Segment 1
The cold open features Scott Wolter narrating over a historical reenactment telling us that a treasure meant to bankroll a British colony on the west coast of America disappeared but that new evidence might help us find it. After the opening credits, we cut to Wolter’s lab, where Wolter reviews footage of treasure hunter Robert Stupak’s efforts to find a treasure trove that Sir Francis Drake allegedly buried on the west coast. At Point Reyes, Calif., Wolter meets with Stupak to discuss Drake’s failed efforts to found a colony on the west coast of America. Point Reyes is the site that the National Park Service designated as the most likely site of Drake’s landing. Stupak disagrees because he believes that a map drawn from Drake’s records doesn’t depict Point Reyes as the site of his colony but rather San Francisco Bay, near San Quentin prison. The map looks a lot like Point Reyes and not much like San Quentin’s surroundings, but I don’t much care either way. Stupak and Wolter travel to San Quentin to view a rock that Stupak believes was a mooring stone for Drake’s ship. Wolter disagrees for geological reasons, primarily that the hole lacks significant weathering. Segment 2 In the second segment, Wolter and Stupak visit Stupak’s home, where Stupak describes his year-long efforts to dig up Drake’s treasure. He claims to have found underground chambers in 2003 he likens to Raiders of the Lost Ark, which he said were full of “collapsing rooms,” and even Wolter recognizes that Stupak actually dug into an unstable aquifer. He also tells Stupak that the “gemstones” he found were no such thing. The show then discusses Drake’s Brass Plate, a forgery from 1936, a practical joke by local historians meant to represent a British land claim to California predating that of Spain. Wolter purports to want to test the forgery to try to resurrect its claim to authenticity. Wolter is very excited about the idea that the British land claim predates that of Spain, but since the American government succeeded to both, it really makes no difference whether Drake tried and failed to claim land in California. Wolter uses a microscope to examine the plate’s patina, and he badly reads a line that “I can’t believe what I’m seeing” before we cut to commercial. Segment 3 Despite the questions raised over the wording and content of the brass plate, as well as the 1970s chemical tests on the plate, Wolter declares it likely authentic. The Bancroft Library, where the plate is held, refused Wolter’s request to perform more tests on the plate, because… well, Wolter and his TV show are a clown show. Instead, Wolter suggests that there is a conspiracy and that the powers that be don’t want anyone to know that the British are the “true” owners of California. He’s very big on land claims. The segment then takes Wolter to England to learn more about Drake. He visits a replica of Drake’s Golden Hind, continuing Wolter’s interest in replica ships. He discusses the efforts of the early European explorers to find the Northwest Passage, and Wolter concludes that Drake might have buried his treasure elsewhere along his route, perhaps as far north as Oregon. Segment 4 At Whale Cove, Oregon, Wolter discusses some ambiguous evidence for Drake in Oregon: Drake’s writings claiming to have reached 48 degrees latitude and the question of whether the map from segment one looks more like Whale Cove than Port Reyes. But since the map was drawn from written accounts, not from life, it’s not entirely convincing evidence. In the nearby mountains, Wolter visits Tom Mock of the Francis Drake Association who claim to have an artifact proving Drake’s visit. We cut to commercial before finding out what it is. Segment 5 The artifact is a roughly square rock with a line carved around it. The argument is that the carved line is 36 inches long and a true grew over it, so it must be a surveyor mark left by Drake. Wolter thinks it’s a treasure marker. There is no way to date the rock, and there is no evidence that Drake carved it. The men then visit a pile of rocks that Mock and his friend think were a “cairn” that Drake built for some strange reason. “Really, the only plausible explanation would be Drake,” Wolter said, dismissing other possibilities, from Native American constructions to colonial-era debris. Sure it is. Segment 6 Wolter views an old silver shilling that a treasure hunter found nearby while metal detecting. Some other British coins were found in the same area, all dating back to the early 1500s. Any number of explanations are possible, but Wolter does not consider them. Instead, he gives up his investigation and simply declares that “maybe, just maybe” Drake’s treasure still exists. As another episode ends, nothing was proved but Wolter takes time to remind us that academics have prevented him from proving his case by denying his requests to test the brass plate.
59 Comments
shotgun6
7/11/2019 02:25:15 pm
What is it with Wolter and 'land claims"?? "I wrote my name on a rock, see? therefore I own the entire state of California, even though the Pope had already formally granted that entire landmass to Spain; but whatever, I am going to sue in the world court for my just reward" Like, is that how he imagines it working????
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Kent
7/11/2019 03:08:01 pm
Concur. The way you claim land is by occupying it. By Wolter's logic most of North America belongs to Sweden, the Cistercians, or the Freemasons or the Knights Templar because the Kensington Rune Stone. Scott: That's NOT how it works.
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Jim
7/11/2019 04:26:16 pm
Not sure if you have seen the show, but Wolter claims a "mooring" hole in a sandstone boulder could not be aged enough (to be from Drake's era) because the soft patches of calcite on the exterior of the boulder haven't weathered away.
Kent
7/11/2019 05:08:47 pm
Nope, haven't watched it but still might. For me Wolter discredited himself as a "geologist" when he insisted that the caliche in the Tucson Artifacts was proof of authenticity.
Joe Scales
7/11/2019 08:24:03 pm
I'm certain Wolter will make the distinction between "soft calcite" and the hard calcite of the Kensington Rune Stone. Him being a "hard scientist" and all...
TONY S.
7/12/2019 07:20:14 pm
Wolter's been obsessed with land claims since day one. It even predates his Templar/Holy bloodline fantasies. Well,they're not HIS, he's never had an original thought in his life.
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Mark
7/11/2019 02:41:09 pm
Am the only person who assumed that the name “Drake” in the title referred to the famous hip hop artist from Toronto, Canada?
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Riley V
7/12/2019 03:28:31 am
The Drake you mention is Jewish, so if he claimed California it fits right in the “Lost Tribe of Israel” explanation.
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Zelda
7/14/2019 10:05:25 am
This gave me a much needed belly laugh - thanks for the humor!
Machala
7/12/2019 10:16:12 am
"This episode sends Wolter in search of Sir Francis Drake’s lost treasure. He doesn’t find it."
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Jim
7/12/2019 11:24:53 am
What I find amazing is that the real story and intrigue concerning Drakes voyage up the coast of N. America to search for the Northwest Passage is really quite interesting and could have made an awesome television episode.
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Machala
7/12/2019 04:43:06 pm
You are absolutely right.
Accumulated Wisdom
7/12/2019 07:06:52 pm
I agree with both of you. Someone had already done a similar show on the hitlery channel. Complete with the fake plaque. This is getting to be like Ancient Groundhog Daliens. Completely indefensible.
Jim
7/12/2019 07:50:09 pm
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Tucson_artifacts
Kent
7/12/2019 08:43:31 pm
"A little over a hundred years ago another Geologist claimed the same results as SW. ... Both sides seem to have merit."
Kent
7/14/2019 08:10:41 am
" I have also been told that the temperatures needed in a kiln to make the caliche, would melt the lead artifacts and the inscriptions there on. Can you help me sift through the BS? Both sides seem to have merit."
The Truth
7/17/2019 06:51:21 pm
Wow, just a shit ton of haters and armchair quarterbacks making comments here. I'm out
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Donna
7/12/2019 12:09:55 pm
No racism this time? A miracle.
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Kent
7/12/2019 03:12:35 pm
Only someone from the alt right would post something that hateful.
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Anthony Warren lies again
7/12/2019 06:59:39 pm
Anthony Warren truly is an imbecile. His latest post on Wolter's blaugh:
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Accumulated wisdom
7/12/2019 08:23:22 pm
Who the hell is Anthony Warren and why do you think that anyone here gives a flying f*ck about him?
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Accumulated Wisdom
7/12/2019 10:53:50 pm
Anthony Warren doesn't lie...soooo... You must be higher than a mosquito on Willie Nelson's forehead.
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TONY S.
7/12/2019 07:16:51 pm
The old Wolter methodology:" if someone denies me permission to examine something for myself, by Jove, it's a conspiracy!"
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Lyn
7/14/2019 03:05:21 pm
Jason, I hope all went well with the move and that you are now settled in. I can only imagine having to move a toddler and a cat. Last time I moved in 1989 it was with three sheep, a cat, and 4000+ books, and heaven knows, that was enough hassle to keep me occupied for weeks.
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Jim
7/14/2019 04:50:52 pm
I see our friend Gunn has a brand new blogsite.
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Kent
7/14/2019 09:39:53 pm
You really need to stop cyberbullying him.
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Jim
7/14/2019 10:51:56 pm
I can see why he didn't post my comment, I completely annihilated his weak arguments and left him no out whatsoever.
Kent
7/14/2019 09:53:26 pm
OMG. I just started looking at this fellow's blaugh, and he is full-speed batshit crazy. Thanks for bringing this to our attention!
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Jim
7/15/2019 01:12:36 pm
Just for clarity, Gunn is claiming a chunk of metal he found on Runestone Hill was left by 14th century Norse explorers.
Doc Rock
7/15/2019 07:06:46 pm
Jim,
Jim
7/15/2019 08:32:49 pm
Doc:
Doc Rock
7/16/2019 12:21:04 am
That's why it is always fun to read a critical analysis of some of these lab tests by someone well qualified to critique the procedure and the interpretation of results. I found one or two old reddit posts that took a good look at Wolters analysis in some old episodes of AU.
Jim
7/16/2019 12:54:50 pm
Doc:
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Doc Rock
7/16/2019 03:36:00 pm
Funny how it is always unnamed people or rank amateurs finding this stuff under dubious conditions. With all those folks from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa traipsing all over North America for thousands of years one would think that contract archaeologists would be turning up all sorts of interesting stuff in situ in early woodland middens and Mississippian burial mounds. But with the smithsonian working 24-7 to suppress this stuff I guess it is too much to hope for
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Patrick
7/17/2019 08:18:51 am
1. Times for high and low tide vary according to geographic location. Southern MA is a large area in terms of this variation.
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Joe Scales
7/17/2019 10:25:13 am
Here's the tide chart for all of Massachusetts for June, 2019. Good luck finding low tide at 10am in "Southeastern Massachusetts":
Jim
7/17/2019 11:09:35 am
Patrick:
Patrick
7/17/2019 10:41:17 am
Nice guesswork, Joe. You're wrong as well. If we wanted specific details to be in the public domain we would have written of them in a very specific manner, not the general phrasing that was used.
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Jim
7/17/2019 11:22:02 am
Perhaps Patrick, you don't understand how tides work ?
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Patrick
7/17/2019 01:05:01 pm
From original posted material: "They began their metal detecting about two hours prior to low tide." Same paragraph. So much for your invented conspiracy, Jim. Debunking is always easier when you just invent shit from nothing, which you typically do. Despite Joe holding your hand - as he typically does - even he realizes that a singular find with no context doesn't amount to much of anything. No disagreement there. So what has been claimed, or asserted, about the ring? Nothing but replicable facts. Jim, during the course of his invented story, figured out HOW the ring came to be in that location - something that no one else has concluded at this point. Who's the FRINGE? The paranoid debunkers that is who.
Jim
7/17/2019 01:53:26 pm
Patrick:
Joe Scales
7/17/2019 07:06:26 pm
"Perhaps Patrick, you don't understand how tides work ?"
Jim
7/17/2019 11:54:26 am
Anyhoo,,, Wolters blog post about Drake is up.
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Doc Rock
7/17/2019 01:13:55 pm
I must have missed when proper scientific inquiry definitely proved the KS is genuine. When did that happen? I know that Scotty engaged in an analysis based on comparative weathering but this is an inexact science and at best would yield evidence suggesting that the KS is genuine. I would take "definitely proved" with a grain of salt even if the analysis had been conducted by people actually qualified to do it.
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Jim
7/17/2019 02:51:00 pm
"After Another 25 Years, the Hoaxers Came Clean
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Doc Rock
7/17/2019 02:59:35 pm
I wonder what kind of testing Wolter had in mind. Was the game plan to have the testing done by a research facility that does this kind of stuff or was he going to do it?
Jim
7/17/2019 03:07:38 pm
Wolter wanted to do an XRF scan. His reputation is soooo bad they nixed even that non intrusive test.
Doc Rock
7/17/2019 03:14:07 pm
Did he want the scan done or did he want to do the scan?
Jim
7/17/2019 03:33:36 pm
"we had already secured permission to test the plaque using an X-Ray Florescence gun to determine the exact chemical composition of the brass,"
Doc Rock
7/17/2019 03:41:45 pm
Perhaps the Bancroft folks started getting all sorts of nightmarish images of team Wolter deciding to scrub the plate with bleach and a wire brush to more effectively look for any hooked X's on it?
Patrick
7/17/2019 02:36:09 pm
You're deranged, Jim.
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Jim
7/17/2019 02:52:51 pm
Sticks and stones Patrick,,,,,, try using facts and science rather than insults.
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Lyn
7/17/2019 04:27:42 pm
I'm confused on this. I thought that some eyars ago Drake's Plate had been acknowledged as a hoax by colleagues of the man who made all the fuss about it.
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Doc Rock
7/17/2019 04:53:48 pm
Anything declared to be a hoax provides an excuse for Wolter to claim that it isn't and he is battling some sort of conspiracy to prevent it from being acknowledged as authentic.
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Jim
7/17/2019 05:27:19 pm
C'mon Doc, obviously Drake was a Templar and the Minoans told him about the pure copper in the upper peninsula which is where he got the copper to make the plaque and why it has less impurities than other 16th century metals.
Doc Rock
7/17/2019 05:54:02 pm
Jim,
Jim
7/18/2019 02:27:25 pm
Jebus but Wolter is a liar and stupid.
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Jim
7/18/2019 08:01:12 pm
And further to this Wolter has decided to die on the same hill that Pulitzer did with the fake roman sword.
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Jim
7/18/2019 08:25:54 pm
Wolter: Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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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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