolter can't find out the FAA rules before he hires the helicopter and instead hire a canyon guide and some mules to uncover revelations of ancient Egyptians in the Grand Canyon? It's just admitting he's just wants to cry CONSPIRACY because he's just not even putting in the barest effort at.. well.. anything.

Reply
Varika
12/30/2013 01:22:41 pm

Eh, the waiting list for the mule ride is 2 years long. Besides, Wolter's a MANLY man! Why does he need mules? He can carry it all HIMSELF. Because he's MANLY.

Reply
Clete
10/14/2014 10:57:53 am

Saw the episode and when the female pilot told him she couldn't, because of FAA regulations, fly into the canyon, he looked like he had just been told that his dog died. I thought that it was because of safety concerns. The winds thoughout canyons can be tricky. I though, what a dummy.

Reply
Dan
12/29/2013 01:20:18 pm

Sorry about the multiple posts above. Weird error message when I tried to post. I thought it was a ban on url links, and like an idiot, I just kept hitting submit.

Anyway, I'd like to see Richard Flavin join this conversation, since he seems to have had a lot of unfortunate contact with these scam artists:
http://www.flavinscorner.com/falling.htm

Reply
Phillip McGregor
12/29/2013 02:41:51 pm

Vikings could have SAILED up the lower Mississippi river to get to Oklahoma!!!???? Is he daft? For those that don't know the mighty Mississippi, the only time winds were favorable to push a boat upstream would have been during hurricane Katrina.

Reply
The Other J.
12/30/2013 08:06:30 am

I never quite got how someone could argue that since the Vikings left an entire settlement in L'anse aux Meadows, they obviously could have made it half-way across the continent via waterways and plenty of portage.

Yet somehow they made it all that way without leaving another scrap of evidence similar to what was left at L'anse aux Meadows (hooked X's notwithstanding).

Reply
Gunn link
12/30/2013 03:02:08 pm

I'll try to help you get it. The Vikings at L'Anse aux Meadows represented only the beginning of attempted settlement and land acquisition. Their particular circumstances prevented them from succeeding very long at that location in Newfoundland, yet that was only the beginning.

You have made mention of waterways half-way across the continent, in jest, yet that is what I believe hearty Scandinavians did explore and follow--those inland water-ways.

The Other J., there are plenty of "scraps of evidence" at a very unusual, isolated spot that I just recently identified as being a veritable "hot spot" when it comes to inland water-way significance.

Consider that there are two water-ways inland that connect at Big Stone Lake in SD. This is simple, but significant. There is a Hudson Bay water-way, and a St. Lawrence Seaway water-way. I've been trying to figure in my mind what the significance of the Big Stone Lake area is (specifically, the Whetstone River), and why stoneholes and associated medieval Scandinavian carvings would be found here. Now I finally see the light. The location was chosen to settle, and the land was carved up here in abundance, because it is the place where the farthest inland points of the two water-ways meet.

When you think about it, this is of utmost importance since anticipated future travel and expansion could then go in two different water-way directions. What I'm saying is that I believe this remote convergence spot was key to those early Scandinavians mapping out and attempting to claim land so far inland.

Lastly, I can now see why Runestone Hill near Kensington, MN, was of medieval importance, beginning with the fact that it rests EXACTLY on a compass line drawn between Duluth--the end of westward lake sailing, and this spot by the southern end of Big Stone Lake, where the MN River begins.

The Other J., we're all holding out breath that Wolter will end up finding something of significance right here in his own back yard some day. He already knows the SD location somewhat, too, since he covered some of the "evidences" quite well, I thought, in his Hooked X book. This may end up being the future America Unearthed hot spot, I predict--even more important than Runestone Hill.

Keep in mind, please, that I've been trying to puzzle why Runestone Hill was chosen as a location by medieval Scandinavians, and why the Whetstone River area was chosen as a location, too. My new hypothesis makes good sense in explaining why these two locations contain medieval-seeming oddities accompanied by multiple stoneholes.

The Other J.
12/30/2013 08:57:09 pm

This doesn't wash for me for a number of reasons.

First, what reason would any Vikings have to travel that far inland? If you look at the history of Viking expansion throughout Europe and into Canada, they were primarily coast-huggers. I used to live in Ireland, and they helped to build a number of the most important cities -- Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Limerick. ("Help" is a qualified term; they got the walls up and the towns established, but they weren't helping the locals.) All of those places are along the coast, except Limerick, which is on the River Shannon and has ready access to the Atlantic. They wanted quick ways in and quick ways out. Even the Rus expansion into what became Russia was done down connected waterways with easy, direct links back to either support (settlements) or the sea.

Going up the Mississippi or down the Saint Lawrence to make it as far as you're suggesting presents a multitude of problems that, until you have a good answer for, leaves me unconvinced. If they went down the coast, around Florida, into the Gulf and UP the Mississippi (against the current up an entire continent), they didn't do that in a season. They would have had to have stopped and made similar settlements as L'anse aux Meadows, for at least two reasons: 1.) To get supplies, and 2.) To have a place to retreat back to if things went sideways. Where are those settlements? They made about six from the east coast of Ireland, down the southern coast, and into the country on the west coast, and Ireland's not that big; but they only managed one on their way down the eastern seaboard of the entire North American continent, into the Gulf of Mexico and up the Mississippi until they reached your back yard?

Another problem is that if a Viking excursion into this continent happened beyond Newfoundland, it quite likely would have followed the eastern coast because that tracks with what they did all around the rest of the world -- hug the coasts. The only places where they made their way inland were where they already had established settlements and tribal possession of lands they could get back to. If they were going down the Saint Lawrence, they're going against everything that would have gotten them that far in the first place: 1.) They're avoiding the coast, so they're losing quick access to their super highway, and 2.) They're going farther and farther away from their one outpost without any easy way back, so they'd be too easily cut off from their support point. You could say they were just that tough and manly, but I don't think they were that stupid. Logistically, neither of these excursions make sense.

Besides, there are no other L'Anse aux Meadows-type sites down the Saint Lawrence, nor any non-questionable artifacts, nor have any been discovered anywhere else around the Great Lakes region. And if they had gone that route, you'd expect even more chance of a settlement than along the coasts -- they'd have to deal with ice-lock in the winter, and it's not like all those nice canals and locks were just waiting for them to zip on through. The going would have been much slower, thereby requiring more need of establishing outposts along the way, at least for places to outlast the winter.

These haven't been found. When a Viking settlement is uncovered in Ottawa or the Upper Peninsula, then we can talk.

But there are other issues with the claim. I've looked into the stone hole thing a bit, and am far from convinced, since they appear all around the area and have a more obvious answer that's been addressed here before.

How about trade with the natives? The Vikings were interested in trading as much as pillaging; if they could meet their needs without putting their people at risk, all the better. There's evidence of trade with natives in Newfoundland and possibly down to Maine (but that could be a Viking coin that made it to Maine through Native trade). But where is the evidence of that trade among the interior Algonquin tribes they would have encountered? Are there any Native American accounts of European contact that are clearly from before Europeans started colonizing the east coast?

Then there are just the many, many issues with the KRS, that I really don't want to rehash. It wasn't the only faked runestone 'discovered' in the region, and if nothing else, the 'rough draft' of the stone's text that was dug up in the Minnesota Historical Society should trip most people's BS detectors. How could a person who claimed to have no knowledge of runes transcribe the stone incorrectly, yet somehow maintain the right grammar and syntax in a language and alphabet he claims not to know? That's not easy. I've studied four languages, and would still have trouble with the grammar and syntax of three of them if I wasn't careful. (I don't know if Jason's addressed this, but the hook in the X is present on every X in the rough draft; I'd hazard a guess that the hook was originally a penmanship flourish of the rough dra

The Other J.
12/30/2013 08:58:04 pm

hook was originally a penmanship flourish of the rough draft's writer, and that flourish was slavishly copied into the engraving.)

If there were even a few unquestionable artifacts found down the Saint Lawrence or around the Great Lakes, I'd say the evidence is fairly strong of at least some kind of exploration into the interior. If there was a settlement like L'Anse aux Meadows found along at least one of the lakes, I'd say the evidence of Vikings occupying some territory is pretty good. But there isn't -- there's no archaeological trail of crumbs leading to Minnesota, just speculation that conveniently came along with Scandinavian immigration to the region. But even so, what would it actually prove? What does this "land claim" stuff even mean? They clearly didn't put down any roots, and it's not like the discovery of L'Anse aux Meadows meant Newfoundland now belongs to Norway. If there was a clear chain of evidence, all it would prove is Vikings really got around, which we already knew, although that chain of evidence would be interesting. But if they did get that far and the place really meant anything, wouldn't those Vikings have done something with their land claim? Look at what they did with Dublin.

Put it this way: Had Norwegians and Swedes immigrated to Utah or Florida instead of the Upper Midwest, we'd probably talking about the Orem or the Sarasota Rune Stone. (Sarasota probably had a better chance of it.)

Gunn Sinclair link
12/31/2013 04:59:43 am

Wow, The Other J. I thought I was long-winded.

First, I want to say thanks to Jason for not getting irritated over the continued discussion of the KRS. The hounds have left me alone for quite a while, and I feel that I've made some inroads. The KRS door has been swinging wide open, and I think it's partly for this reason that I've been able to "see the light" about the importance of medieval-era inland water-ways.

Here it is then, The Other J. But first, I wasn't talking about coming up the Ole Mississippi. Here it is then: Scandinavians back then knew that they could enter the vast interior in a circle. They could enter Hudson Bay and come out the St. Lawrence Seaway. Conversely, they could enter the St Lawrence Seaway, sail across Great Lakes, then paddle smaller boats to pass by the Big Stone Lake area, and continue north to Hudson Bay, able to reach the East Coast by that route as well.

This special meeting place was by Big Stone Lake, on the Whetstone river. I couldn't help noticing that one commenter, above, mentioned about AN ENTIRE RIVER being settled as being doable...in a different context involving a culture and possessing land. This is exactly what I'm proposing: The entire Whetstone River was saturated with land claims.

This is a HEAVY CONCENTRATION area for stoneholes and carvings. The river was chosen out for settlement, being just a few miles west of huge Big Stone Lake. They didn't want to settle (yet) on the banks of the lake, but rather a few miles inland. This is reminiscent of how Runestone Hill was chosen as a site just a few miles (east) of the Chippewa River.

The main point I want to make is that these two far inland water-ways which both begin on the northern East Coast come together FAR INLAND at Big Stone Lake. This fact was recognizable to medieval Scandinavians, and they chose to basically claim the Whetstone River area for possible future ownership. Again, maybe they paid the existing Native Americans for this stretch of land.

For years, one of the main questions in my mind has always been, "why did the KRS party choose out Runestone Hill to place the memorial stone?" Now, seeing how important this Whetstone River area was in the emerging picture, I can also see how and why Runestone Hill was chosen out by the intrepid men to leave a memorial to their fallen comrades. It is this simple: They figured someone would be coming back to that knoll. Why? Because it features heavily in the previous mapping of the area.

Runestone Hill was already known about by the KRS party, because it was purposely marked out as representing a geographical feature which was located on the straight compass line between the Whetstone River and Duluth, the far west end of Lake Superior. Runestone Hill is a geographical marker, and yet it may be something else, too, if the pattern of the stonehole rocks encircling it mean anything. It is easy to think that something might be found beneath the soil around there, if the authorities ever decide to look.

I now feel the same way about the Whetstone River area of SD. I wholeheartedly believe artifacts are to be found beneath the soil around that area. This is a prime spot to look for further medieval Scandinavian objects. I hope Wolter ends up spending some time there, exploring around...accompanied by at least one certified archaeologist. No bulldozers allowed...only Bulldozer backpacks.

By the way, since I figured this watery "circle with the far inland meeting spot" out, I have reserved upon myself the right to re-name this location to a proper medieval-context name, which will from now on be dubbed as "New Gotaland," which is in the far extreme SE corner of modern-day SD.

Yes, folks, you heard it here first, New Gotaland, where two great inland water-ways converge. The Birthplace of America?

You know, now that I think about it...again...this New Gotaland may very well explain the Mandans, too. "The Lost Colony of New Gotaland."

By the way, this morning one of my daughters told me, I quote: "You sound like a lunatic." This, from MY OWN DAUGHTER!

RLewis
12/31/2013 05:11:56 am

It sounds like you might be better served by having your granddaughter review your ideas before posting them :)
There are lots of lakes, rivers, knolls, in the Midwest. Minus the suspect carvings and stone holes, the "light" you're seeing could referring to nearly anywhere in the area.

Gunn link
12/31/2013 12:14:41 pm

Okay, RLewis, you didn't get it. And that was my daughter, not my granddaughter.

Suffice to say that the mystery of why Runestone Hill is "out in the middle of nowhere" has been solved. It is a geographical marker of mapped-out land.

Beyond that, we now know where to concentrate with professional archaeological digs, that being "New Gotaland."

The old team that found Meadow Cove in Newfoundland discovered the site based on Saga information, which most others were skeptical about. They followed their instinct and logic and ended up discovering what they were looking for. I contend that a similar approach has been taken by Yours Truly in order to explain the presence of what I have perceived as medieval Scandinavian evidences...in a way, doing the process backwards. Yet, in doing so, I have identified a logical spot for experts to begin searching for the elusive artifact, pre-Columbus, that will come with full provenance.

Perhaps it is Wolter's destiny to fulfill this challenge, with the might and muscle of A&E. One must start looking; it is not too early to start looking.

The "Landing Area" of "New Gotaland" (the entire Whetstone River) is a good place to start searching for FUTHER evidence of medieval Scandinavian land prospecting...yes, in the middle of North America, where two great inland water-ways meet. Perfect.

The Other J.
1/1/2014 06:07:51 pm

...

Dan
12/29/2013 02:52:38 pm

Vikings sailing to Oklahoma is old hat. Now its ancient Egyptians sailing up the Mississippi all the way to Southern Illinois. 50,000 of them. With lots and lots of gold, and 10s of thousands of stones, all led by a 10 year old prince. And the only "evidence" of this comes from a cave that's only been seen by one person in modern times.

Reply
Americanegro
9/1/2016 09:07:47 pm

Good Lord, Gunn!

I've seen you mix it up with our Scott on his website so I will treat you with respect. Some preguntas, if I may, and I may:

1. Why so far inland? What was in it for this small party?

2. Why claim more land than all the Vikings in the world could use even if they could get there?

3. In what universe is an inscription about 10 guys getting slaughtered a land claim?

4. Where did you see these "previous mappings that you mention"?

5. Given Wolter's complete ignorance of foreign languages, are we sure we have a correct translatino of the runestone and does it disagree with Wolter's?

6. Why have we seen no landclaims on the way to the KRS site, like in Newfoundland, New England, New York, Michigan, etc.? The point being "where people coming from Europe would have a chance of seeing them".

Reply
StrongStyleFiction link
12/29/2013 03:59:40 pm

Is it just me or did Wolter call Isis a Greek goddess in his voice over?

Reply
The Other J.
12/30/2013 08:58:47 am

Yes. Yes he does call Isis a Greek goddess.

"The varied collection ranged from a shaman in a cartouche carved in black marble to a white marble stone with the Greek goddess Isis on it."

'Isis' is the Greek spelling, but she's not a Greek goddess.

Reply
Shane Sullivan
12/30/2013 12:55:44 pm

Bwahaha! That just made my day.

It sort of reminds me of Manly Palmer Hall repeatedly referring to (Greek) Persephone as the daughter of (Roman) Ceres in his book, "The Secret Teachings of All Ages." He mixes and matches names of Greek deities and their Roman counterparts throughout the volume.

And even Hall was aware that Isis was Egyptian...

Jason Colavito link
12/30/2013 12:59:04 pm

If I hadn't read Scott Wolter's book, I'd have given him the benefit of the doubt that he was thinking about the Greco-Roman Isis cult rather than the older Egyptian original, but I think that suggests more than he really knows. That said, I'm going to put this down to a scriptwriting error.

TONY S.
5/16/2017 01:06:50 am

Yes, she was. Isis was one of the goddesses that the Hellenistic Ptolemaic Dynasty, who ruled Egypt from Alexandria, worshipped. She was a part of the pantheon of Greco-Egyptian deities.

TONY S.
5/16/2017 01:13:20 am

Isis was co-opted into the hybrid Greco-Egyptian religion created by the Ptolemies and the native priesthood. She was worshipped by a dynasty of Greek kings, in their religion.

RLewis
12/30/2013 04:04:20 am

After re-watching the Holy Grail in America last night and reading some SW's posts on his blog, I think I'm beginning to see the agenda. SW (and/or the Producers of AU - I'm not sure who is steering) does not believe that Asians, Egyptians/Romans, or Vikings were in the USA - only Templars (they "accept' that the Vikings made it to Marthas Vinyard). I believe that is why they are half-heatedly looking at these recent myths - the easiest way to make your conspiracy look more reasonable is to show how little there is to support all competing conspiracies.

Reply
The Other J.
12/30/2013 09:31:45 am

I don't even know what to say about this miscarriage of an episode. But what Jason dug up on the backgrounds to the claims makes it somehow worthwhile, at least from a weird kind of sociological standpoint. For me, at least, that made this episode simultaneously one of the least and most satisfying.

Here's a run-down of the problems identified in the review and comments:

- Misrepresenting a faith healer as an expert in Grand Canyon archaeology (only identified as a Grand Canyon Explorer, which is pretty vague).
- Misrepresenting the name of the paper where the original hoax story occurred, which may give some kind of plausible deniability if asked about the veracity of the Arizona Gazette article.
- Misrepresenting a known hoax as suppressed history.
- Misrepresenting what the known hoax says in order to fit the Egyptian narrative as opposed to the Tibetan narrative.
- Misrepresenting what the Zuni elder actually believes in order to manufacture support for the misrepresented claim.
- Misrepresenting the information around the FFA rules about flying into the canyon and the provenance of the image of the plane below the edge of the canyon. The faith healer says the expedition with the scary plane was in 2002, a decade before the FFA rules went into effect.
- Misrepresenting the problem of not being able to get enough water down the cliff; if you can lower a body down the belay ropes, you can lower water. (Note to producers: Manufacturing the dangers doesn't make Scott, et. al. look tough; it makes them look dumb when those dangers are so clearly avoidable and not a real problem.)
- Hiding Hubbard's financial stake in promoting Illinois treasure cave folklore, which Wolter and H2 have now helped.
- Mistakenly calling Isis a Greek goddess.
- Mistakenly calling the 't h e r' on the marble tombstone forgery "English cursive." C'mon Scott, that's just plain printing -- the letters aren't even connected. Even when you're correct in your debunking, you're screwing up the facts.
- Misrepresenting the actual history of Alexander Helios' disappearance from history.
- Not disclosing why Hubbard isn't allowed on Weilbacher's land, which suggests at least a real difference of opinion.
- Asking if they could get down into the west ravine while the camera shoots them from the very spot he's asking if they can get to. If your production crew is already there, it's possible to get down there. (Nice catch Jason.)

This stuff is embarrassing even for wackadoo fringe history. They can't even keep their misrepresentations straight.

My cousin runs expeditions through the Grand Canyon for REI. After this episode I asked him if he'd heard of any of these claims; he not only said he hasn't he heard of the claims, but he's never heard of America Unearthed, which was nice. He tells me plenty of artifacts have been found, but he's not heard of anything Tibetan or Egyptian-related, or of pyramids in caves, but he'll ask some of the others he knows who lead trips through the canyon about what they've heard. Still, even if there were pyramids to be found, that doesn't necessarily = Egypt, since there are native-made pyramid structures to be found from Mesoamerica up to Wisconsin.

Reply
Jens
12/30/2013 10:21:18 pm

thanks Jason. The voice of reason in a world of nonsense.

Reply
Hans Schaden
12/31/2013 01:26:43 am

Ready to turn off the TV when the Grand Canyon hoax came on, then the Barrow's tomb! Seemed like I was watching a different version of the fradulent B.F.R.O. at work, but without calls and knocks!

"Artifacts" were more poorly formed than the usual trinkets now prepared for the tourist trade today. Thatsmall stone with the cartouche was not on camera long enough to read, but the two
images of seated deities should have been facing each other, not
facing in the same direction.

The figure under the Aten rays was long out of vogue by the end of the Ptolemaic era. And in the Akhenaten-Tut era,, there were no coins, no gold coins!

Sad that the wildest schemes are given such exposure without some input from those who have worked in Egypt for decades!
Guess one cannot let facts get in the way of a juicy story.

Reply
Mark
1/1/2014 12:17:45 pm

Jason,
We have seen somebad eepisodes thus far this season. I am curious, how would you rank the episodes so far being best to worse.

Reply
Jason Colavito link
1/1/2014 01:14:19 pm

In terms of entertainment or content? They've all been awful in terms of truth, and as far as entertainment, I'm afraid I have to demur. I watch the episodes to closely for factual material to have a really accurate idea of how they play at a remove as entertainment.

Reply
Mark
1/1/2014 04:43:15 pm

Sorry for not beings specific. I was referring to content of the material.

John Ballas
1/1/2014 02:28:22 pm

Just to throw in a comment. On the show, the idea that possibly 50,000 Egyptian illegals came to America. Sorry had to throw that in. Using common sense. Don't you think there would be some evidence of that somewhere here? After all there is plenty of evidence that Cleopatra Ruled in Egypt. Also there is plenty written about it also. Who knows? Maybe that is who is responsible for the Texas Wall . I just think this is way too many people that would go unnoticed. Actually I think something else here is being protected. And Uncle Sam does not want you to know.
But all aside from that. Yes it can be possible Egyptians came here. I just think it would be a little more obvious.

Reply
Jonathan
1/1/2014 04:18:26 pm

So, I find it interesting that they couldn't access the site with rope and modern conveniences yet they propose ancient Egyptians did it with masses of treasure?
I also find it interesting how inconsistent that guy's story was. He said there were steps carved UP to it. (Moki steps are common in the southwest, used by the prehistoric Puebloans.) Anyway, he said there were steps carved UP to it, yet he later said there was no way up to it - only to be accessed from the top.

Reply
S02E06
1/3/2014 04:31:03 pm

Tune in next week to see the Wolters staged vacation.

Reply
Tara Jordan link
1/4/2014 06:54:31 pm

According to Wolter`s theory,fearing for his own life,Alexander Helios decided to leave Egypt with an entourage of 50,000,bringing along no more less than the Ark of the Covenant.
Of course,since there was no other place to go,Helios took the decision to travel to Arizona & take refuge in a cave located in the Grand Canyon.A cave both inaccessible from ground level & the edge of the rim.
In keeping with Wolter`s twisted & demented rationale,this major mass displacement has been swept away from all historical records.Academia is suppressing the truth about the Egyptian Exodus.
Professor Scott Nostradamus Wolter is using anticipatory self defense,if you dare to challenge his ground breaking discovery,the "forensic" megalomaniac accuses you of discrediting the messenger.Trying to argue with Wolter`s aficionados is like tiptoeing through a minefield of paranoid crackpots.Scott Wolter,an opportunistic & shameless charlatan who has been turned into an "authority on history & archeology",by minds even smaller than his own

Reply
jessetheseal
1/5/2014 04:12:42 pm

You know what noone in the Roman Empire would notice?

500 Egyptian ships sailing from Alexandria to Hispania and then out the pilars of Hercules toward America.

that makes perfect sense. Of course 50,000 Egyptians on the run from the Roman Emperor would sail TOWARD Rome... No way would they have sailed east toward India and not through Roman seas...

Reply
Thomas O. Mills link
1/8/2014 07:04:49 am

If there is a cave located in the Grand Canyon filled with ancient artifacts it should be very easy to find.

The main stars of the constellation of Orion are duplicated on the ground by ancient sites and the present day villages of the Hopi. The star Rigel is Betatakin, Saiph is Canyon de Chelly, the two waist and navel star(not a belt) are represented by 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Mesa, Betelgeuse is the ruin near Winslow called Homol'ovi and Bellatrix would be the ruin at Wupatki northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona. The stars in Orion's shield would be located over the Grand Canyon and the one just north of the conference of the Little Colorado and the Colorado would be the exact location of the cave. If all the stars are represented on the ground then the one over the grand canyon would be represented also.

If it does have Egyptian artifacts then the question should be why? The Hopi believe we were all created equal and at the same time and at the same place. That place could have been Egypt. That might be the reason why there are murals, carvings and palaces of all four races, black, yellow, red, and white.

As information: the Zuni do not make pilgrimages to the Grand Canyon but the Hopi do.

The Water Clan of the Hopi believe they emerged from the Grand Canyon near the conference of the Little Colorado and the Colorado river.

The Zuni remember crossing the Colorado on their quest to find their exact center or navel while traveling east. Many women and children were lost. A good book on the subject is called The Zuni Enigma by Nancy Yaw Davis where she proves that the Zuni and Japanese have very many things in common.

If the Hopi Villages form the constellation of Orion, then Aztec village located in Chaco Canyon would be the star Sirius. Aztec and the surrounding ancient village form the constellation of Canis Major. If this is correct then Zuni would be the star that represents the rear paw of the dog and the reason why the Zuni settled there.

The Zuni live east of Arizona in New Mexico. They have a Catholic church in their plaza on top of their exact center point. Most have been raised Catholics.

So if you want to know the exact location of the cave, make a transparency of the constellation of Orion and place it over a detailed map of Northern Arizona. This will also work at Cahokia Mounds near Collinsville, Illinois as I believe they represent the body of Orion also. If it does work then I believe the Hopi Creation Story is true also. Thomas O. Mills

Reply
geo dowser
1/9/2014 03:56:21 am

Very Interesting Thomas . I have worked on before, long distance alignments of another sort, of ancient sites in the us. This is based on ancient mariners navigation techniques, so i guess star maps/constellations would fall into that category. So as a technical question i will ask all those that read is there some way to overlay a google star map over a google map ? The issue of course is to size and align properly but i guess if you have known reference points this should be easy enough to figure out.....

Reply
thomas o mills
1/11/2014 03:02:02 am

Hello Geo. You might be interested in a 30 year study done over at Chaco Canyon if you are still interested in long distance alignments http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTUHXS10BM4

Remember when your watching it that there are no fire pits in the dwellings, no running water nearby, no trash dumps or burial grounds and that it would have taken at least 18 years to track the moon cycles. As information, no native tribes that I know track moon cycles and the rock carving that does this is found all over the world. The long north south road (long line that does not start or end anywhere) could be a reference to the dogs back in the constellation of canis major.

I'm not sure how you would overlay the two google maps. Sorry. tom

geo dowser
1/12/2014 10:37:17 am

Thank You for the link and insight Thomas.
I watched it and enjoyed it greatly.

Reply
Reds2cents
2/1/2014 10:27:09 am

It seems there is a conflict of interest when the source used to discredit the findings and persons involved is the same source stated trying to cover it up to begin with. Maybe a more reliable source on Cultural Myths of the Hopi Tribe would be the descendants of the Hopi and not a cultural institute that poorly documented the Native American cultures in general.
It also is funny to notice their way to discredit it by saying no documents were found on the Egyptian civilization in Arizona. As though the lack of documents is proof, or the idea of it being Egyptian when the statues were said to be of Buddha. To say that based on mummies found, as if Egyptians were the only culture to mummify its dead. Native Americans,Mayan,Aztecs, are a few just in this hemisphere alone. Yet it seems that area is as sacred to Native Americans tribes as mecca is to Muslims, or Jerusalem is to Jews and so on and so forth seems culture wins over historical institutes

Reply
Dr Commander Selvam link
3/31/2014 10:32:50 pm

nice post

Reply
Donovan
4/25/2014 08:04:53 pm

The Hebrews are the Egyptians of the ancient world. The Native Americans are the Israelite descendents. They were in Egypt during the time of Joseph, traveled across the ocean and founded America. You better get used to the truth, because it will be revealed.
You also have a lot of nerve ridiculing the Zuni Religion and my uncle Chester Mahooty. You don't know a damn thing of what you are talking about. You are misleading a lot of people and I hope you are proud of yourself. The Zuni's are an ancient people descendent from the priestly tribe of Israel.

Reply
MOTHER76
8/25/2014 06:21:11 pm

Well, the truth be told THE CAVE is REAL. We want real archeologists from the state of ILLINOIS to come to THE REAL SITE. We are tired of lying TREASURE HUNTERS who just want to RIP OFF the Site and steal the history from us the people of Illinois. This site belongs to us, our children and grandchildren. We were promised that the stuff in the cave would go to a museum were it could be studied, protected and seen by everyone. What we got was lied too. Then a contract was given to us stating that for the sum of ten dollars, they could come do anything they wanted to any and all of our land including THE CAVE. It also stated they could dispose of any and all artifacts how they saw fit. That was not the agreement.
THE AGREEMENT WAS IT ALL WENT TO A MUSUEM were we the people of this area and our families could see it. It was also agreed upon that the name WOULD NOT BE CALLED BURROW'S CAVE to honor a person whom ripped off the history and artifacts from US THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS . The land has been electro magnetic imaged and all the Russell Burrows stated was true. He also stated that Cleopatra and/or her children ARE NOT THERE/HERE!! AS for Harry we don't want him on our property and have told him so. WE CAN PROVE WHERE THE CAVE IS AND THE LEGAL OWNERS. Most of the older neighbors know, whose property the cave is on and we are not telling. WE want the site protected, secured and taken to a museum to be studied. We all want it out of here to stop people from bothering us. ALL THE NEIGHBORS INCLUDING OURSELVES WISH WE HAD NEVER HEARD OF THIS CAVE. Harry wants to make money and turn our area into a tourist site for him to sell t shirts AND HIS BOOKs. Almost everyone in this area has told Harry to STAY OFF THEIR PROPERTY which is why he could not go to the alleged site with Wolten. Everyone's property is marked no trespassing and we mean it. STAY AWAY. WE NEED REAL ARCHAEOLOGISTS NOT TREASURE HUNTERS AND MONEY GREEDY BULLsh...ers. Send us real trained people with provable backgrounds in the field. We are tired of being laughed at, shot at and told we don't know crap (last part came from Harry). Harry you are in the wrong place and will never be allowed near the CAVE I can guarantee you of THAT FACT. I have a lot more to say to the right people. When the whole truth comes out, it will be better than any story anyone could make up. EVERYTHING I HAVE STATED IS THE TRUTH AND I CAN PROVE IT.

Reply
Sam
10/13/2014 11:34:47 pm

Good job protecting this "secret".

Reply
mother76
8/25/2014 06:51:32 pm

PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANYONE ANY MONEY. THE OWNERS OF THE CAVE (ex BURROW'S CAVE) WANT NO MONEY JUST THE TRUTH TO BE TOLD. ANYONE WHOM ASKS FOR MONEY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CAVE PERIOD.

Reply
Greg Little
9/13/2014 04:36:27 am

Just so you know: http://www.i-newswire.com/press-release/smithsonians-enigmatic-prof-jordan-linked-to-1909-arizona

Reply
mother76
9/14/2014 08:08:25 pm

Thanks for the info. Very interesting. Kinda of makes you wonder if archaeologists should be trusted.

Reply
mother76
12/5/2014 07:33:35 pm

Harry
If you know where the cave is, then why did you go to the county and ask them to make the landowner tell where it was located (IUKA meeting)? Why did you request that you be the only person to enter the cave and study it for a period of, was it one year or two??? If everyone in the area wants you on their property, why did you state on Springfield radio station 11-17-14 "that you had to go on the property in the dark of night'. By your own admission you stated that you are guilty of felony trespassing. Why are you not allowed on the property (America Unearthed)? . Why do you state: your not doing this for money then say buy my books and videos? I have never asked anyone for one penny. . We do not spend our time calling people names. I never asked for your pity, but I do feel sorry for you. You have no training as an archaeologist or geologist and you have no cave training. So what makes you an expert??? As far as knowing where the cave is, there are people in this area who do know, but it's not you. You don't even know how or why the cave was closed. Nor do you even know why Mr. Burrows could not reveal the location. When I asked you to show us one item that you could prove came from the cave, you could not do it. A radio activity rock from Italy and items made from an old tombstone, wow, real impressive. Now you have "fake gold items" (oh, copies). By your own admission: You have never seen the cave, been in the cave, and can not PROVE any of your items came from the cave. As for me talking to you, the last time, was on a county road. Do you own the county road? Have you told the county that. It will save money on road maintenance, which could be used on other roads in the area.

Reply
Harry Hubbard link
12/8/2014 09:26:29 am

Once again, you've taken bits and pieces of data spanning years and twisted them into your own paradigm in order to make some sense to you. Your facts are so badly distorted there's no point in taking each wrong item and attempt correcting them. Everything you say may be put in its proper place by listening to not only my recent interviews but all the old ones as well. For instance: My issues with the landowner are detailed many times over. So why do you ask the question repeatedly when the answers have been available online for years? Nope, you're nuts, that's final. But don't take my word for it...simply ask anyone in the neighborhood or anyone you've ever had dealings with starting with Pete.

Reply
Harry Hubbard
12/8/2014 09:29:01 am

Oh, the reason I never bothered to show you any artifacts is because I knew it wasn't worth the trouble to pull them out. I don't cast my pearls to people like you.

EP
12/13/2014 05:34:28 pm

Mr. Hubbard, just so we're clear, your work is in no way based on a hoax perpetrated with the help of a Neo-Nazi child molester, right?

Right?

Harry Hubbard
12/23/2014 03:59:39 pm

The first time I ever heard of Frank Joseph was late September of 1994. Yes, he's a Nazi Pervert call it what you will and suits best. Frank Collin stole and twist our data to form his book. We have no respect for him. When he got married, my first questions was: Is she over 14? He's a twisted old fart now. Don't forget he was leader of the Skokie Seven. I wonder where I'd be with such a marvelous past? Would my books sell as good as his?

Reply
Frank Tortola
1/10/2015 08:36:41 am

Why not use a drone with a go pro to get to the grand Canyon cave it makes me wonder they can rent a chopper but not use a drone

Reply
mother76
2/2/2015 05:58:06 pm

If you had any pearls to cast why did you not show them to Scott Wolters on national TV? Why don't you dig on your own property?
BECAUSE YOU DON"T HAVE ANYTHING. On RADIO you stated you continue to TRESSPASS at night in the DARK!!! You should listen to what you say. NO ONE WANTS YOU ON THEIR PROPERTY.

Reply
Mother76
3/19/2016 02:55:38 pm

Harry and Geo Dowser;
If we are "crazy", why did Geo Dowser buy the property east of us of a quarter million dollars( not worth that)?? Why did the man he (geo dowser) brought to our property to scan it, try to make a separate deal with us?? Also, two other individuals he brought to our property, also have tried to make "deals" with us. Why are you now working for Geo Dowser on his property?? Notice it is not the same property you have been claiming the "cave is on". Geo Dowser lied to us, then produced a contract that for $10.00 he could dig anywhere on our property and dispose of anything (including all artifacts) as he saw fit to whom ever he wanted. Nothing was to go to museums. We could see the "cave but "not be allowed in it". I have outside witnesses than can verify all this. Yes we have notified the "proper authorities". Anything in it will go to a museum, not to " greedy people". You both will not be Allowed in it. I can promise you that. That is one promise that I can KEEP!!!You think Geo Dowser is going to give you artifacts to "travel around " and get Paid to "talk about the cave". Geo Dowser lied to you and told you "that you had the right location" even though he knew differently. Remember that?? Do you not think that he will lie to you again, to get what he wants. He wants to steal the history of Illinois and sell to the highest bidder!!! I feel very sorry for you taken in by a con man. Check he out, we did.

Reply
Geodowzer
10/9/2016 12:10:54 pm


Dear mom76

This I geodowser.
I don't know you nor find any facts you stated about me correct...actually you appear off the wall... I don't own any property for the record.... I do stand however for the record as an independent witness to the most amazing archeological discovery and it's meaning . Can you say that?
No one can refute my claim nor my experience unless you have had the same... the Illinois caves Mediterranean artifacts are a reality and readable for average person
See for yourself...I did

Now what is all this nonsense you write above and who pushed your buttons...care to even begin to clarify yourself wit facts........ you see there would not be this obscure discussion so many years later if there were not substance to the find. I am not selling anything nor own anything ...I just stand alone bearing witness to the truth..where little exists.

So be it.

Reply
Mother76
11/21/2016 04:34:53 pm

Geo Dowser, If you are not Peter from Florida (treasure hunter) or Peter Jr. from NY> I apologize. If you are Peter, You know what I have said to be True. If you are not Peter, I would be glad to talk to you about the cave and artifacts. Have you actually seen a real artifact from the cave?? Can you prove that that artifact came from the cave in Southern Illinois. BY THE WAY RUSSELL BUROWS IS ALIVE!!!! If you believe only because of Harry H. and what he says...I feel sorry for you. IF you have real proof that the artifacts are real or can read them please comment those facts. Just because Harry reads a lot does not make him an expert. I READ ALOT. I am no expert but I know things that other people do not. When the truth comes out then you will now whom I am and how I know certain things. Then you will know and understand that I have told the truth. And as one of the few people that actually know where this cave is... too bad for you. Yes, the cave is sealed. No, Russell did not do it. Yes, the Sheriff is aware of what is going on out here. If you are not Peter then..you have no ideal. If you are Peter you know and know that at one time we trusted you and you did nothing but try to scam us. Why, to sell everything to the highest bidder, not to give it to a museum. We are not people that will willingly give the history of Illinois away to anyone but the people of Southern Illinois. Again if you are not Peter the scammer please accept my apology. If you are, may you get what you deserve. Nothing. zip. May what you have put us through return to you 100 times. Anyone who truly knows about the artifacts or can read them..except Harry I would love to hear from you. Scammers, liars, and low life treasure hunters need not reply. Anyone truly interested in the history of Illinois is welcome. Do I know the answers, not yet but I will. Do I know things others do not...yep, almost enough to write my own book. One day the truth will be out there, no one will really believe it, yet it will all be true. And yes, I will have the final word!!! Except for the experts who will be studying all of this for years. By the way, certain people know about what I have said and knows the truth and have for years. They will be here to tell you that what I have said is true and that they have know the truth for years. Or the truth that is now known. Who really knows what is in a sealed cave????? Guess you will be like the rest of us and just have to wait and see. I can state firmly that the history of Illinois will remain in Illinois. Anyone want to give to a MUSUEM???? DO NOT send me money but one day it will be needed. That is the truth for now. More updates later, probably on the National news. But that will be awhile away. Good things come to those patient enough to work hard and wait. What?? Do not know but will find out!!!!

Reply
Komantcia
3/21/2017 12:01:03 am

MOTHER76

Don't know if this will reach you or not, I just stumbled across the thread.

Believe it or not, I have been in the Cave once, LONG Story that I can relate if you want later -- but ALL I saw that day were some bodies lying on what appeared to be slabs -- no gold, no jewels...there appeared to be more than one room, but I only entered one room, and then only went in about 4 feet.

As to H.H, based SOLELY on MY interactions with, and observations of, his outbursts, he is definitely a difficult individual.

As to his description of where he is looking, it is DEFINITELY NOT in the same area as the Cave I went to....and based on what I was told by people, I can understand why he gets little cooperation.

I can state with certainty, and am willing to undergo a polygraph, and/or swear in a court of law, that there IS a Cave that Russ Burrows took me too that had bodies that I don't believe were American Indian in origin lying on slabs.

But I did NOT see any Gold, Jewels or such items. I DID see some pottery/urns.

I didn't like being in this Cave, and I never asked to go back

Reply
Geodowser
3/26/2017 10:56:37 pm

Hi all... this is geodowser and I am not at a keyboard so will be short...
Mother. ... I am not Pete or Pete Jr for the record and I accept your apology since you took the trouble ty... rare these days... I am simply an ouside party with awareness that as you do want to see the right thing happen for all concerned.... I am not a player but rather a watcher....I can see this is an emotional issue for you understandably but please take everything and everyone in stride.....based on my first hand research over the past 20 years lol or so I would say even as an amateur that ther is overwhelming data and artifacts to support further research and discovery... without a doubt...even with your posts and KOMANTIA Sp shows that there is something to this.... I mean here we are 30 some odd years later discussing a hoax lol on an obscure skeptics review lol THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS REVIEW JASON AND KEEPING THIS DISCOVERY ALIVE
SO That alone tells you.... if there was nothing the discussion would be non exisstant...there would be no review.... but since the state doesn't belive in this then by default it will go private...but not meaning sold off just priva tree e investment to do the right thing...so be it

KOMANTIA

once again your story is very interesting and sincere...point being..analysis..no one exceptwith sincerity would bother...so moving fwd...I find it interesting you feel where you visited was not the same location Mr hubbard described....how do you come to that conclusion...Ie nearby different county state??

You say h Hubbard's description...meaning...isn't this pinpointed on a map sonewhere....my specialty is localion Not as a treasure seeker but rather my skill.. my focus what I do and why I got involved or interested so to speak so long ago...this is why I ask...

Reply
Mappy
5/6/2018 09:04:18 am

If you want to know our real history and why it has been intentionally hidden, read;

The Giants That Ruled America: The Great Smithsonian Cover-Up
by Richard Dewhurst

Tons of documentation including Photos/Many many Newspaper articles - Eyewitness accounts etc. laid out for all to see the truth!

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

    March 2023
    February 2023
    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 Scrapbook
      • 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