With this episode, we arrive at the third season finale of America Unearthed, a show that set out to prove that “the history we’ve all been taught in school is wrong” but which has failed over the course of 39 episodes to offer anything more than speculation and assertion in favor of that hypothesis. I feel like I should have stronger feelings about this season coming to a close, but I find that I do not. I think the reason for that is that my expectations for the series have changed over the last three years. In the first season, I was outraged that a cable channel was airing bizarre conspiracy theories under the guise of a major new history series and presenting them as truth. But since then, I’ve gradually become accustomed to the leaps of logic and the spotty science, to the point that the show no longer truly outrages me because I no longer expect anything better. In the second season, even though the pace of each episode slowed considerably I could still get interested in the individual mysteries the show explored, but in the third season, the plethora of treasure hunts and the search for Bigfoot pretty much ended even that little bit of active engagement. The show was no longer just predictable (so much so that I could write the background section of my reviews a day before the show aired, largely without missing a trick)—it was also boring. And so we now come to the second half of the second season finale, S03E13 “The Templars’ Deadliest Secret: Evidence Exposed.” As the conclusion of a two-part episode, there isn’t any background to present other than the article I compiled on the Holy Bloodline of Jesus claim and the review of last week’s first part of the episode. The EpisodeSegment 1 Scott Wolter’s views are the kind of thing that H2 is trying to keep their distance form. “They are not opinions shared by this network,” the disclaimer once again reads as we recap last week’s episode before heading into a reenactment of the French raid on the Templar order in 1307. We see reenactments of the torture of the last Templar Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, followed by his execution at the hands of Philip IV of France. As we head into the opening credits, the on-screen graphics ask what “secret” he refused to reveal. After the credits, Wolter recaps last week’s rune stone hoax, and then Wolter explains why he believes that the Hooked X® represents the penis of Jesus penetrating the womb of Mary Magdalene and impregnating her with a fetus. An on-screen graphic shows this, with the “hook” on the stave marked as “child.” Wolter, Steve St. Clair, and Alan Butler are in France looking at the way Italian and French hands tend to fall into a vaguely M-shaped hand gesture, a hand shape not as prevalent among Nordic people. Wolter offer fantasies about the number thirteen—that M is the thirteenth letter of the alphabet (as it has been only since the 1500s, when “j” was added), that America had thirteen colonies—and he says that America’s colonies were planned to honor the end of the Templars on Friday 13, 1307. Wolter looks at a statue of an eagle marked 1776 in France and calls it a Masonic-Templar conspiracy (rather that a perfectly common type of lectern used in churches all the time in that era—my father once owned one just like it), and he asserts that Franklin Roosevelt also makes the hand gesture in the statue of him at the FDR Memorial in Washington, DC, installed in 1997. After this, Wolter gives a potted history of Jacque de Molay’s torture and execution, and then the Three Musketeers toddle off to Paris to view the spot where he was slowly roasted to death. Steve St. Clair, who last week demonstrated his inability to read French without Google Translate, is somehow fluent in French as he reads a plaque commemorating the execution. Wolter then asserts that “underground” groups continued the Templar ideology after their suppression, though without establishing that they had a unique ideology different from mainstream Catholicism, this is a moot point. Wolter shows St. Clair and Butler a painting of Columbus’s ships and calls the red cross on the sails Templar. (He used the red cross of Spain, found on all Spanish ships in honor of Their Most Catholic Majesties, Ferdinand and Isabella, who authorized it.) He also asserts that Columbus’s signature contains a “Hooked X®,” even though the hook on the X is simply the curlicue needed to get the ink flowing with a quill. We know this because the “hook” is on the “Y” too. A painting of Columbus shows him making the alleged “Magdalene hand gesture,” making him a Templar. During the break, we learn that Wolter’s episode on the Superstition Mountains wasn’t enough for H2, and it now has a whole series with deluded treasure hunters engaging in a boring quest for its fantasy gold mine. I know treasure hunting is all the rage, but man, this network sucks. Segment 2 After a recap, Steve St. Clair and Scott Wolter travel to the Saint-Martin-des-Champs Priory, which St. Clair claims is “direct evidence” that the Sinclair family is a Templar family. He never explains why. At the priory, now a museum, is one of four French copies of the Statue of Liberty, and Wolter declares that the Freemasons are behind the placement of the model. Wolter, foaming at the mouth with excitement, again falsely claims that the Statue of Liberty is holding a “mark master mason’s” symbol (she does not—it’s a Roman tabula ansata, which is different) and that she is making an M-sign, though she isn’t doing that either. “Oh my God,” St. Clair gasps. “What this tells me,” Wolter says,” is that this is all connected to the Bloodline.” The statue is placed at the priory because the building is now a science museum, the Musée des Arts et Métiers. The original sculptor’s widow bequeathed his plaster model of the Statue of Liberty and a sizeable bequest to the Museum (it’s inside), and they cast twelve bronze copies, one of which Wolter is looking at. Segment 3 After the break, Wolter implies that the “church” (i.e. museum) prevented him from viewing the Merovingian tomb beneath the museum. He then travels with Steve St. Clair to Tomar, Portugal, a former Templar stronghold. Wolter claims that the city was founded by the Templars in the twelfth century, which is mostly true. The old Roman city was re-founded in 1160 when the Portuguese gave the Templars a fiefdom after the Reconquista. You would think he would stop to report the actual local legend that the Templars used sacred geometry to choose the site of the city, but somehow he skips this for wackier conspiracies. Wolter claims that an eight-pointed tower is analogous to the Newport Tower (a round windmill on eight pillars), and he identifies faces on the tower’s clock as Mary, Jesus, and the skull and crossbones of pirates. The pirates, he says, are the fugitive Knights Templar and therefore that the Jolly Roger are the bones of Jesus, that the Templars carry around with them as insurance against the Church! How, pray tell, would anyone have determined whose bones they were before DNA testing? We know for a fact that practically any bones were identified as some saint or another—Mary Magdalene’s bones were “found” in three different places (two in France and one in Ephesus)—which goes to show that no one knew anything about bones back then. Who would believe that the Templars had Jesus’ bones and traveled with them like Weekend at Bernie’s? Wolter says that the Templars left from Tomar for America, and we go to break. My, the crazy is coming fast and furious tonight, almost as though Wolter knows this is his last chance to lay out all his wacky ideas to a mass audience. Segment 4 After a verbal recap of Wolter’s career and Holy Blood, Holy Grail belief system, Wolter covers last week’s hoax again. He asserts that “someone” is afraid of Wolter’s work and is trying to stop him. He then discusses Rosslyn Chapel and the symbol that he feels is a Hooked X® at the site, even though it doesn’t look like the Hooked X® on the Kensington Rune Stone. At a Templar-built church in Tomar, Wolter and St. Clair see a plaque honoring the Templars and dedicated on October 13, 1895, which they correctly deduce was done to honor the date of the Templar suppression—though they think this a conspiracy. A window in the church is in the form of a star, and Wolter asserts that this star represents the goddess Mary Magdalene (though he also claimed she was a human who gave birth... confusing) and the planet Venus, but the on-screen graphics confuse the apparent path of Venus in the night sky with the orbit of Venus around the sun. It’s laughable that they can’t even illustrate their own craziness correctly. If plotted against the sky, every five periods of 584 days, Venus appears to trace an irregular star- or rose-shaped image in the sky, as seen in the previous link, but the graphics show Venus stopping at five points in its orbit around the sun to draw a pentagram across the solar system. After spending the first part of the episode freaking out about the number 13, Wolter now claims that the number 8 is more important because Venus “goes around the sun” eight times. This phrase is meaningless, but I am assuming he is referring to its apparent motion over the course of a year. Otherwise, I can’t imagine what the hell he’s talking about since Venus takes 255 earth days to orbit the sun. ![]() Segment 5 After the break Steve St. Clair and Scott Wolter think they see a Hooked X® in an eroded Roman numeral on a pillar in the church, but as they giggle and rejoice, they seem unaware that they are looking at an X made with curves on the upper right and lower left staves, in the style of blackletter (or Gothic) medieval writing, like that seen at left. This is perhaps the stupidest “Hooked X®” ever found. “The importance of this is incredible,” Wolter says. “This is no Da Vinci Code. This is real life!” No, it’s medieval writing. The upper left and lower right staves also have “hooks” on them, but they are facing the other way, outward, since in the letter is clearly in the same typographical style as all the other letters on the pillar, including the “hooked” V visible right next to it. “It’s a symbol of the Bloodline families! … It’s validation of everything I’ve done,” Wolter says. He believes this blackletter X “proves” that America was founded by Templar-Freemasons who worship goddesses. “Nice going brother,” Wolter says to Sinclair as they hug. “Nicely done!” Segment 6 After the break and a recap, Wolter is back in the United States to look at the Westford Knight, a carving of a sword handle that some imagine is part of a carving of a knight, either Henry Sinclair or one of his compatriots. I covered the alleged Hooked X® on this carving back in October. Firefighter Dave Christiana, who “discovered” the symbol in scratches and rough patches on the Westford Knight shows Wolter the symbol. Wolter looks at the scratches, which are closer to a Chi-Rho or a five-pointed star than a Hooked X, and he declares it “legit,” and likely the work of the Knights Templar. Strangely, these knights managed to be really bad at carving Hooked X® symbols, making them weird, different, and hard to decipher. Wolter concludes the season by saying that it’s “more than a coincidence” that all of the artifacts he studies connect back to his overarching conspiracy theories. This is true; it is no coincidence that he imagines everything to be part of a vast conspiracy. The show ends with Wolter promising that “one day” we will know the truth. Just not today. Not so long as there is money to be made for the H2 network by teasing out further revelations. And that ends the season.
139 Comments
CHV
1/31/2015 02:12:03 pm
The sloppy mental gymnastics that Wolter pulled off in this episode were mind-boggling. I think he knew that this would be his last show, and decided to go all out. As such, it was easily (IMO) among the very worst episodes in the whole AU series.
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Jose S
2/1/2015 03:33:34 am
I agree he was/is aware of the end, and in the past few shows and interviews he was/is preparing his SW after AU life, claimming he was denied access to the very elements that vailidate his claims by those that want to cover up the "truth". He will claim that the Invalidate Templar Land Claim Voyage Or Achievements Organization prevented him from uncovering our real history. He will also discover that Jason's last name is in fact an anagram for Invalidate Templar Land Claim Voyage Or Achievements Organization, the very organization that funds Jason's work. He will say "Coincidence? I don't think so."
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Crash55
1/31/2015 02:19:03 pm
This has got to be one of the weakest (truth wise) episodes yet. I almost turned the TV off after all his 13's on the dollar bill. There were 13 colonies do of course 13 is used everywhere. The use of 13 is to represent the colonies. This is not unknown.
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John Marks
10/24/2016 02:22:44 pm
I am not sure of the actual significance of the 13 colonies in relation to the reality of the time. At the time of the American Revolution there were more than 13 colonies in the area, people tend to forget the existence of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Bermuda; not to mention the newly acquired French colony of Canada (aka New France). How does the existence of additional, contemporary colonies fit into this grand Templar/Freemason template?
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Gary Lee Fischer
1/31/2015 02:22:24 pm
Hopefully this is the last of this program.
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MartyR
2/1/2015 04:08:01 pm
When Jason types, his fingers form an M.
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Vanessa Hooper
7/6/2015 04:10:39 pm
Lol
Colt
7/17/2016 10:46:11 am
Exactly. Jason is a money grubber.
Gary Lee Fischer
2/3/2015 09:39:03 am
Would a forensic geologist do any of the following:
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Denise
1/31/2015 02:36:25 pm
Thanks again Jason for watching this stuff on the not-so-history channel so I don't have to. they are at it again with sons of liberty. while its fast moving and action packed, its just not right.I truely want to strangle the costumers, some clothing is ok but most of the British soldiers (except the extras who are obviously reenactors). I mean come on I've seen coloring books do it better. Iam still scratching my head over the bulky scarfs the officers are wearing....
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Joe Scales
2/1/2015 03:21:19 am
History Channel's Sons of Liberty... oh my. You had to have a feeling something was terribly wrong when in the first few minutes of this show you have Sam Adams, who about the time was a fifty year old, somewhat rotund local politician... leaping from rooftop to rooftop escaping British soldiers like an action hero. Heck, this channel couldn't even get Houdini right; having him meet up with Rasputin in Russian.
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Clint Knapp
2/1/2015 03:45:36 am
As Jason's pointed out before, the disclaimer is probably an attempt by History to distance themselves from the specific material of these two episodes so as not to alienate their usual Bible-thumping viewership.
Joe Scales
2/1/2015 04:44:08 am
The disclaimer just struck me funny, as it didn't seem to be something that the History Channel tacked in separately preceeding the body of the show; but more of something the production team of AU added to their own intro. I don't recall the History Channel doing anything similar with Behind the Da Vinci Code back in '06, but perhaps that was before they stumbled upon their current Bible niche.
Clint Knapp
2/1/2015 07:09:08 am
That's a good point, actually. I wouldn't discount the potential that History asked them to include it after screening the episode, but that's just speculation as I'm not privy to the inner workings of the network or what kind of relationship they maintain with the various production houses.
EP
2/1/2015 07:52:28 am
Here is an optimistic hypothesis: Perhaps they want to use the cancelation to AU to represent themselves as having taken a stand against pseudoscholarship in their programming. This makes at least some sense in the aftermath of Discovery's public pronouncements that they wil no longer put up with Mermaids etc.
RLewis
1/31/2015 02:38:52 pm
There are 50 states and 50 stars on the American flag - coincidence?
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NJ
2/1/2015 08:50:02 am
Even though his theories are a stretch sometimes and he is putting "his beliefs" on all of us, I enjoy the mental stimulation. People need to research for themselves things take perk their interests then decide what "you" believe.
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Sarah Kate
8/21/2015 05:19:34 pm
*facepalm*
Rick
1/31/2015 02:53:46 pm
SW has went all in with everything he could come up with for this episode. But I think it's more a lead in to his wife and Butlers forthcoming book. That's why SW starts dropping the Venus tag all of a sudden. I'm still tryng to figure out where he came up with the hooked X meaning all that he says it does.
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T
1/31/2015 03:17:20 pm
His finest acting yet! I thought he was going to try a cry at one point.
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Tim
1/31/2015 03:20:24 pm
Here is a conspiracy that Scott Woltner will NOT do a show on. The fact that the Catholic Knights of Malta defeated the British Nave for us in the Revolutionary War.
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BKF
1/31/2015 03:42:46 pm
"Another knight [of Malta], Admiral François-Joseph-Paul de Grasse, delivered the coup de grâce to the British at Yorktown. His fleet arrived from the Caribbean just in time to trap Cornwallis and the British army, who were in full retreat. The British, waiting for reinforcements and supplies that would never arrive, surrendered to George Washington and ended the war. The admiral was a Knight of Malta, and he learned his sea-manship skills under the tutelage of the order. Of the French ships that battled the British, several were commanded by members of the Knights of Malta, including Admiral de Grasse's chef d'escadron at Chesapeake Bay, Jean-Louis-Charles de Coriolis d'Espinousse. After the war fourteen of the twenty elite Knights of Malta who fought for the American cause became members of the Society of the Cincinnati, a closed group formed by George Washington for his officers. Despite criticism that the order was a version of European aristocracy, membership was limited to a handful and future membership required that an individual be a descendant of a member of the founding group."
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Truth
2/1/2015 07:49:20 pm
Actually the Knights of Malta were not yet in Malta, they were based in Rhodes at the time of the merger. Their use of the Amalfi Cross or Maltese Cross as we know it today predates the Templar use of the same cross. The only difference was the Templars wore a red cross upon a white background, the Knights of Malta wore a white cross upon a black or red background.
Sascha
2/3/2015 05:00:30 am
O c'mon guys. What is wrong with all of you? Do you even have history in US-schools??? The Malteser are more in the medical/hospital sector since the church banned all temple knights. You know the red cross - it is inspired by the Johaniter. If you wan't to know more about malteser/ johanniter ask germans ;) because it is a german thing and always arround us. If you need medical service it is possible a johaniter will come to help you ;)
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SK
1/31/2015 03:24:42 pm
I was really hoping we would know who to crown King of the World after the finale.
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Gary
2/1/2015 02:11:18 am
James Cameron, of course.
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MartyR
1/31/2015 03:25:23 pm
I guess I missed it (my eyes glazed over at times and I don't want to watch again), but what was St' Clair's evidence?
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HaHa
1/31/2015 03:44:35 pm
So is Scott Wolter.
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JL Adamson
2/1/2015 02:26:40 am
I always wondered what the Templars were waiting for? If they had some secret against the Vatican, and the Pope is arresting everyone and destroying their organization, then why not use it? Would there ever be a better time?
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Truth
2/1/2015 06:58:19 am
They remained devout Catholics, even as they were transferred to the Knights of Malta, where they became more pious.
EP
2/1/2015 08:29:22 am
...and anyone who claims otherwise is obviously an anti-Catholic hate-monger ;)
so are you
4/3/2015 03:45:55 am
why would the Catholic Church destroy the Templars to keep them from spreading their secret, then torture the guy to try and get the secret?
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Only Me
1/31/2015 03:27:36 pm
Ah, the train wreck...I mean, season finale has concluded. I take two things away from it:
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John Dunham
2/1/2015 03:08:47 am
Just pray that SW did not have something to do with the concrete in your building....... sleep well.....
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Alan K
1/31/2015 03:43:00 pm
Hey, enjoying your blog I found it a few weeks back when fact checking another episode of this foolish show. Interesting thing I found out was that the Templar's did not all just go away after the King and the Pope went after them in France. They seemed to have just renamed themselves as the Order Of Christ. The order did change with time first losing the vow of chastity and later the vow of poverty. By the beginning of the 20th century they secularized the order. So this just establishes that real history is just as interesting as fictionalized history.
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Tim
1/31/2015 04:00:23 pm
"With a few words, the pope had done what no Muslim army could do in two centuries: destroyed the Templars. Philip, who for good measure had surrounded Vienne with his army, ended up with nothing. Clement gave all the assets of the order to the Hospitallers (Knights of Malta), though the transfer took many years."
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Jessica
2/2/2015 07:11:17 am
Interesting link, thanks.
tm
1/31/2015 03:59:00 pm
One thing about the show was very impressive. When "Steve St Clair" was talking, I didn't even see Wolter's lips moving.
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Truth
2/1/2015 08:44:40 am
Bravissimo!
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Dave Lewis
2/2/2015 08:54:35 am
Good one!
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CHV
1/31/2015 04:24:47 pm
Regarding the whole secret M-shaped gang hand sign that Scott seems to see everywhere, if the whole Jesus bloodline conspiracy is such a deep, dark secret then why litter the world with so many clues from religious icons to the Statue of Liberty? Kinda defeats the purpose of keeping secrets, doesn't it? Unless the Templars were so giddy with excitement about Jesus and Mary Magdalene getting busy that they couldn't keep their traps shut?
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Dan
1/31/2015 04:50:13 pm
Apophenia is the absolutely perfect word to describe Scott Wolter's mental illness. Thank you "Only Me".
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Dan
1/31/2015 04:53:12 pm
Actually, I have another good word for Wolter's issues: "Pareidolia".
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Clint Knapp
2/1/2015 03:29:30 am
Pareidolia refers specifically to seeing images in patterns, while apophenia refers to a pattern constructed from disconnected data in general.
Only Me
1/31/2015 06:13:31 pm
Just for the record, I am in no way saying or suggesting Scott Wolter has, or is suffering from, a mental illness. I'm not qualified to make that diagnosis; even if I were, it could still be considered libelous.
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EP
2/1/2015 04:56:27 am
Scott Wolter isn't suffering from it, the rest of us are ;)
CHV
2/2/2015 06:55:54 am
The ability of humans to see patterns in chaos is (IMO) hard-wired into our brains - with some perceptions being closer to reality than others. Remember that there's plenty of evangelical Christians out there who still believe that tornadoes and earthquakes are caused by divine wrath - just as did the Pagan ancient Greeks.
Americanegro
8/22/2016 01:45:28 am
I think reasonable people can agree he's a giant delusional douche.
Mike Morgan
1/31/2015 06:58:19 pm
I must admit that before this two part finale, I was as much a skeptic as the rest of you about the Templar land claims for America, the Bloodline, the Royal Venus Families, and that S. St.C. is indeed Royalty of the Bloodline of the Royal Venus Families, however, the masterful presentation of the facts by Scott, Steve, and Alan and how they tied them all together, has now converted me into a believer.
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Ac
1/31/2015 07:43:37 pm
This seemed like a culmination the entire series was building up to. It's no coincidence this was saved as the season finale, to throw the most controversial insane theories out there before the probably cancellation. Despite it all, this was easily the dullest episode of the whole series.
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ET
1/31/2015 11:05:03 pm
Jason, Now that America Unearthed has ended, why not start debunking government False Flag Operations? Here are some you could debunk.
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Minod
2/1/2015 01:35:02 am
Jason's an ancient history blogger, so maybe he'll do some blog posts on Truthers in a couple millennia.
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EP
2/1/2015 08:05:39 am
If I ever start a blog, it'll be on this sort of contemporary stuff...
ET
2/2/2015 03:16:56 am
Minod, No! We need the TRUTH now! We need to expose the people who put out disinformation that governments engage in False Flag operations. We know that governments don't do that. So we need to expose the propaganda out there that governments do this. We can trust the politicians to tell the truth. Bush, Clinton, Obama always tell the American people the TRUTH. They are honorable men who do not tell political lies.
EP
2/2/2015 07:44:57 am
I wonder... Why is this thread attracting all the stupidest trolls?...
Johnny
2/2/2015 09:21:01 am
ET is right. We need to convince Jason to debunk all this crap on the internet about Government False Flag Operations, Government Cover Ups, Government Lies, and Government Disinformation. If any of that actually happened then there would be a Government Conspiracy behind it, and Skeptics know that Government Conspiracies just don't happen. Even a 12 year old knows that people in Government are not involved in any Conspiracy Crap.
Only Me
2/2/2015 09:31:15 am
Government conspiracy nut jobs: allegedly smart enough to *know* all the government's dirty little secrets, too stupid to figure out this blog doesn't deal with them.
Johnny
2/2/2015 10:21:08 am
Only Me, Twilight Zone Theme, Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do. Tin Foil Hat Response.
EP
2/2/2015 10:24:15 am
http://gas2.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/conspiracy-2.jpg
Only Me
2/2/2015 10:28:31 am
Let me guess, Johnny; you're the best your team can summon?
EP
2/2/2015 10:32:37 am
I think so, Only Me. His team is pretty short on Mana due to low INT points ;)
Mark L
2/2/2015 07:39:06 pm
When has Jason (or anyone on this site) said flat-out "we can trust the Government"?
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Ray
2/2/2015 10:09:51 pm
Mark L, EP, Only Me, I think all of you should start saying the Pledge of Allegiance each day in front of an American Flag and rebuild your under developed Patriotism. Please repeat this several times a day. Then tell everyone you meet, "My country right or wrong." Only traitors criticize their government and people who don't trust the government should be put into detention centers for re-education.
EP
2/3/2015 02:07:04 am
I'm not even an American, LOL
Only Me
2/3/2015 05:31:03 am
Well, Ray, as a retired 20 year veteran, I'll do as you ask ONLY if, as I'm reciting the pledge, you are present to kiss my ass and lick my boots in abject reverence for protecting your right to be a troll online.
Ray
2/3/2015 10:16:42 am
Only Me, Obviously you don't understand Satire when you read it. And the last time I checked, the 1st Amendment is still in the Constitution. Suggest your read Voltaire. "I do not agree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." Voltaire 1694-1778 French Philosopher
EP
2/3/2015 10:29:10 am
Ray, before you go around parroting slogans falsely attributed to Voltaire (and generally making an idiot of yourself), reflect on whether you actually know what you're talking about and whether it has anything to do with the conversation.
Only Me
2/3/2015 10:39:10 am
Ray, you obviously don't understand that I, and others, are tired of government conspiracy hacks trying to take over a blog that has nothing to do with said theme. I'm also tired of the aforementioned hacks trying to walk back what they've said by claiming "satire".
Juan Ruiz
1/31/2015 11:55:28 pm
Two points:
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Bigotry is Alive and Well on H2
2/1/2015 05:16:51 am
Columbus has been the target of a smear campaign spurred by disinformation in the past 50 years. Most of it are lies.
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Typhonis
2/1/2015 12:00:22 am
I'm curious why he didn't use his forensic archeology skills to make sure the hooked X , in the church, was real and not the result of damage? I mean sure it may look like a hooked X but not ensuring it was done that way intentionally?
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Kevin
2/1/2015 01:05:31 am
CAUTION -- "Wolter Logic" proceed at your own risk!!!
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FrankenNewYork
2/1/2015 02:44:21 am
Close! That 13 (M) stands for Mary Jane, which some may consider divine and is indeed an underground conspiracy in most states, Colorado, Alaska, Oregon and Washington DC being exceptions, has yet to be associated by nut jobs with the Templars. Although the DC connection warrants further investigation.
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Clint Knapp
2/1/2015 03:23:05 am
I was always under the impression the criminal use of the number 13 was a reference to the 12 jurors and 1 judge that it takes to send one to jail.
M W
2/1/2015 05:20:55 am
Washington State - no D.C. We're kind of sensitive about that out here........ Go Hawks!
John
2/6/2015 12:43:20 am
Yeah. All these interpretations of th number 13, it means marijuana, murder, etc, etc.
Matt Mc
2/1/2015 03:26:51 am
Don't forget the Latino gang MS13
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EP
2/1/2015 08:18:31 am
I don't know about Scott Wolter and Steve StC, but the Missuses are definitely bangin':
Matt Mc
2/1/2015 09:01:57 am
Hahahaha the Venus Famia of Minn.
EP
2/1/2015 09:08:03 am
Da Sacred Bloodz
FrankenNewYork
2/1/2015 03:17:34 am
By the way,
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Rick
2/1/2015 09:05:09 am
I noticed that too. I went back and looked and its on a Friday on the Julian calendar. I don't have enough time to look up the church that had that plaque and figure out what calendar they were using.
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L Bean
2/1/2015 04:24:58 am
I feel like he must've watched the new French horror film "As Above, So Below" before writing this episode...just like he watched "The Da Vinci code" in prep for his broader 'work'. (He admitted in his blog comments that he only became interested in the whole thing after the book came out - well, he worded it like his interest was coincidentally contemporaneous, but just...lol)
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Matt Mc
2/1/2015 09:02:59 am
I saw it and enjoyed it, one of the only tolerable found footage films.
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L Bean
2/1/2015 10:49:11 am
I agree. The soundtrack and effects made it surprisingly tolerable. The scene w them crawling over the bones and the bones then 'attacking' was pretty subtle and cool. I even liked the scary monks. It wasn't overdone, but it wasn't underdone either. Despite the 'plot' of course. ;-)
Shane Sullivan
2/1/2015 04:37:55 am
Charlie Brown's lucky number is 13.
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EP
2/1/2015 05:42:43 am
"they seem unaware that they are looking at an X made with curves on the upper right and lower left staves, in the style of blackletter (or Gothic) medieval writing..."
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Eleanor Aquitaine
2/1/2015 06:31:00 am
This show made my head spin. I couldn't keep up with all the far fetched connections SW was making without one shred of evidence to back any of it up. It was almost like a game he and Steve St. C were playing (btw what was the proof he teased before the break about his family being connected to the Templars?). "Okay, I'll say a word and you connect it to something totally random, and then I connect something else totally random to the first two things. And the only rule to the game is it can't make any sense or be proven valid in any manner."
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Pirvonen
2/1/2015 07:38:21 am
The Musée des Arts et Métiers is not an art museum. The arts the name refers to are the "skilled arts" of a craftsman or scientist. It is a museum of science nd technology, indeed housed in in an old priory.
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EP
2/1/2015 08:08:39 am
SCOTT WOLPNER CANNOT BE DEFEATED BY YOUR FEEBLE EFFORTS TO SILENCE HIM!!! GODDESS SHALL RISE AND RETAKE WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY HERS!!! ALL HAIL THE SACRED VAJAYJAY!!!
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Matt Mc
2/1/2015 09:04:48 am
Have you noticed that since Wolter went off the deep end with his theories his friend of 25+ years has been noticeably silent?
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EP
2/1/2015 09:09:02 am
Hey, Agate Phil *is* getting on in years. Making an idiot out of yourself online is the young men's game :)
THUDMUD
2/1/2015 08:21:59 am
Watching America Unearthed I feel stupid because he's high fiving over something and I don't get it. In the last episode when they find the "hooked X" it sure looked to me like both sides of the X had tails on it. And I kept thinking that a tour guide or something would come out and explain what all this stuff was. Who gave them permission to shoot in these churches? That guy knows what everything means. This show would be so much better if they would just present the carvings and such and let you decide. No need for crazy, completely unscientific, gibberish from a geologist. I've worked with a lot of geologists, things I know about them; They like to drink a lot, They all carry a bottle of acid in their pocket, They all want to be archaeologist like Indiana Jones. "portable microscope" it's a $100 Canon pocket camera with a zoom lens...haha. Forensic Geologist is a made up title. So we are to believe that Da Vinci painted the last supper and left out John? Everyone does realize that Da Vinci copied the last supper painting from hundreds that were painted before him? lol America Unearthed is a joke, Google scientific method and see where Scott W uses it at all. Wild ass guesses or theories are just that, not history, not fact. Ya know, in real science, to have a theory recognized, all other theories must support yours. Yes folks there are rules about this stuff. Don't waste your time on this show.
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Only Me
2/1/2015 08:45:44 am
"They all carry a bottle of acid in their pocket"
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EP
2/1/2015 08:48:35 am
Me, I prefer my acid in stamp form :)
Bigotry is Alive and Well on H2
2/1/2015 08:56:46 am
It shows by your posts EP.
Matt Mc
2/1/2015 09:08:42 am
After listening to Wolter's claims in this last episode I can not rule out that he might be following Hancock's advice about altered states.
EP
2/1/2015 09:12:33 am
Why don't you tell us more about how upset you are by the anti-Catholic hate speech on this blog. Everyone here is deeply concerned about your religious feelings.
L Bean
2/1/2015 10:55:05 am
That would explain SO MUCH. The pre-schizophrenic 'pattern recognition' tendencies especially.
V
2/1/2015 09:15:21 am
Slight correction: Da Vinci didn't COPY the Last Supper from previous paintings, he reinterpreted the story. When you're talking art, there's a huge difference. The reason Da Vinci's version is so famous is that it's one of the early examples of perspective in art, not because the subject matter was new and different. Anyone with the least knowledge of art history knows this, thanks.
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THUDMUD
2/1/2015 09:58:46 am
I said copy because virtually all the last supper paintings have the same people in the same places, including Da Vinci (although he did include Judas). My point was why would he change one character in the painting? I was critiquing his artistic ability, thanks.
THUDMUD
2/1/2015 10:34:40 am
**** I wasn't critiquing his artistic ability
Fred
2/1/2015 09:27:58 am
I watch this program to feel effortlessly superior. Scott is the biggest nut job on the DISCOVERY family of channels, far surpassing Georgio and the rest of the Ancient Aliens gang whose wild speculation on visitation by creatures from interstellar space somehow seems lucid and rational compared to Wolter's maniacal ravings about Freemasons and Knights Templar and his inability to remember that the Protestant Reformation happened centuries later putting a lie to the notion of "The Roman Catholic Church" as just one of many Christian alternatives. It is entertaining to see just how far the Stupid Boundary has been pushed. Curiously, Scott was Mr Evidence on Big Foot, an unlikely but certainly not impossible claim that undiscovered or thought extinct hominids might be roaming around the world wilderness. Again, unlikely, but here we are dealing with a simple yes or no proposition about whether these critters actually show up in the flesh. The whole Knights Templar / Masons / Mary Magdalene thing is light speed idiocy from any number of perspectives. The bad news is that network TV can actually be worse and so we gaze on at things like "America Unearthed," boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the trash.
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DNE
2/1/2015 09:36:29 am
Forensic Geologist...that's, um...not a thing
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DanD
2/1/2015 09:49:55 am
Wolter has a not-so-secret hand gesture prepared for the opening of season four
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EP
2/1/2015 09:52:18 am
Was expecting goatse :)
Only Me
2/1/2015 10:01:19 am
Naaahhh. It's not Masonic, secretive or Templarific enough for his purpose.
EP
2/1/2015 10:17:20 am
Hooked XXX:
Shane Sullivan
2/1/2015 12:23:04 pm
"Naaahhh. It's not Masonic, secretive or Templarific enough for his purpose."
John Marks
10/24/2016 03:03:39 pm
Actually it is a thing. Below are some quotes when "Googling" the term.
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Dan
2/1/2015 09:47:09 am
On this day celebrating American football, its important to note the Scott Wolter played four years of college football. His bizarre beliefs and the apparent degradation of his mind could very well be the result of brain damage suffered on the football field and ultimately Scott's problem may be the result of CTE.
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EP
2/1/2015 09:56:29 am
Scott Wolter: History's deflated football
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Only Me
2/1/2015 10:06:22 am
Or, he could be a silly goose with Doc Savage fantasies.
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L Bean
2/1/2015 10:57:26 am
LOL!!
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Titus pulo
2/1/2015 10:22:27 am
I never read the divinci code and thought the movie was idiotic and bad film making. I stii don't get this ideas that Christianity was really a Mother Earth pagan cult. I'm just not seeing from being brought up catholic how anything Chiat did or said was some sort of pagan Mother Earth cult. And I'm totally not following wolters conclusion. Met plans can to america with some decendanpts of Christ And left to later create a republic with secret pagan roots? Seriously what's the purpose of having a secret group control our country and yet not publicize their cult? Iyou know based on wolters ideas, old jim Eagan at the newport tower makes a heck a lot of sense
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Dan
2/2/2015 04:34:05 am
Wolter is censoring fair critical comments on his blog again. He posted that KRS has a multidisciplinary agreement on its validity and I replied with the "opþagelsefardþ" problem (a word on KRS with no medieval provenance). The comment has not seen the light of day.
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Only Me
2/2/2015 04:47:26 am
Got you covered, Dan.
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EP
2/2/2015 05:16:44 am
Someone should ask Wolter how to tell apart hooked Xs and Gothic X's like a pro :)
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Harry
2/2/2015 10:48:05 am
Dan,
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Kal
2/2/2015 05:06:20 am
The number 13, (pot and other drugs) acid, gangs of pirates, evil Templars, Columbus haters, Mary, various cross wearing ancient dudes, the M symbol, the hooked X, and copious amounts of paxil and retolin....does not keep SW from keeping up the most insane TV show on the air.
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Jerry
2/2/2015 12:18:00 pm
Hello, This is my first time here. I am just curious. Where did the idea that the X is a symbol of a union between Jesus and Mary come from? How was it determined that the bottom or peak of the X is jesus and the top or V of the X is mary while the little part coming off of the V respresents their child? I am asking because I probaly missed the episode that shows how he he got his theory. I just don't understand how based off of the Bigfoot episode he calls himself "a skeptic" due to lack of scientific proof yet he has convinced himself that their is enough eveidence to at least convince HIM that the X represents a union with offspiring between Jesus and Mary. There is more evidence that bigfoot might exist than there is that this symbol means such a thing. If such a secret DID exist, why would the Temlpars go around advertising it? It takes as much of a leap of faith to believe this theory as it does to believe in God.
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Clint Knapp
2/2/2015 02:59:03 pm
The "Hooked X" (know to sane people as the Variant-A rune) interpretation is an invention of Wolter's and Wolter's alone. It has no provenance I'm aware of outside of his "100% legit!" work on the Kennsington Rune Stone; which he claims to have not only dated but interpreted the secret meaning of.
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Jerry
2/2/2015 03:10:58 pm
Thanks!
Nancy Elizabeth Sinclair
2/2/2015 01:37:36 pm
I am an American Sinclair with mine and my brother's dna being 89.66% from the very north of Scotland according to testing. A.U. when Wolter and Steve St.Clair get together does not present anything more than make believe. I resent the nonsense put out concerning my name and lineage. If one has to prove a legal concept or anything believable there has to be a primary source of information. That is actually a person who was there back in the middle ages who left documents that have been documented through the ages as truth and this is not done on this show. There is no genuine truth presented at A.U. If truthful there would be a primary source of information, if not that then perhaps a secondary source would give clues. Hearsay is not admissible in courts and that would be the next source, leaving only the final source termed make believe. So we have in descending order: 1.Primary Source, 2. Secondary Source, 3. Hearsay, 4.Make Believe.
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EP
2/4/2015 03:38:50 am
I just realized that the title of is episode is kinda rednudant. I mean, "Evidence Exposed"? Come on! Should be "Evidence Revealed" or something, but I guess that wasn't tabloid enough...
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kal
2/5/2015 07:34:15 am
Redundant and an oxymoron. This show has not only jumped the shark, it proceeded to hook it with an ex shaped harpoon and then spend hour eating it. It's like the old Ripley's Believe it or Not with alien symbol hunters instead of circus performers. If SW was any more obvious as modern day PT Barnum archetype, he'd be wearing a lion tamer's outfit from the 1930s and carry a bullwhip.
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Clete
2/5/2015 09:38:17 am
Scott Wolter missed one number thirteen. Alex Rodriquez of the New York Yankees wears number thirteen (as do other players). This has only one meaning...They are all Templars and are engaged in hiding the secret of the bloodline.
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Jason,
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Aaron S.
8/13/2015 03:35:34 pm
Tad,
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I cannot argue that logic and in many regards you may indeed be correct. If he is sincere, he should share his findings in an open forum or site. Sadly when a TV show is all about ratings, it is hard to sort the facts from the fiction.I have a pal who personally knows Wolter and says while he can get a bit excitable he is sincere and truly believes. Some of the artifacts he has mentioned on his shows I have seen and studied myself. One set being several pieces quite close to me here in Ohio called the Newark Holy Stones.
Sarah Kate
8/21/2015 04:59:48 pm
@Tad,
A real forensic geologist
9/6/2015 12:53:19 am
Thank you for publishing your reviews of America Unearthed episodes. As a (real) forensic geologist, I get emails from students around the world saying they want to be forensic geologists when they grow up. Unfortunately, many cite America Unearthed as their inspiration. (These students may be sorely disappointed when they realize what forensic geologists actually do). Wolter's disregard for the scientific method and tendency to ignore experts who disagree with him while wildly speculating well outside his area of expertise (something practicing forensic geologists know better than to do) infuriate me. I'm glad someone is calling Wolter and his producers on their errors.
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David
1/10/2016 09:10:24 am
What does an actual forensic geologist do?
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RD
11/15/2015 01:26:37 pm
The Venus Synodic cycle... it's 5 periods of 8 years = 40 years. Hence you get why 40 was so important in the Bible, and why King David, Solomon, and Saul all reigned for 40 years.
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Americanegro
12/14/2015 04:52:23 pm
Let's not forget, with regard to the orbit of Venus, that 8 + 5 = What? 13, that's what. Cased closed. "Vladimir Putin"? 13 letters. "Thirteen"? 8 letters. "Eight"? 5 letters. I haven't even tried to post on Wolter's blog, he just seems like such a defensive dick.
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Ron Pendergast
12/21/2015 08:23:34 am
Finding the Grave Sight of the 10 men dead should bring Truth. Iowa Rune Stone Secreofcity. Just in case rather respond 2 my speling. Maybe I get back to subject in another six years.. Want truth? Find Me Eyeseetime DM Ia
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AuthorI am an author and researcher focusing on pop culture, science, and history. Bylines: New Republic, Esquire, Slate, etc. There's more about me in the About Jason tab. Newsletters
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