The Fall of the Georgia Guidestones
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It's the early hours of July 6th, 2022. Most of the residents of Elberton, Georgia are in bed asleep. Around 4:00 AM, there's an explosion. Matt Beasley's house shakes like someone slammed a door too hard. Peggy Gross thinks a tree has fallen onto her house. Framed photos fall off Wayne and Mildred Mullinex's walls. No one knows what caused the boom until a few hours later.

Commuters passing Guidestones Road see that their local landmark, the Georgia Guidestones, has been destroyed. Twitter lights up and the conspiracy fires are stoked. Some speculate on who is responsible for the detonation. Fingers are pointed at everyone from aliens to the Illuminati. But one tweet sticks out from the rest. It's from former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Candace Taylor.

She says God himself struck down the Guidestones because the monument was the work of Satan. Welcome to Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify podcast. I'm Carter Roy. New episodes come out every Wednesday. You can listen to the audio everywhere and watch the video only on Spotify. And be sure to check us out on Instagram at The Conspiracy Pod. Stay with us.

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The Georgia Guidestones were located in a grassy field not too far from downtown Elberton, Georgia off Highway 77. At over 19 feet tall and weighing more than 245,000 pounds, they loomed over the green field. The stones were arranged in an X pattern with one central pillar and four stones that fanned out from the middle with a capstone on top.

An engraving on the capstone was written in four ancient languages, Babylonian, Classical Greek, Sanskrit, and Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. When translated to English, it read, "...let these be guidestones to an age of reason."

The four other stones were also engraved on both sides. Unlike the capstone, this text is written in eight different languages: English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Traditional Chinese, and Russian. The engravings on these four stones are the Ten Guides. Number one: Maintain humanity under 500 million in perpetual balance with nature. Number two:

Guide reproduction wisely, improving fitness and diversity. Number three. Unite humanity with a living new language. Number four. Rule, passion, faith, tradition, and all things with tempered reason. Number five. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts. Number six.

Let all nations rule internally, resolving external disputes in a world court. Number seven, avoid petty laws and useless officials. Number eight, balance personal rights with social duties. Number nine, prize truth, beauty, love, seeking harmony with the infinite. And finally, number 10, be not a cancer on the earth.

Leave room for nature. Leave room for nature. A flat granite stone sat in the grass near the monolith. It had engravings of its own, which read, Astronomic Features 1. Channel through stone indicates celestial pole. 2. Horizontal slot indicates annual travel of sun. 3. Sunbeam through capstone marks noontime throughout the year. 4.

It was signed, "Author R. C. Christian." Lastly, it mentioned a time capsule placed six feet below this spot. There was no specified date for when the capsule should be opened. Some unknown man built the Georgia Guidestones for some unknown purpose.

They look like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey and had etchings that sound vaguely apocalyptic. It's hard to imagine all of that not eliciting a swarm of conspiracy theories. And boy, did it. From the moment the slabs were erected in 1980, they mystified the residents of Elberton. A local minister predicted a satanic sacrifice would take place at the site.

Graffiti left on the stones read, death to the new world order. Some thought witches were using the monument to cast spells. It came to a head in mid-2022 as gubernatorial candidate Candace Taylor ramped up her campaign.

That May, she posted a video ad on social media. The ad features shots of the Georgia Guidestones while Taylor narrates. She says, the new world order is here and they told us it was coming. It's a battle far greater than what we see in the natural. It is a war between good and evil. She outlines her executive orders should she win the race. Her last one is simple.

demolish the Georgia Guidestones. Just over two months later, she gets her wish. On July 6th, 2022, CCTV captures a person running up to the Guidestones holding something, possibly a detonation device. Seconds later, the figure sprints away and one of the four granite panels explodes. A separate video shows a silver or gray sedan speeding away from the scene.

Later that day, authorities tear down the remainder of the monument for safety reasons. The County Board of Commissioners votes against rebuilding the Guidestones and donates the rubble to the Elberton Granite Association. The land is returned to its original owner, Wayne Mullinex.

The demolition should have put the conspiracy theories to bed. After all, there hadn't been a doomsday or ritual sacrifice. And after sorting through the rubble, authorities discovered there wasn't even a time capsule under the guidestones. Perhaps the whole thing was just a big publicity stunt. Maybe an art fixture commissioned by an eccentric millionaire.

But in fact, the explosion only breathed new life into the speculation. What was the Guidestones' purpose? Who destroyed them? And the most enduring mystery of all, who on Earth is R.C. Christian? This episode is brought to you by AMC and AMC+. Embrace the darkness in the new season of Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches.

Rowan Mayfair, played by Alexandra Daddario, must reckon with the powerful demon Lasher, now in human form, who threatens the entire Twisted Mayfair clan. Will she protect her family or protect her power? Mayfair Witches, Sundays at 9 p.m., exclusively on AMC and AMC+. Stream Mayfair Witches now, exclusively on AMC+.

Have you ever spotted McDonald's hot, crispy fries right as they're being scooped into the carton? And time just stands still. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba. Elberton is located in Georgia, a little over 100 miles northeast of Atlanta. As of 2023, its population is just over 4,600 people within four square miles of the city proper.

It's the self-proclaimed granite capital of the world. The Guidestones were far from the only granite-constructed wonder within the city limits. Elberton is home to more than 45 quarries, which produce around 250,000 granite markers and monuments per year. The local football team, the Blue Devils, play in the Granite Bowl, a stadium made from over 100,000 tons of local granite.

But the summer of 1979 would bring Elberton its biggest project to date. That June, a well-dressed, middle-aged man entered the office of Joe H. Fenley, president of the Elberton Granite Finishing Company. He introduced himself as Robert C. Christian, or R.C. Christian. He told Fenley of an ambitious monument he wanted to build in Elberton,

one that would be dedicated to the conservation of mankind. He wanted to leave a message for future generations. Christian had been inspired by Stonehenge. He explained that he had traveled and visited many statues and monoliths throughout Europe, and Stonehenge particularly resonated with him. He'd made a small wooden model of his vision for the Guidestones, which resembled the English monument,

itself a target of conspiracy theories and questions about its meaning. Fenley thought the whole thing could be a hoax until this R.C. Christian started talking numbers. He said he could pay six figures for Fenley and his team to build the monument, the size of which had never been constructed in Elberton before. Fenley gave Christian the address of the Granite City Bank, half expecting to never see this so-called R.C. Christian again.

But Christian, following Fenley's directions, headed to the Granite City Bank and the office of the bank president, Wyatt C. Martin. He gave Martin the same pitch that he did to Fenley, describing his ambitious monument with excitement. He also revealed to Martin that R.C. Christian was not his real name. To explain his choice of a false identity, Christian claimed to be representing not just himself,

But a band of anonymous people who live outside of Georgia. He said they were "a small group of loyal Americans who believe in God." R.C. Christian was the name that spoke for all of them. This project was their most important work. They'd been working on the plans for it for 20 years. Martin echoed Fenley's skepticism.

But if Christian could provide a deposit, Martin agreed to act as the financial intermediary for the project. But there was one other condition. He wanted to know Christian's true identity. Christian gave Martin his real name and a small bit of his biography. He said he'd served in World War II, traveled the globe, and at one point he was a concrete worker.

His only tie to Georgia was through his great-grandmother, who was from there. Christian also gave Martin enough financial information for the banker to be assured the man could pay for the project. Then Christian had some conditions of his own. He asked Martin to sign a non-disclosure agreement stating he would never reveal Christian's true identity.

The agreement also stipulated that Martin would destroy any information pertaining to the construction and development of the project after it was completed. Martin signed the forms. In regards to the financial deposit, Christian sent Martin money from multiple banks across the United States so that he could not be traced. It was clear this man was serious about his secrecy.

but he did seem to have the money to pay for the stones so with a ten thousand dollar deposit in the bank and martin's financial go-ahead joe fenley and his company officially started working on the construction of the stones in the summer of 1979. the material christian approved for the stones was pyramid blue granite from fenley's pyramid quarry

It took weeks to remove 28-ton stone out of the quarry. Then each stone needed to be cut down to Christian's requested size, which took another nine months. While Finley and his company worked on the stones, it was up to Martin to help scout potential sites to place them. Christian had requested an area that was visible to the public, but not so central it would become a tourist attraction.

Martin suggested a five-acre plot of land located about eight miles north of Elberton. It was part of a farm owned by Wayne and Mildred Mullinex. The grassy field was perfect. It was near a road, so it was easy to access, but not too close to the town center. And it was the highest point in Elbert County, ideal for visibility.

To sweeten the deal, Christian offered the Mullinexes two generations of grazing rights on the grass surrounding the Guidestones if the monument could be forever housed on the land. For $5,000, Wayne signed over the five-acre plot. With the money set and the land acquired,

it was time for Christian to disappear. He bid Fenley one last farewell at his office once all the pieces were set in motion that summer of 1979. Before leaving, he said, "You'll never see me again." And just as suddenly as he had appeared that June afternoon, he disappeared into thin air. All future communication from Christian was conveyed through Martin via letters sent from different cities across the country.

Even from miles away, Christian had some very specific requests. They were so specific, Joe Fenley had to seek the help of an astronomer from the University of Georgia to bring Christian's design to life. First, the center column needed to have a hole in the stone where one could see the North Star at all times.

The column also had to have a slot that aligned with the position of the rising sun during solstices and equinoxes. The specifications also demanded an aperture, so the sun's light could pass through at noon each day. The idea was for the stones to act as a sundial, where you would be able to tell the time and the event of apocalyptic fallout. Then there were the engraved guidelines.

Fenley hired sandblaster Charlie Clamp to etch over 4,000 individual letters into the stones, which required hundreds of hours to complete. 951 cubic feet of granite and about 245,000 pounds later, the Georgia Guidestones were unveiled on March 22, 1980. Roughly 400 people gathered to watch. Television crews from Atlanta came to document the event.

Mayor Jack Wheeler and Congressman Doug Barnard Jr. led the ceremony. The Guidestones drew immediate global interest, and the small town of Elberton became a destination for tourists from Japan, China, and India. In 1993, Yoko Ono even wrote a song about the Stones. They played host to the strange and esoteric music.

Nani Batchelder, a psychic counselor, believed there was a healing energy within the stones. Pagan worshippers made pilgrimages to the Guidestones where they'd dance and chant. Multiple visitors noted feeling a strong energy when visiting the monument. During construction, even sandblaster Charlie Clamp

said he heard strange music and disjointed voices when he was engraving the stones. And perhaps for the same reasons, the guide stones drew outrage. Reverend James Travenstead, a local minister, was one of the first skeptics to voice his opinions. Given the 10 guidelines he predicted, someday a sacrifice will take place here

He thought the stones were the work of Satanists. As former Elberton Granite Association employee Hudson Cohn told the New York Times, "To some, it's the holiest spot on earth. To others, it's a monument to the devil." A monument to the devil is likely the way former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Candace Taylor saw it. But where does that belief come from? And has it found it?

Is it simply the energy some people felt when they visited the Guidestones? Is it the enigmatic nature of its creator? Or has the truth been in front of us the entire time? In R.C. Christian's Manifesto.

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In 1986, six years after the Georgia Guidestones were unveiled, R.C. Christian released a book entitled Common Sense Renewed. The book expands on the ideas engraved on the stones. It also gave rise to a theory that R.C. Christian was an agent of the New World Order. Now, we've discussed the New World Order more than once on this podcast, and I'm

It references a broad conspiracy about a cabal of elites who control most of the world governments and economies from the shadows. Many theories contend that the cabal's master plan is to trigger a doomsday scenario, one which will kill all but a select few humans, who will then be tasked with repopulating the Earth according to strict guidelines. Maybe guidelines etched out on guide stones...

Recall the text written on the slabs of stone that I read earlier in the episode. Number one, maintain humanity under 500 million in perpetual balance with nature. With the current world population sitting at around 8 billion, over 90% of living humans would have to die in order for this guideline to be met, near total extinction.

The second guideline read, guide reproduction wisely, improving fitness and diversity, which can be interpreted to mean humans should procreate based on preferred genetic matches rather than love. Christian expresses a similar sentiment in his book, calling for population policy in governments to combat the growing number of people in the world.

This idea of selective breeding, pairing certain humans together to promote ideal traits or to do away with unwanted ones, can be traced to the horrific experiments carried out by Nazi scientists during World War II. And the Nazis are often seen at the root of the New World Order conspiracy. In fact, it was Hitler's regime that introduced the concept of a new order.

or a radical, violent shift in population demographics. Some theorists hold that the secret leadership of the Order is made up of Nazis who escaped justice at the end of World War II. They and their descendants have since controlled world events from the shadows. When R.C. Christian said, "Guide reproduction wisely," was he referencing Nazi eugenics? That certainly is a threatening way to read these guidelines.

But there's another way to look at them that's much less ominous. The rules are focused on finding balance and harmony within human society, improving fitness and diversity, finding a common language, ruling fairly and justly. In the absence of some genocidal hidden agenda, these seem like laws we could stand to live by. But then, why the secrecy?

If the Guidestones were built out of benevolence rather than malignancy, why didn't R.C. Christian just reveal his true name? That, some theorists contend, is because R.C. Christian was part of a different secret society, the Rosicrucians. The Rosicrucians were a fabled order of mystics who came to fame in 17th century Europe.

They were associated with new schools of thought, spirituality, and mysticism, which stood in opposition to the Christian establishment in Europe at the time. While their official doctrine is somewhat dense, they generally supported a practice that combined mystic cultural practices from around the world with modern science in an attempt to help mankind evolve intellectually.

The movement gained prominence due to a series of manifestos which hinted at an exclusive secret society of scholars and scientists who sought to transform Europe across the fields of art, culture, science, religion, and government. The key connection between the Rosicrucians and the Georgia Guidestones is philosopher Thomas Paine.

In the 18th century, Paine wrote The Age of Reason, a book that challenged institutionalized religion, promoted deism, and advocated for reason over faith. The capstone of the Georgia Guidestones read, "...let these be guidestones to an age of reason."

Paine also wrote Common Sense, a popular 18th century pamphlet arguing for American independence during the Revolutionary War. R.C. Christian name-checked this pamphlet in his own book, Common Sense Renewed. And according to the current chapter of the Rosicrucian Order, Paine was among a handful of early American figures to be part of the society in the 18th century. The connecting threads go deeper.

the original Rosicrucian texts name the leader of the movement, Christian Rosenkreutz. This name, while likely an alias, is similar to the other main pseudonym in this story.

R.C. Christian. Furthermore, the Rosicrucians would often refer to themselves as the fraternity of R.C. R.C. in this case stood for Rosy Cross, a society symbol resembling a golden cross with a rose fixed in the apex. Finally, R.C. Christian's requests for the Guidestones to be a sundial or calendar for the remainder of humanity

make a lot more sense when you consider a theory posited by filmmaker and former radio commentator Jay Widener. He contends that since their initial rise in the 17th century, the Rosicrucians have been analyzing the solar cycle. They have determined that every 13,000 years, ejections will fall from the sky and destroy most of the Earth. This, in turn, will massively reduce the population.

Thus, the Guidestones are intended for those few that are left. This would be a somewhat more optimistic theory than the man-made Apocalypse of the New World Order theory. But perhaps the apocalypse coming for us won't be triggered by the New World Order or solar ejections. Consider the laundry list of things that have the potential to wipe out most or all of human existence.

Natural disasters, climate change, super diseases. As rampant overpopulation increasingly strains our infrastructure, it's not totally unforeseeable that in the near future, an extinction-level event could lead to the eradication of humanity. And as for the first guideline, maintain humanity under 500 million,

maintain humanity, not reduce humanity to or permit no more than. The word choice of maintain could imply that R.C. Christian assumed most of the world's population would be long gone by the time people started actually following the guidelines. What if R.C. Christian wasn't advocating for a culling of the human race, as the New World Order theory implies, and

Christian and his sponsors might not have had vested interest in wiping out the planet, but rather preparing the planet in the event it's wiped out. When you look at the geographic factors, the Guidestones actually seem strategically placed to survive an apocalyptic weather event. They are far away from oceans and would endure rising sea levels. Their position atop a hill makes them easily visible from a far-off distance.

This theory makes sense considering the global political climate in 1979, when the stones were commissioned. At that time, Russia and the United States were engaged in the Cold War, a decades-long political rivalry in which Americans were warned every day about the possible threat of nuclear weapons. This theory is supported by Wyatt Martin, the bank president who helped R.C. Christian get his project off the ground.

In 2010, filmmaker Christian Pinto tracked down Martin for his 2015 documentary titled Dark Clouds Over Elberton. According to Martin's interview, Christian's purpose for the Guidestones was to instruct the remainder of humanity in the event of nuclear devastation.

The stones would act as a kind of sundial, a primitive clock that a post-apocalyptic civilization could build itself around. Wyatt Martin was the only person who knew R.C. Christian's true identity. And while he may have been willing to reveal the purpose of the Georgia Guidestones, he certainly wasn't giving up any names. In 1980, after the Guidestones were unveiled, he told the Atlanta Constitution that

"When I die, the secret will die with me." Martin kept that promise when he passed away in 2021 at the age of 91. But he didn't keep all of R.C. Christian's secrets. Back in 1979, Martin made Christian two promises. The first: keep his identity hidden. The second: destroy any and all documentation and correspondence related to the Guidestones Project.

He'd kept the first, but in a 2009 Wired magazine article, he revealed to reporter Randall Sullivan a computer case full of papers dating back to that very first meeting in 1979. Sullivan asked to see the contents, but Martin refused. Later, filmmaker Christian Pinto interviewed Martin for his documentary, Dark Clouds Over Elberton.

This time, Martin allowed producers to peek inside the case of documents. It turns out, correspondence between Christian and Martin didn't stop in 1980 when the Guidestones were complete. The men traded letters back and forth for many years after. In the documentary, Martin holds up one of the letters from R.C. Christian. It's dated July 14th, 1998. Martin reads a portion of it out loud.

There's not much hidden in the contents of the letter. It reads like Christian is just giving an old friend updates on his life. But there's one clue. Christian mentions he's 78 years old, putting his birth year at about 1920. In the next shot, a producer holds up the envelope to the camera. There's no return address, but a stamp shows the letter came from Fort Dodge, Iowa. Then,

Martin picks up another package. It's from Smithsonian Magazine to Robert Christian. Care of Robert Merriman. And finally, just before Martin closes up the case of documents, the camera picks up one last clue on a letter from R.C. Christian. This time, it's an actual return address. Again, from Fort Dodge.

The filmmakers are ecstatic. Not only are they the first people to see inside this case of documents, but they also might have enough clues to track down the real R.C. Christian. They start with the name Robert Merriman. The producers contact Stoyle's Graphic Services, the Iowa-based publishing company behind R.C. Christian's book Common Sense Renewed.

It's a hit. Stoyles confirms that a man named Robert Merriman published the book with their company. Merriman had his own background in the printing business. He'd been a publisher of a newspaper, the Fort Dodge Messenger. But digging into Merriman's history, the filmmakers learn he died in 1992. Because R.C. Christian had sent letters after that date, it was impossible that that was his true identity.

But they tuck the name in their back pocket. Perhaps Merriman was a friend of Christian's or even one of the anonymous sponsors behind the Guidestones. They move on to the return address on Raywood Drive in Fort Dodge. That home did not belong to Robert Merriman, but a Herbert H. Kirsten. The filmmakers discover Kirsten was a doctor who'd grown up in Fort Dodge and went to medical school at the University of Iowa.

He served in World War II, then settled back in his hometown and joined his family's medical practice. He and his wife had four children, and he was heavily involved in his community. Dr. Kirsten died in 2005 at the age of 85. He sounds like your average Joe, but digging deeper into his details, the producers find that Herbert H. Kirsten died

sounded a lot like the R.C. Christian they'd been looking for. First, Kirsten was born May 7th, 1920, making him 78 on July 14th, 1998, the date R.C. Christian wrote that letter to Wyatt Martin. In Dark Clouds Over Elberton, Wyatt Martin reveals that just a few months prior to his 2010 interview, he'd received a call from R.C. Christian's son,

The son told Martin his father had died several years ago and that now both of his parents are deceased. Martin wouldn't say what year Christian passed, but did confirm it was after 2000. Furthermore, Dr. Kirsten's obituary indicates his wife died just months prior to his own passing,

matching what R.C. Christian's son said about both of his parents being deceased. Lastly, Wyatt Martin told the filmmakers he believed the last letter he received from Christian was in 2001. This timeline means it's possible that Kirsten, who died in 2005, was indeed R.C. Christian. And it's not just the timeline that checks out.

Herbert Kirsten was an inventor. He had at least 10 patents registered with the U.S. government. One of these patents involved concrete work. During R.C. Christian's first meeting with Wyatt Martin, he told the banker he used to work in the concrete industry. And as for the pseudonym, it turns out the surname Kirsten is an archaic form of the word Christian.

But what about Robert Merriman? Who is he? And how does he fit into the Georgia Guidestones story? Well, since Kirsten and Merriman were both prominent figures in the Fort Dodge community, Merriman a newspaper publisher, Kirsten a doctor, the filmmakers thought maybe the two knew each other. They tracked down Merriman's nephew, who told them that not only did the men know each other, but they also knew each other.

but they were close friends. If Dr. Kirsten came to his uncle for help with a task that demanded secrecy, he has no doubt Merriman would have obliged. And the Georgia Guidestones may not have been the first time Kirsten and Merriman collaborated on a project. According to two local historians,

Dr. Kirsten designed and created a small model of a bandstand, much like the one R.C. Christian brought to Joe Fenley. With the help of Robert Merriman, the bandstand came to life and still stands in Fort Dodge to this day.

Digging into Dr. Kirsten's writing and philosophy is even more eye-opening. First, his obituary states he wanted to be remembered both as a physician and a conservationist. Sounds a lot like a man who would make "be not a cancer on the earth, leave room for nature" a guideline for humanity.

In Dark Clouds Over Elberton, the producers discover records in the Fort Dodge library showing Kirsten had other beliefs that matched those of R.C. Christian. In an article announcing the doctor's retirement, he was quoted as saying, "...controlling population is the most important problem confronting humanity."

But what Fort Dodge historians share with the filmmakers next is a lot more disturbing. Kirsten, they said, was friends with William Shockley, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who is also a well-known racist and eugenicist. The historians claim Kirsten shared a lot of the same views as his friend.

Furthermore, Kirsten once wrote a letter to his local newspaper defending the anti-immigration views of David Duke, one time Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. However, the ties between Kirsten and Shockley couldn't be corroborated.

And while Kirsten frequently wrote opinion letters to the newspaper, we couldn't find any evidence of eugenic beliefs. With Kirsten dead and his descendants uninterested in speaking to the media, we may never know whether he was R.C. Christian, what associations he had with the eugenics movement, or what the Georgia Guidestones' purpose truly was. But according to some Elberton locals,

If the racist connections are true, maybe it's best that the stones were destroyed. Thank you for listening to Conspiracy Theories. We're here with a new episode every Wednesday. Be sure to check us out on Instagram at The Conspiracy Pod. If you're watching on Spotify, swipe up and give us your thoughts. Or email us at conspiracystories at spotify.com.

For more information on the Georgia Guidestones, amongst the many sources we used, we found Dark Clouds Over Elberton, a documentary directed by Christian Pinto and Randall Sullivan's reporting in Wired Magazine, extremely helpful to our research. Until next time, remember, the truth isn't always the best story, and the official story isn't always the truth.

This episode was written by Monisha Dadlani and Chelsea Wood, edited and researched by Chelsea Wood, fact-checked by Laurie Siegel, and video editing and sound design by Alex Button. I'm your host, Carter Roy.