A Parade of Paranormal Purveyors

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A Parade of Paranormal Purveyors

We are given a tour of all the outlandish theories at the start of the program, with longer, corresponding monologues popping in and out as the show progresses, apparently to fill dead time between setting up archaeological sites for the TV cameras. In each case an author pitches his theory, with the title of his book appearing on screen. We are thus led through the entire gamut of “heretical” Egyptology today. The narrative quaintly portrays these guys as the “doubters” and “skeptics” who are challenging supposedly tired, old views. About these theorists, who posit lost civilizations and alien visitors, Povich tells us, “their ideas, or at least some of them, are not quite as wacky as you might suspect.” Indeed, “they are vigorously challenging mainstream archaeologists like Zahi Hawass.” When at last we get some comment from Hawass, sanity is championed, though not permitted a fair fight. He is only given time to say the obvious: “There is no evidence at all, existing in any place in Egypt, about this lost civilization.”

So who are these purveyors of the strange? First, the views of Edgar Cayce, the deceased psychic mentioned in the Web site, are espoused by John Van Auken of the Edgar Cayce Foundation. He tells us we will be enlightened by the discovery of the secret hall of records containing the truth about our past. Then there is Richard Hoagland, author of The Monuments of Mars. We are descended, he says, from Martian refugees who settled at Gizeh. Robert Bauval is there, author of The Orion Mystery. The three pyramids of Gizeh were built thousands of years earlier than we think, according to him, since they must have been aligned with the Orion constellation, which was only possible in 10,500 b.c. We get to hear from John Anthony West, author of Serpent in the Sky. The Sphinx, he insists, must have been built in 12,000 b.c. in order for so much erosion to have occurred (and, of course, the fact that the head was refashioned is to him further proof of its fantastic antiquity). Graham Hancock, author of Heaven’s Mirror, makes an appearance. He believes, among other things, that “an earlier civilization” that emphasized the soul rather than technology was destroyed in a great flood, and the survivors settled in Egypt. He says we are “technologically brilliant” but “spiritually barren” and so we should look to this ancient civilization for guidance.

Who gets to speak on behalf of the real scholars? Several-but none of them are asked or allowed to comment on any of the other theories being touted on the show. Among the genuine experts, who give brief talks on ordinary facts and theories not related to the New Age claims, are Bob Brier, an Egyptologist from Long Island University; Dieter Arnold from the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Gaballa Ali Gaballa, Secretary General of the Egyptian Antiquities Council (actually the Supreme Council for Antiquities), and, though it is not mentioned (as in the case of Hawass in the previous Sunday’s news report), a leading Egyptologist with a Ph.D. from Liverpool University; Aidan Dodson, an Egyptologist (now at the University of Bristol) commenting on the King Tut dig; and Nicholas Reeves, author of The Complete Tutankhamun, who talks about how good forensic evidence suggests the boy king was murdered (Dr. Dodson weighs in on this one, too).

Mixing and Matching Expert Theories

The only credible expert with unorthodox ideas was Robert Schoch, author ofVoices of the Rocks. Though not mentioned in the show, he holds a Ph.D. in geology and geophysics from Yale and has been a faculty member at Boston University since 1984. But the way his testimony is treated is part of a worrisome trend. By interweaving comments by both Schoch and West, Schoch’s geological observations are depicted as supporting West. But Schoch only dates the core body of the Sphinx to around 5000 b.c. (as opposed to 2500 b.c. as is normally believed, or 12,000 b.c. as West argues), based on his estimation of the rates of rain erosion.

Image Credit: wikimapia.org

Schoch told me he did not see the show, so could not comment on how his views were portrayed. But as far as I can tell, he certainly does not advocate West’s theory, and it seems a bit shifty to present them as if they are a tag team supporting a common view. But Schoch’s claims very specifically do not encompass the head or hind quarters of the Sphinx, and he also notes that his dating falls within the period of known megalith civilizations (the walls of Jericho, for example, were built in 8,000 b.c.). But this is not the theory presented on the show. Instead, the scene turns on two occasions to Schoch to argue about water erosion data, during the monologue of John Anthony West, who argues “if the water-weathering theory is correct” then there was “a very ancient and highly sophisticated” (stone carving is “highly” sophisticated?) "civilization existing at a time when no civilization is supposed to have existed.” When? In 12,000 b.c. Povich then says this may be the “last monument” of a vanished civilization. When he rhetorically asks if there is further evidence, he turns immediately, not to any archaeologist or historian, but to Edgar Cayce-the psychic.

But that is not the most disturbing part of this story. Schoch is shown arguing that “there were moist periods, rainy periods, in Egypt that clearly predate the modern Sahara desert.” Then at once we see West, who follows, “this kind of a rainy period prevailed in Egypt around from the time when the last ice age broke up,” and thus the Sphinx had to have been built around then. There is no qualification or distinction made here between the two views. Schoch is very plainly being presented as if he is West’s co-theorist. Lest we be mistaken, Povich introduced the whole segment by saying “as we have seen, many suspect ancient Egypt was influenced by a vanished genius culture. For one group, the rock of the Sphinx speaks the truth.” But wait, isn't Schoch’s book called Voices of the Rocks? This seems an almost deliberate attribution of West’s odd theory to Schoch, as if his book argues for a lost civilization (it does not - it isn't even about the Sphinx, although it briefly mentions it). We are led here to believe that Schoch and West are the “one group” Maury is talking about. This is a dangerous license to be taken with serious scholarship.

There were other “experts” as well. Christopher Frayling, listed as a “popular culture historian” and author of The Face of Tutankhamun, tells us that “the most convincing explanation of the curse” of King Tut is that “some energy” of some kind was pent up in the tomb and released, affecting all who were associated with it. Fortunately, Dodson’s account at least lets us judge for ourselves, since he reports how Lord Carnarvon died from an infected mosquito bite that was cut while shaving-a more plausible account, at least of his death. We are not told about any of the other “dozen” (Maury Povich) or "thirty-five” (Fox Web site) people who died under “mysterious circumstances,” so Fox does not help us decide what to believe here. The way Dodson’s narrative is abused, however, pushes ethical boundaries yet again. Interspersed with his otherwise historical account we hear others interject fantastic comments: Povich tells us that “at the precise moment of [Lord Carnarvon’s] death” there was a blackout in Cairo, and Frayling adds that Carnarvon’s pet howled and died in England. Are we being led to believe that Dodson endorses this account?

When asked, Dodson said he could not confirm any of the claims inserted into his monologue. However, he doubted that there were a “dozen” mysterious deaths, and added that Cairo’s power system is so notoriously bad that a blackout would not be a supernatural coincidence. Is it ethical to splice factual statements when the speakers do not share each other’s views? This is the very same thing done to Schoch. I asked Dodson if he would have liked to respond on TV to any of the claims made on the show (not just those littering his own segment). He said he would, but “with such off-the-wall ideas, it’s almost impossible to even try to rebut them. There’s just no point of connection between reality and fantasy!”

This abuse is matched by yet another example. Povich introduces the “monuments on Mars” theory again later in the broadcast, adding that “recent exploration suggests it may be so.” Immediately we hear a replay of a real news report, over the sight of a rocket launch. The news anchor’s voice declares, “All the talk tonight is about Mars and whether American scientists have the proof that life once existed on that planet.” Immediately, we move to Hoagland, and Viking orbiter images of the “face” on Mars. But wait . . . are we being told that there was a real news story about this, that “American scientists” were really asking whether this was proof of life on Mars? The recording sure sounded to me like a report on the evidence of microbial fossils in a Martian meteorite, but I have no way of knowing, because that part was cut out. If this is what they did, isn't this dishonest? This seems a serious ethical question.

Eventually we get to the expected tie-in with the previous Sunday’s news report. Besides being told repeatedly that the Egyptian constructions were "seemingly supernatural” in their technical perfection,5 the hieroglyphs that "prove” our extraterrestrial origins are shown again. This time, Hoagland is our interpreter, despite the fact that even Fox won't stoop so low as to claim he has any expertise in this matter. We are shown a wall inscription, which Hoagland says has pictures of “high-tech things” like “helicopters and land speeders and spaceships and the Millennium Falcon.” To prove his point, the Fox production team overlays video of an Apache helicopter to show the similarity. According to Ms. Griffis-Greenberg, an Egyptologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who saw this broadcast, this interpretation is absurd, but not new to her - it has cropped up on the Usenet so many times she is tired of answering it. But she was glad to explain yet again, and referred me to more credible sources.

I spoke to several other Egyptologists who were amazed that this was being done on television, although one said to me that he expects this sort of thing now, "It is just what TV does.” But what do the experts say about this “helicopter” glyph? This will serve as an example for all the rest: the “helicopter” is in fact the Abydos palimpsest. A palimpsest is what is created when new writing is inscribed over old. In the case of papyri, old ink is scraped off, but in the case of inscriptions, plaster is added over the old inscription and a new inscription is made. The image described as a helicopter is well known to be the names of Rameses inscribed over the names of his father (something Rameses was known to do quite frequently). A little bit of damage from time and weathering has furthered the illusion of a “helicopter."6 What we should ask is why no Egyptologists were questioned about this, something well known in the literature? As one of them said to me, “We don't live under rocks!” It would not have been hard to get an expert to clarify the meaning of the "helicopter"-they had several experts on camera already. Hawass is heard saying the claim of aliens coming from space and building the pyramids “is nuts,” but he is never asked to comment on any specific details of the arguments being made. This is a very one-sided investigation. The people are not being fairly informed.

The show did conclude on an encouraging note, however. West’s theory was tied to Cayce’s claim of a lost hall of records beneath the Sphinx, and when the tomb of Osiris is being explored with Hawass, he is asked his opinion of the Cayce theory. His response? “It’s a myth . . . but to be fair,” he adds with a humorous tone, “I did not excavate this tunnel yet,” pointing down a shaft perhaps leading in the direction of the Sphinx, “then really I don't know.” Hopefully the audience will catch his sarcasm.

Hawass was also given (almost) the last word: “People like to dream. And I like to let them dream. But my show gives them a little of reality. I believe that all that we found today, this is the reality.” And indeed he is right-for despite all the “wacky” theories, the only real facts that were exposed on the show were of that very reality: the pyramids were tombs built for mummified corpses buried only thousands, not tens of thousands, of years ago. The pyramids were built without secret history or technology; no Atlantis; no aliens; no amazing hall of records. Just an exciting, fascinating, thoroughly human, and definitely Egyptian, historical reality.
Source: www.csicop.org