Scott Wolter Says H2 Network Won't Let Him Give His Real Opinion about Oak Island Mystery

1/19/2015

As you know, Monday is my busiest work day of the week, so I will be keeping today’s blog post short. Since I am also on the hook for page proofs, I have even less time than usual. But I did want to point out that Scott Wolter posted his thoughts about Bigfoot over on his blog, and they are mildly revealing: Wolter doesn’t believe in Bigfoot and didn’t want to do an episode about the creature. The producers reminded him that he is contractually obligated to do what they tell him, and he came around once they explained that he’d receive a free vacation to Nepal on the History Channel/H2’s dime.

It’s funny enough watching Wolter try to justify his skepticism of Bigfoot by appealing to hard science and the need for evidence, but it was Wolter’s wife who punctured that balloon effectively, though accidentally: “…my wife, Janet, reminded me of how many times I insist on certain academics and skeptics to remain open-minded about things I think are important such as the Tucson Lead Artifacts, Bat Creek Stone, and the Kensington Rune Stone.” There is just as much evidence for the lost colonies of Romans, Jews, and Norse in Arizona, Tennessee, and Minnesota as there is for Bigfoot: none. Wolter sees the “artifacts” like Bigfoot hunters see footprints and hair, but as Wolter himself said, where’s the body?

But what was really interesting is the small insight Wolter gave into the inner workings of the History Channel’s mutual appreciation society of fringe figures. Far from encouraging an open and honest dialogue in search of the truth, the network insists (as many networks do) on Orwellian conformity to the party line, as he wrote in the comments on his blog entry:

...I am contractually bound not to disparage or say/post/tweet/etc., anything negative about another network show. I have a lot of experience with Oak Island and have opinions I cannot express until after the show runs its course. It appears they are on for at least a third season so I will have to wait.

Wolter expressed some of his views about Oak Island in Season One of America Unearthed, before Curse of Oak Island debuted.

So, let’s get this straight: History Channel and H2 hosts are forbidden from criticizing each other’s lunatic ideas even when they are wrong, all while proclaiming that they and they alone are honest brokers providing the audience with the “truth.” I guess that explains why not a single History/H2 figure expressed any consternation that In Search of Aliens endorsed Neo-Nazi propaganda last year. But it’s also interesting that the network won’t let its own talent debate the very issues that they are supposedly interested in examining, allowing only support or silence. It’s one thing if your Food Network and don’t want your chefs smacking one another down, but when your shtick is that you’re looking for the “truth” and rewriting history, purposely preventing supposed experts from using their expertise until you’ve wrung every last dollar from bad ideas just feels wrong.

But it seems that we’ve stumbled upon History and H2’s solution to the negative publicity my critiques of their programming brings: Instead of sending me a cease and desist letter and cutting me from their credentialed press roster, they should have hired me as a consultant! Then I’d be contractually obliged not to say bad things about their shows!

Or, they could make better quality shows. But we all know which option is cheaper.

38 Comments

Shane Sullivan

1/19/2015 07:29:54 am

"I guess that explains why not a single History/H2 figure expressed any consternation that In Search of Aliens endorsed Neo-Nazi propaganda last year."

I think you're being too generous. For anyone at History or H2 to speak out about that, they might actually have to crack a book.

Rlewis

1/19/2015 07:30:36 am

SW has also often commented (paraphrased) "with so many legends/stories about [various unsupported theories] and so much [unverified/suspect] evidence - there must be something to it" - i.e. where-there's-smoke-there's-fire argument. Well, there's much more "smoke" around the Bigfoot myth (which SW recognizes as complete hogwash) than any of the "mysteries" he has explored.

raymond mccraren

2/20/2017 12:16:46 am

The BS on HC and BF and on oak inland is BS. give them a break just how many do you know who watch those dumb soap
opra on TV.

Clete

1/19/2015 07:47:48 am

Kind of reminds me of the Ernie Hudson character from the orginal Ghostbusters movie. When Annie Potts is asking him if he believes in all pseudo scientific things his replay was "If there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you want."

It appears that Scott Wolter made the same bargain with H2.

1/19/2015 07:48:28 am

I'm surprised Scott Wolter did not declare this evidence of vikings/Templars visiting Tibet:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fnz85mj8dMg/VLvPKojGoBI/AAAAAAAAAe0/25h4ntqiaU8/s1600/IMG_4475.JPG

"the other concern I had doing Bigfoot was it could be credibility killer if not handled properly."

Well, Scott, I assure you that you have nothing to worry about...

Only Me

1/19/2015 07:51:11 am

Yep. At this point, agates have proven more of a threat to him than a Bigfoot investigation.

Matt Mc

1/19/2015 07:55:11 am

don't forget about cups of coffee

1/19/2015 08:00:28 am

Oreos go great with coffee, damn it!

1/19/2015 08:11:02 am

I wonder if Wolter has made a coffee cup out of an agate, perhaps as a gift to bigfoot

1/19/2015 12:06:37 pm

"Your honor, I swear I don't have the agate! I used it to make a present for Bigfoot!"

1/19/2015 12:40:30 pm

As a friend and colleague of Bigfoot's for 25+ years... =P

1/19/2015 07:56:02 am

This helps explain why the same guests are recycled through all the shows. They can safely hawk their absurd ideas without fear of disagreement or challenge. The "hosts" are contractually bound to allow them to babble, no matter how nonsensical.

1/19/2015 07:58:29 am

To be fair to Wolter, at least now he has given us a good reason for his refusal to allow links to Jason's blog. Since Jason is his network's Internet enemy #1, he is contractually forbidden to link to Jason's debunking and ridicule of his colleagues.

It would have been more mature of Wolter to just come out and say it instead of keepig up the whole "it's not constructive, I don't want to promote it, I'm a huge manbaby" charade.

chv

1/19/2015 09:08:18 am

I seem to recall Wolter making comments in the past about a belief that the Ark of The Covenant was buried at Oak Island by (guess who) the Templars.

John Dunham

1/19/2015 09:14:19 am

In the past SW has opined at one time of another that the Ark of the Covenant was buried everywhere and anywhere by the Templars

Joe Scales

1/19/2015 09:18:03 am

I just get a chuckle that he confirms the obvious connection of the History Channel and H2, and that his show can be seen on both networks, when he seemed to take great satisfaction with his rather sophomoric admonishment of me last month for grouping the two channels together.

tubby

1/19/2015 10:44:31 am

I wonder if Travel Channel show hosts are contractually obligated to eat a bug and comment about Anderw Zimmern having made them do it. Or lutefisk.

1/19/2015 03:50:22 pm

"Wolter doesn’t believe in Bigfoot and didn’t want to do an episode about the creature. The producers reminded him that he is contractually obligated to do what they tell him"

Just a minor correction(?): Wolter never actually says that he did the Bigfoot episode because "producers reminded him that he is contractually obligated...". He credits his wife and the free vacation - that is all.

Jason Colavito link

1/19/2015 10:27:32 pm

I know he doesn't say that; I am reading between the lines of his conversation with the producers in light of his radio interview last week where he explained that the producers have the right to select 2/3 of show topics.

1/20/2015 02:16:16 am

Considering that this current season of AU will probably be its last, it's likely a moot point.

1/20/2015 07:53:33 am

Wolter *is* acting like a petulant child, so bet AU really is done after this season.

Jonathan

1/19/2015 03:56:08 pm

In other news, Ancient Aliens Season 1 is now on Netflix.

1/20/2015 07:55:02 am

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zc_flvNvj5E/T-1T8D31X-I/AAAAAAAADZA/2vi2K_uUw0k/s640/Giorgio-Tsoukalos-is-such-a-thing-even-possible.jpg

1/21/2015 05:09:36 am

He looks a lot like Doug Benson there.

http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Doug+Benson+O6Ia_uItx5Cm.jpg

Erin

1/20/2015 02:46:33 pm

Wow. If the History Channel had retained any shred of credibility in my mind (which, no), that would have destroyed the last of it.

It does make me sad. When I was a kid, History was my favorite channel, hands down. It was depressing enough when more and more of the programming was being eaten up with dumbass reality shows, but this sort of thing is SO much worse. Before, I could just avoid the reality shows and watch the documentaries, but now there's no way I can ever trust anything run on that network. Sure, it's easy enough when they're covering a subject I know well (or when it's as ridiculous as your average AA/AU episode), but when its a program on person or period of time that I don't know well? I'd be a fool to believe a word they say.

But what REALLY blows is the number of other channels who have decided to follow the same road. That would be the number one reason on my list of why I've pretty much stopped watching TV...at least I've got Netflix, Amazon, the library, etc., to make up for the massive suck of 98% of what's being broadcast.

1/21/2015 09:49:08 am

I agree with you completely, if there is one person to blame for what has happened to the history channel it is Nancy Dubrac. She was charged by A & E to increase the rating...and she did so...by dumbing down the programming. First with quasi-reality crap (Pawn Stars, American Pickers, Ice Road Truckers, Swamp People, etc) then with fringe theory programs (UFO Hunters, Ancient Aliens, American Unearthed, etc). A pox on her.

psCargile

1/22/2015 01:57:00 am

Well you know, either increase the rating by appealing to a majority of instantly gratified dumbasses, or lose the channel.

1/22/2015 01:59:15 am

"It’s one thing if your Food Network and don’t want your chefs smacking one another down..."

Like Giada and Rachel Ray wrestling in chocolate and whipped cream?

1/22/2015 02:56:20 am

Eww

titus pullo

1/22/2015 06:29:12 am

I think I remember Scott opining that any treasure on oak island was moved a long time ago. While I like watching the dynamics between the Lagina brothers (the engineer skeptic and the true believer former govt employee...ok won't beat a dead horse on my opinion of govt types). These are all entertainment shows after all. And these shows will pass just like all the shows on Hitler (History seemed to be the Hitler channel for years) came to pass.

1/23/2015 03:17:43 am

The falsehoods presented on the Curse of Oak Island show are astounding. Marty Lagina is both an engineer and a lawyer who's made a fortune in the energy business. There's just no way he hasn't done his research to realize treasure on Oak Island is, and always was a hoax. This is an investment for him, but not for any supposed treasure. That was ruled out back in 1867.

1/23/2015 03:32:24 am

Marty Lagaina and his partners are developing a resort on Oak Island - I figure that he sees the show as an advertisement for the resort. And I would also bet that the holes he is drilling and the swamp he is draining is all related to the resort development as well

Chad

1/25/2015 05:33:11 am

You all seem to spend a lot of time and energy trying to debunk someone else's ideas. If you don't like these types of does and don't agree with the theories presented, then why subject yourself to it week after week. It seems your goal of getting cancelled would be better served by not watching it and contributing to the ratings. But then you would not have a blog to write. Since it's obvious you have no original thoughts or ideas of your own you can only glom on to another's original ideas and try to bring them down. You can rationalize it any way you want. But in the end your only trying to get attention for yourself at the expense of others. And that is despicable.

1/25/2015 10:10:51 am

"another's original ideas"

When you can name an "original idea" offered by the current proponents of fringe nonsense, feel free to share it.

Jean Borman link

4/12/2015 11:30:20 am

Irish bog bodies, some recent discoveries

A nother ancient body has just been recovered from the depths of an Irish bog. This time the remains consist of a partial bog body that appears to have been covered in a leather bag (update: the leather bag may actually be the upper torso). The bog body, which may be the remains of a woman, was found just outside Portlaoise in Cul na Móna bog and is being excavated by archaeologists from The National Museum of Ireland.

Bog body
Bog body from Co. Laois (from RTE News)
This latest addition to growing a corpus of Irish bog bodies will hopefully reveal as much information as two recent peat land discoveries. These aforementioned bog bodies, Old Croghan man and Clonycavan man, form the centre piece of the excellent Kingship and Sacrifice display at the National Museum of Ireland. What is striking about these remains is their fantastic state of preservation, something which is characteristic of bog bodies in general. This is primarily due to the cold, acidic, oxygen-free conditions that persist beneath peat bogs and which prevent decay and mummify human flesh.

Bog body hand
Close up of Old Croghan man’s hand
Old Croghan man was found in a bog beneath Croghan Hill in Co. Offaly and based on radiocarbon dating he died sometime between 362 BC and 175 BC . He was extremely tall measuring 6ft 6 in height and had well manicured hands suggesting that he was not used to manual labour. His last meal (analysed from the contents in his stomach) consisted of cereals and milk . However, he was shown to have had a meat rich diet for at least the 4 months prior to this (based on analysis of his nails). Clonycavan man, in contrast, was much smaller in stature, measuring just 5ft 2 in height. He was recovered from a bog in Co. Meath and only his upper torso and head survived. The remains were radiocarbon dated to between 392 BC and 201 BC and, unusually, his hair was spiked with pine resin (a very early form of hair gel). Furthermore, the trees from which the resin was sourced only grow in Spain and south-west France, indicating the presence of long distance trade routes.

bog body ireland
Clonycavan man
Both men had been subjected to gruesome deaths, suggesting that they may have been ritually tortured and murdered. Old Croghan man had holes cut in his upper arms through which a rope of hazel withies was threaded in order to restrain him. He was then stabbed, his nipples sliced, before finally being cut in half across his torso. Similar overkill was also seen on the Clonycavan bog body. He had been disembowelled and struck three times across the head with axe and once across the body. This brutality is not confined to Irish bog bodies and has been paralleled on human remains from British and continental bogs. For example, the Lindow man bog body, displayed at London’s British Museum, was struck twice on the head, garroted, and had his throat cut.

The reasons behind these bog body killings remains uncertain but Ned Kelly of the National Museum of Ireland has suggested a very interesting theory (see Archaeology, No. 63, Vol 3, May/June 2010) . He believes that “these men were failed kings or failed candidates for kingship who were killed and placed in bogs that formed important tribal boundaries. Both Clonycavan and Old Croghan men’s nipples were pinched and cut. “Sucking a king’s nipples was a gesture of submission in ancient Ireland,” says Kelly. “Cutting them would have made him incapable of kingship.” The bodies served as offerings to the goddess of the land to whom the king was wed in his inauguration ceremony. According to Kelly, both men’s multiple injuries may reflect the belief that the goddess was not only one of the land and fertility, but also of sovereignty, war, and death. “By using a range of methods to kill the victim, the ancient Irish sacrificed to the goddess in all her forms,”.

It will be interesting to see if this latest bog body from Co. Laois represents another sacrificial victim to appease these pagan gods.

Gary Gianotti

12/6/2015 09:41:12 am

Wolter and the history channel are idiot Scottish Rie blow hards deliberately destroying history! They are no different the enemy infiltrators with information to make everyone dumber! Hey Scott if you read this and your cronies! I'm laughing at you.....

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