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cover of episode 511: DEEP DIVE: Smithsonian Cover-Up: Ancient Egyptians and Giants in the Grand Canyon

511: DEEP DIVE: Smithsonian Cover-Up: Ancient Egyptians and Giants in the Grand Canyon

2023/11/29
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Explorer G.E. Kincaid discovers a man-made cavern in the Grand Canyon with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, leading him to believe he has found an ancient Egyptian city.

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In 1908, President Teddy Roosevelt wanted to make the Grand Canyon off-limits to all timber and mining operations.

It would take 11 years, but Congress did finally designate the Grand Canyon a national park. Sensing a final opportunity for adventure, explorer G.E. Kincaid took a boat down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon.

The canyon was rich in minerals like gold, silver, and copper, and Kincaid wanted to see what he could find before the area was closed off for good. About 40 miles upriver from the El Tovar Crystal Canyon, Kincaid saw stains in the sediment formation about 2,000 feet up. He tied off the boat and got out to investigate. Kincaid couldn't find a trail, but after a short hike, he found something interesting covered in desert brush.

Steps, hundreds of them, carved in sandstone. Steps that wound their way up to a high shelf on the side of the canyon. He followed the steps until he came across a cavern entrance, an entrance that was clearly man-made. Kincaid entered the cavern and turned on his flashlight. On the walls, he saw writing. It wasn't English and it wasn't Native American. It was ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Kincaid lifted his flashlight and saw that the tunnel ran far into the distance. He didn't realize it at the time, but this was only the beginning. ♪

When G.E. Kincaid tied off his small wooden boat to investigate the strange coloration of the rock wall, he was hoping to find clues that would lead him to a mineral deposit. He wasn't expecting to find hieroglyphics. When Kincaid noticed chisel marks in the walls, he drew his pistol, turned on another light, and slowly walked deeper into the gloom. He kept detailed notes of everything he saw. The main passageway is about 12 feet wide, narrowing to 9 feet toward the farther end.

About 57 feet from the entrance, the first side passages branch off to the right and left.

along which on both sides are a number of rooms about the size of ordinary living rooms of today. Though some are 30 by 40 feet square, these are entered by oval-shaped doors and are ventilated by round air spaces through the walls into the passages. The walls are about 3 feet 6 inches in thickness. The passages are chiseled or hewn as straight as could be laid out by an engineer.

The ceilings of many of the rooms converge to a center. The side passages near the entrance run at a sharp angle from the main hall, but toward the rear, they gradually reach a right angle in direction.

G.E. Kincaid now realized he was in a huge complex. He estimated that as many as 50,000 people could have lived here. In some rooms, he found granaries with shelves of glazed pottery, many of which still contain seeds. He found cooking areas and a huge dining hall. The rooms were full of ancient artifacts. Kincaid carefully wrapped a few small metal and ceramic objects for later study. There was another large room Kincaid described as an area for metalwork.

But that's a technology that shouldn't have existed in this area. Here were found tools of all descriptions, made of copper. These people undoubtedly knew the lost art of hardening this metal, which has been sought by chemicals for centuries without result. On a bench running around the workroom was some charcoal and other material probably used in the process.

There is also slag and stuff similar to matte showing that these ancients smelted ores. But so far no trace of where or how this was done has been discovered nor the origin of the ore." G.E. Kincaid explored the underground complex for several hours still having no idea when this place was used, what it was used for, or who the builders were.

Then he came across another large room, a crypt. The crypt had shelf upon shelf and row upon row of mummies, dozens of them. It was at this point G.E. Kincaid realized that if he was going to explore this entire underground city, he was going to need help.

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G.E. Kincaid sent a few artifacts to the Smithsonian along with his notes of what he found. He requested financial and logistical support for what he felt was the most significant archaeological discovery ever made. The Smithsonian agreed. A few weeks later, Professor S.A. Jordan arrived with a team of about 40 scientists, researchers, and laborers to excavate and explore the ancient underground city.

Now with more lights and manpower, the scientists realized that the cave system layout wasn't random. It was a symmetrical, deliberate design. The tunnels all led to a central chamber. In the chamber was a large statue of what Kincaid thought looked like Buddha. Over 100 feet from the entrance is the cross hall, several hundred feet long, in which are found the idol, or image, of the people's god.

sitting cross-legged with a lotus flower or lily in each hand. The cast of the face is oriental and the idol almost resembles Buddha.

though the scientists are not certain as to what religious worship it represents. Taking into consideration everything found thus far, it is possible that this worship most resembles the ancient people of Tibet. Because of this discovery, Kincaid's team started calling the complex "The Citadel." The crypt was one of the bigger rooms discovered. Now with enough light, Kincaid was able to fully describe what he saw. The wall slant back at an angle of about 35 degrees.

On these are tiers of mummies, each one occupying a separate hewn shelf. At the head of each is a small bench on which is found copper cups and pieces of broken swords. Some of the mummies are covered with clay and all are wrapped in a bark fabric. The urns or cups on the lower tiers are crude

While as the higher shelves are reached, the urns are finer in design, showing a later stage of civilization. It is worthy of note that all the mummies examined so far have proved to be male, no children or females being buried here. This leads to the belief that this exterior section was the warriors' barracks.

Kincaid, Jordan, and the Smithsonian team explored the entire cave complex. They were overwhelmed with evidence that this was not some faraway temple occupied by a few priests. This was a huge city, lived in by thousands of men, women, and children for hundreds or possibly thousands of years. The question nobody could answer was, who were they?

By the end of the expedition, G.E. Kincaid and Professor Jordan's team had discovered hundreds of rooms. Barracks, granaries, metalworking shops, temples, and all kinds of living quarters. Though most of the rooms were empty, thousands of artifacts were found. They found swords and shields made of copper and bronze. They found objects made of a gray metal that scientists couldn't identify. They thought it looked like platinum.

They found pottery, urns, utensils for cooking, and small yellow stones called cat's eyes, and large stone tablets. And these were all engraved with hieroglyphics. On all the urns, or walls over doorways, and tablets of stone which were found by the image, are the mysterious hieroglyphics, the key to which the Smithsonian Institute hopes yet to discover. The engraving on the tablets probably has something to do with the religion of the peoples.

Similar hieroglyphics have been found in southern Arizona. Among the pictorial writings, only two animals are found. One is of prehistoric type. Even with all the relics and all the writing Kincaid and Jordan found, they were still no closer to determining who built the citadel in the Grand Canyon. They thought some of the statues looked Tibetan, but they weren't quite right. They thought the writing looked Egyptian. Again, that wasn't quite right.

There were experts on site, none of whom could identify the statues or translate any of the text. There were two things that researchers could agree on, however. One, the civilization that built the citadel was very advanced, far more advanced than the native tribes that occupied the area for a few thousand years. This now lost civilization worked bronze many years before the Bronze Age began.

They understood division of labor and agriculture when every other society on Earth was presumably still hunting and gathering.

These are discoveries that went against everything that was taught in mainstream archaeology and anthropology. A civilization like this shouldn't exist. And two, they agreed that the civilization that built the Citadel in the Grand Canyon didn't emerge there locally. This civilization arrived there from the other side of the world. Kincaid and Professor Jordan

sent boxes of artifacts and books full of notes and drawings back to the Smithsonian, along with their hypothesis that an ancient civilization existed in the Grand Canyon thousands of years before Native Americans arrived in North America. These people were technologically advanced.

educated, skilled, and spiritually complex. And these people originated somehow in Egypt or Asia. Kincaid wanted more resources and a larger team to help them research the Citadel and search the Grand Canyon for more evidence of this lost civilization. Their request was denied. And G.E. Kincaid and Professor S.A. Jordan were never heard from again.

In Northern Arizona is one of the most spectacular natural wonders on earth, the Grand Canyon. Carved over millions of years by the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon is more than just pretty landscape and a spot for tourists to take selfies. It is a place of deep spiritual significance for the people who have lived in the area.

The Hopi, Navajo, Zuni, Apache, and several other tribes have lived around the Grand Canyon for several thousand years. They still do. Hopi mythology says that from the Grand Canyon, the first people of the world entered. The story says that many thousands of years ago, a reptilian race emerged from the Grand Canyon and changed into humans. Other Pueblo cultures like the Zuni Anacoma have similar legends that there were people there before the tribes.

Some legends say reptilians were there. Other legends say a race of giants were there. And there are rumors that skeletons of giants have been discovered all over the western United States. But the evidence has been suppressed by the Smithsonian. Something I've learned from doing this show is that all myths and legends do carry a little bit of truth.

We already have evidence that people landed in North America before Columbus. The Vikings famously explored and settled parts of Newfoundland 500 years before the quote-unquote new world was quote-unquote discovered. There's growing evidence that ancient Chinese explorers landed in North and South America before the Vikings. But landing on the east or west coast of America is one thing. Getting to the Grand Canyon is a whole other thing.

How could people get there? And even if they could, how do they have the technology to excavate millions of tons of rock in order to build an entire underground city? We may have known the answer to that question for a thousand years. Traveling from Europe and Asia to America thousands of years ago was almost impossible. Almost. Many brave people did it. But traveling to the Grand Canyon is a much more difficult task than landing on a California beach.

To get to and build the Grand Canyon requires technology. A sky god emerged from what they called a moving star. The sky god brought the Hopi to the ant people, who escorted them to the underground caves for protection. The sky god then got back into his moving star and flew off above the clouds.

The Paiute have a legend about the Havmasuvs. They're usually described as being humanoid in shape with golden skin and large eyes. They lived in a vast underground city and traded with faraway people. They possessed weapons that the Paiute described as silver tubes that shot lightning and can kill a man instantly. And the most interesting part of the Havmasuv legend? They supposedly flew silver canoes in the sky.

These craft made a humming sound and could maneuver like an eagle and move at great speeds. Most ancient cultures have a flood myth.

They describe a global disaster that melted the ice caps and caused sea levels to rise 400 feet. Entire cities were wiped out, maybe even entire continents. Most of these flood myths also talk about how, after the waters receded, a godlike people came down from the sky. These gods gave humans the gift of civilization and taught them things they had forgotten before the Great Flood. Things like writing, astronomy, and agriculture.

Could the city and the Grand Canyon be evidence of this time in history? And if it is, why would anyone want to suppress it?

The Grand Canyon isn't the only place in America believed to hold treasures of the old world. In 1982, Russell E. Burroughs from Richland County, Illinois, was exploring with his metal detector. He was looking for artifacts from the Civil War. While searching a hillside, he lost his footing and fell into a cave. I found myself falling into a pit, which had been obscured beneath a large oval stone, which, as I later discovered,

was fitted into the pit opening and designed to flip or turn over when stepped on. The unfortunate victim would fall to the bottom of the pit, the stone would swing back in place, and the victim would be trapped. I was fortunate. When I stepped on that stone, I was in the act of turning, and the stone, instead of flipping over, slid off to one side and left the pit open.

Inside the pit, he found himself staring into the eyes of a giant face carved in the rock wall. But it wasn't a Native American face. As he followed a tunnel into the darkness, he came upon a room with a skeleton laid out on a large stone block. There were axe heads, spear tips, and a bronze sword. There were gold coins scattered all across the cave floor. On

On the coins were engravings of Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, and other historical figures. There were tablets with hieroglyphics, Greek writing, and even Latin. Burroughs took some of the tablets to have the writing translated. They told the story of the sons of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Cleopatra's sons, Ptolemy Philadelphus and Alexander Helios, vanished from history in 29 BC.

But according to the inscriptions, fearing for their lives, they took their family's fortune and fled Rome. It was their remains in the cave in Illinois, surrounded by what was left of their family's belongings. So how did they get from Rome to the middle of North America? Well, it wasn't a direct trip. They had a stopover in Egypt.

In Southern Illinois, the area around Burroughs Cave has a strange nickname. Since the 1700s, it's been called Little Egypt, and no one knows why.

But there are some theories. One is that the Grand Canyon contains a portal to Africa. Now, I couldn't find any reason why so many people suddenly believe this, but I did find an older story that's very similar. In October 2022, Wayne Wells posted a screenshot from Google Earth. Quite an amazing discovery. Ancient ruins I found in the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

The image showed a large rectangular opening in the middle of an open area. It was fuzzy, but it appeared to be some sort of structure in the middle of the Grand Canyon. Many dismissed it as a mineshaft. Still, others thought it could be a passageway, citing the history of Kincaid and again the disappearance of Alexander Helios.

Now, Egypt is about 7,000 miles from the Grand Canyon. A tunnel connecting the two would be insane.

but not impossible, especially if it wasn't a physical tunnel, but a gateway. And there are theories of ancient gateways or stargates all over the world, many of which are in ancient Egypt, and some believe the pyramids themselves functioned as gateways. There are claims that Hatshepsut's temple was actually a stargate. Such a device would explain how Egyptian artifacts and remains keep popping up all over North America.

Another theory claims that North America is the old world. The Mississippi is the Nile and the Gulf of Mexico is the Red Sea. And there are a lot of facts that actually back up that theory. And if you want to hear that story, email me.

Now, there are a lot of theories connecting North America and specifically the Grand Canyon to ancient Egypt. So was G.E. Kincaid right? Did he stumble on an ancient city founded by Egyptians? Well, all the information we know about G.E. Kincaid comes from the Phoenix Gazette.

In 1909, they ran two articles about Kincaid and his discovery. In the years since, mainstream researchers have decided that the articles were a hoax, a fantastic story designed to sell newspapers, essentially early 20th century clickbait. But many people believe the story is real, and the Smithsonian is covering it up.

That's the official story. Kincaid's cave is a hoax, so no reason to try to find it because it's not there. Even Kincaid himself wanted to keep people out. First, I would impress that the cavern is nearly inaccessible.

The entrance is 1486 feet down the sheer canyon wall. It is located on government land and no visitor will be allowed there under penalty of trespass. The scientists wish to work unmolested without fear of archaeological discoveries being disturbed by curio or relic hunters. A trip there would be fruitless and the visitor would be sent on his way.

Whether at the request of the Smithsonian or just to protect his find, it was clear that Kincaid wanted to dissuade people from finding the Citadel. But even a hundred years later, that wouldn't stop anyone from trying. And a couple of people? They say they found it. Jerry Wills and his wife Kathy have been studying the Kincaid Cave mystery for years. Their approach was, find the original base camp of the explorers, which would lead them to the cave.

After years of research and exploring the area where G.E. Kincaid said he found the cave, Jerry and Kathy found a location covered in artifacts from Kincaid's time. And on the Grand Canyon wall just below this area, they believe is the entrance to the underground city. Exploring is difficult, though. The entire area where the cave is supposed to be is designated off-limits by the federal government.

About a thousand caves have been discovered in the Grand Canyon, many of them man-made, but only about 30 have been mapped. And many of those have been sealed for your safety.

Now, I don't buy the safety excuse. There are plenty of people who'd be willing to take the risk, and they'd be willing to sign a waiver that says the government isn't responsible if something happens. In fact, people have tried this. The government still says no, it's too dangerous. You can legally jump out of a plane, ride a roller coaster, and drive a car, but for whatever reason, the government won't let you go into a man-made cave. Some other caves in the Grand Canyon have been blocked by steel gates. They say this is to protect the

the bat population. Still, people are willing to risk a fine or prison to find the lost city in the Grand Canyon. But anyone who does should expect a response from the government. When Jerry and Kathy's team tried to explore the area, suddenly an unmarked plane appeared. Clearly, they were being watched. Despite this part of the Grand Canyon being a no-fly zone and the fact that no aircraft is allowed to fly below the rim,

A plane appeared. Jerry Wills is convinced this was a warning. His team was unable to continue their expedition. Exploring the cave from above is almost impossible. But what about exploring it from below, as G.E. Kincaid did? Another group of explorers tried this. As they approached the location, a black helicopter showed up.

Not a tourist helicopter, not even a black civilian helicopter, an Apache combat helicopter. When this team explored the area above looking for the ventilation shafts Kincaid wrote about and possibly a way down, they didn't find holes. They found cement blocks in the middle of nowhere.

Some of these blocks are platforms near the edge of the rim with hardware and anchors that would be used to assist mountaineers. When asked about this, the authorities say these are reinforcing structures to prevent rock falls. Also in this forbidden zone, rock formations have unusual names. There is the Isis Temple, the Tower Set, Horus, the Cheops Pyramid, and Ra.

There's also the Manu Temple, the Buddha Temple, the Krishna Temple and the Shiva Temple. And many more names that refer to ancient Egyptian and Hindu cultures. Cultures that specifically have myths about a god helping civilization after the Great Flood. The official word is, the fact that these names exist within the Grand Canyon's no-go zone is a coincidence. But I really don't believe in those. Do you?

Evidence that the explorer G.E. Kincaid ever existed can't be found. Neither can evidence of a Professor S.A. Jordan who worked closely with Kincaid.

David Childress contacted the Smithsonian about the story. The Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology has searched its files without finding any mention of a Professor Jordan, Kincaid, or a lost Egyptian civilization in Arizona. They told him they have no record of a Jordan or Kincaid having ever worked with them. But a news article published in 2009 by the old pioneer featured a man known as Professor D.S. Jordan. Could

Could be a coincidence, but you know how I feel about those. Jordan had a close connection to the Smithsonian Institution for a long, long time. He worked with them for more than 30 years. And he wasn't an honest man. He was caught perpetrating a hoax, stating cameras could photograph thoughts. He said all kinds of other crazy things in the papers. He was even involved in covering up a murder.

Now, these things are all verifiable on his wiki page, but what you won't find is his long history working with the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian's annual report of the Board of Regents from 1885 mentions Professor Jordan several times. In one Smithsonian release, Professor Jordan was accompanied to Alaska by a man named Trevor Kincaid.

There are records that Professor Jordan was offered the position of director of the Smithsonian in 1896. He declined. In 1906, he was offered the highest position at the Institute. He declined that one too. On Professor Jordan's 70th birthday, he received a letter from the Smithsonian. The letter acknowledged Jordan's close ties and long history with the Institute.

The letter said, your name will go down in the museum's history. But today, the official word is, the Smithsonian has no record of a Professor Jordan or Kincaid. I guess by go down in history, they meant Professor Jordan would be covered up and totally denied. One last thing. There is a Smithsonian publication from 1898 featuring Professor Jordan searching for fossils along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.

I wonder why he was there. In 1991, archaeologist John Holman found a cave that led to a series of underground chambers. And there were lots of them. These catacombs covered two or three acres. Some rooms were 20 feet high and 30 feet long.

But Hohmann wasn't the first person to find the caves. It looked like they were robbed at one time, so no artifacts or anything of value, but he did find hundreds of skeletons. The catacombs are not open to the public and haven't ever been photographed. Their exact location is secret, but we do know it's near the Grand Canyon. According to the papers, John Hohmann sent the skeletons to the Smithsonian. They

They say they know nothing about it. So who's lying? The archaeologist or the federal institution? Now, Russell Burroughs' cave in Illinois is a tough one. Nobody has ever seen the cave. Nobody knows where it is. All we know is what Burroughs tells us. The only artifacts we know of are the ones he brings back from the cave and allows us to see. So there are skeptics who say the cave doesn't exist. But from his description of the cave and the artifacts...

It sounds like it could be real. There are details in the artifacts that would be really difficult to fake. Also, Burroughs removed 7,000 unique artifacts.

If they're fake, that's a lot of work. Too much work for one man. Some artifacts have symbols on them that nobody can identify. The Smithsonian might be able to identify them, but they won't look. They say the whole thing is a hoax and not worth their time. As of today, not a single artifact from Burroughs Cave has gone through scientific study. It's all been deemed a hoax.

He could easily prove the cave is real, but he won't tell anyone where it is. He says if he does, it will be robbed of its ancient treasures. Many of the so-called artifacts have been revealed as forgeries. He allegedly found the cave in 1982. Russell Burroughs is getting on in years, so he might want to let someone know where it is. Because if the cave is real, it's one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in history. It should be shared with the world.

And please let us have a look before the federal government covers the whole thing up. In 1846, a British scientist named James Smithson left his entire fortune to the United States. He had never even been to America, but he wanted to create an institution to promote learning.

Congress wasn't sure what to do with the money at first, but eventually they decided to build a museum. At the time, there weren't many of those in America, and this seemed like a nice way to honor Smithson's wishes. So in 1846, Congress passed an act to establish the Smithsonian Institution.

They used the endowment to build a castle right near the Washington Monument. It opened in 1855 and was an instant hit. Over the years, more and more buildings were added. But here's the tricky part. Even though Congress founded the museum, they didn't want to pay for it. So they set it up as a trust, a private organization run by a board of regents. But this board of regents is very interesting.

Its current members are Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Senator Boozman, Senator Masto, Senator Peters, Representative Graves, Representative Matsui, Representative Smith and eight other civilians. Now, that's a lot of high ranking government officials on the board of a private organization.

Because it's a private organization, it isn't required to disclose anything to the public. And for over 170 years from behind closed doors, they decided how to spend millions of taxpayers' dollars. Because it's a private organization, it isn't required to disclose anything to the public. And because of that, they can control the narrative of human history.

David Childress is an author who's published 200 books. He often covers ancient mysteries. He believes the United States government is actively suppressing archaeological discoveries. He mentions that while the film Raiders of the Lost Ark is fiction, the final scene showing the warehouse is close to reality.

that the Smithsonian, an independent federal agency, is hiding some of the most important discoveries made in the Americas. Discoveries like ancient cities built before Native Americans arrived to America and discoveries like giant skeletons all over the U.S.,

The Smithsonian does not support these theories and seems to be actively suppressing them and has been doing it for years. When ancient mounds of the American Midwest are examined, they show the existence of a complex culture. Cities larger than those in Europe at the time.

They also show burials of extremely tall people, sometimes seven to eight feet tall. When the Spiro mounds in Oklahoma were excavated in the 1930s, seven and eight foot tall skeletons were found there at a time where the average height of a human male was five foot six. These findings were sent to the Smithsonian. Those skeletons have been lost. In 1892, stone coffins were discovered in Alabama by Frank Burns during a geological survey.

The coffins were about seven and a half feet tall, hollowed out by metal chisels. The findings were sent to the Smithsonian. In 1984, this report was found by researcher Frederick J. Pohl. He asked the museum about this. They said, "...we have not been able to find the specimens in our collections. The records show that they were received."

How do you lose giant stone coffins that weighed several tons? I don't know, but I've learned to never underestimate the incompetency of the federal government. Eight years later, the Smithsonian said they found the coffins, but they were stored in a warehouse that was contaminated by asbestos so nobody can go in to see them.

Um, okay, but how long will that take? Oh, about 10 years, said the museum, but who knows? The museum won't answer questions about it. During World War II, a crew was building an airstrip in Alaska. They excavated a mound that had gigantic human remains, skeletons twice or three times the size of a normal human. This report has been confirmed by multiple sources. The Smithsonian collected the findings, and that was the last anyone heard about it.

In 1942, remains of giant skeletons were discovered on the Aleutian Islands and sent to the Smithsonian Institution. All inquiries about the Aleutian remains have gone unanswered. In 1972, a science journal published a report about human skulls that were discovered in Minnesota. The Smithsonian said the skulls needed to be carbon dated to determine their age, so they were shipped there for analysis. But the museum refused to carbon date them, and that was the last anybody heard about it.

There are stories like these from Alaska to Mexico City. An amazing discovery is made, the Smithsonian steps in, the story disappears. The obvious question is why? Why cover anything up at all? Some of these discoveries could rewrite the story of human history. But that's the problem. We can't rewrite human history. There's way too much money involved.

Every year, hundreds of millions of dollars are given to researchers as grants. If your theory is the commonly accepted one, you get a grant. If evidence comes out that goes against the mainstream narrative, you lose your funding. The Smithsonian has over 137 million artifacts in its possession, but these are not accessible to the general public.

Congress conducted a recent audit and it was found that 10% of the artifacts are just missing. The Smithsonian assured Congress the treasures are safe, but for some reason there was no follow-up. Or maybe there was and we don't know about it. Again, because it's a private organization, there's nothing that can be done.

But a 2018 federal court ruling revoked the Smithsonian's private status and declared it nationalized. - In sum, despite its philanthropic mean, the Smithsonian is a government institution through and through. With substantial federal funding, federally approved leadership, and creation through private gift and federal charter, the Smithsonian is part of the United States government for purposes of the First Amendment.

Since its inception, it has acted as both private institution and as part of the federal government, depending on which was more beneficial at the time. But this ruling puts an end to the museum's secrecy. The institution will now be held accountable to the American people. Well, as accountable as any federal agency, meaning not accountable at all.

In the past, the Smithsonian and museums in general have aggressively defended their possession of artifacts. They said the best way for the artifacts to be honored and preserved was with them.

But Native American tribes have taken issue with this. They want their artifacts, and especially the remains of their dead, returned. In 1990, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was passed. This law says that any federal agency in possession of Native American cultural items, including human remains or sacred objects, will be returned to the tribes upon request.

Great! The Smithsonian is a federal agency now. So can we get a look at those giant skeletons or the objects that look like they're from ancient Egypt? Nope. United States Code, Title 25, Chapter 32, Section 3001, Subsections 4 and 8 state...

Such term does not include the Smithsonian Institution. Museum means any institution or state or local government agency, including any institution of higher learning, that receives federal funds and has possession of or control over Native American cultural items. Such term does not include the Smithsonian Institution or any other federal agency.

In other words, the Smithsonian is exempt from the law. The saying "skeletons in your closet" means you have secrets you don't want revealed. Secrets that, if discovered, would be embarrassing and possibly dangerous. In this case, skeletons in the closet could be taken literally. That the government literally has evidence that an advanced race was in North America long before the Native tribes arrived.

Evidence they don't want revealed. So when someone like Russell Burroughs says he's found a cave with ancient artifacts, but he won't reveal the location because he's afraid it would be robbed, he's right. It would be. But not by vandals or thieves. It would be robbed by the U.S. government.

Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. My name is AJ. This has been the Y-Files. If you had fun or learn anything, do me a favor, leave the podcast a nice review. That lets me know to keep making these things for you. And like most topics I cover on the Y-Files, today's was recommended by you. So if there's a story you'd like to learn more about, go to the Y-Files.com slash tips.

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