Nicholas Redfern - The pyramids and the Pentagon : the government’s top secret pursuit of mystical relics, ancient astronauts, and lost civilizations

TOP SECRET

The Governments
Top Secret Pursuit of
Mystical Relics,
Ancient Astronauts, and
Lost Civilizations

BY NICK REDFERN

Copyright 2012 by Nick Redfern

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.

THE PYRAMIDS AND THE PENTAGON
EDITED AND TYPESET BY NICOLE DEFELICE

Cover design by Ian Shimkoviak/the BookDesigners
Printed in the U.S.A.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Redfern, Nicholas, 1964

The pyramids and the Pentagon : the governments top secret pursuit of mystical relics, ancient astronauts, and lost civilizations / by Nick Redfern.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-60163-206-7-- ISBN 978-1-60163-611-9 (ebook) 1. Parapsychology-
Government policy--United States. 2.

Official secrets-United States 3. Defense information, Classifieds--United States. 4. Relics. 5. Mysteries, Religious. 6.

Extraterrestrial beings. 7. Antiquities. 8. Civilization, Ancient. 9. Curiosities and wonders. 10. Conspiracies. I. Title.

BF1040.R427 2012

001.94--dc23

2012013334

DEDICATION

For Rich Reynolds, for being a good friend and a voice of sanity.

I would like to offer my sincere thanks and deep appreciation to everyone at New Page Books and Career Press, particularly Michael Pye, Laurie Kelly-Pye, Kirsten Dalley, Nicole DeFelice, Gina Talucci, Jeff Piasky, and Adam Schwartz; all of the staff at Warwick Associates for their fine promotion and publicity campaigns; and my literary agent, Lisa Hagan, for her always excellent work.

In the 1981 movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, which starred Harrison Ford as archaeologist Indiana Jones, Nazi hordes were in hot pursuit of the legendary Ark of the Covenant, a mysterious chest said to have housed the Ten Commandments provided to Moses by God on Mount Sinai. Given that the Ark was supposed to possess powers both awesome and devastating, Hitlers intention was to harness those same powers, use them against anyone and everyone who might stand in his way, and take control of the world. Fortunately, things did not go Hitlers way. After a wild adventure that took him from Peru to the United States and from Egypt to an island in the Aegean Sea, Indiana Jones saved the day, wrestled the Ark out of the clutches of Hitlers minions, got the girl, and all was good. But, its the final moments of the movie that are the most memorable.

The Pentagon: keeper of ancient mysteries.

(Copyright U.S. government.)

After the Nazis were defeated, the Ark of the Covenant was transferred to the United States, where military intelligence personnel assured a pleased and satisfied Jones that the priceless artifact would be studied carefully by the finest minds and scholars available. That assurance, however, was nothing less than a brazen lie. Instead, something very different happened. Unbeknownst to Jones, the Ark was not studied. The U.S. government, perhaps fearful of unleashing the incredible forces the Ark possessed, took what it considered to be the wisest and safest course of action: The Ark was placed into a wooden crate, which was then carefully and firmly sealed, and taken to a secure warehouse away from any and all prying eyes and inquiring minds. The government was intent on keeping the genie firmly in the bottle, so to speak, never again to be released.

Raiders of the Lost Ark was, and more than 30 years after its release still is, a work of highly entertaining fiction. The deep and secret involvement of the U.S. government in the study of ancient artifacts, religious relics, and numerous archaeological wonders, however, is most assuredly not fiction. In the pages that follow, you will learn of astounding official knowledge of, and secret quests to seek out the truth behind Noahs Ark, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the magical history of Stonehenge, tales of nuclear warfare in the distant past, prophecies of the Mayans, and much more. It is a wild and amazing story that spans millennia and takes us from the heart of the pyramids to the depths of the Pentagon.

In terms of key and integral world events, 1947 was a year of profoundly deep and significant proportions. United States President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act, which paved the way for the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The first, priceless collection of what have famously become known as the Dead Sea Scrolls was found in caves at Qumran, an ancient and historic site on the West Bank. At the White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico, a collection of fruit flies made history when they became the first living creatures to reach the fringes of space, after being blasted into the skies above aboard a captured German World War IIera V-2 rocket. The age of the flying saucer was famously ushered in, after American pilot Kenneth Arnold witnessed nine strange-looking aircraft flying close to Mount Rainier, Washington State. And, many UFO researchers believe an alien spacecraft crashed on harsh, remote desert land outside Roswell, New Mexico. Singular, unconnected events in a world constantly in a state of change, development, and wonder? Or integral parts of a greater, and very old, puzzle guided by the mysterious hands of destiny, fate, and grand design? Most people would probably say the former. But, sometimes, the majority are wrongdevastatingly so, even.

Close to 1,000 in number, the Dead Sea Scrolls represent a veritable treasure-trove of early written material from almost every book of the Old Testament, chiefly dating from around 150 BC to 70 BC. Their amazing discovery dates back to February 1947, when, along with his young cousin, Muhammad edh-Dhib, then only a teenager, stumbled across a series of caves at Qumran on the northwest side of the Dead Sea, which borders Jordan to the east, and Israel to the west. Upon exploring one particular cave, edh-Dhib was amazed to find a number of ancient texts, carefully and faithfully recorded on aged parchment. edh-Dhib excitedly scooped up the items and, with his cousin in tow, raced back home to his familys Bedouin camp to show them his discovery. It didnt take long before word got around that something unusual had been unearthed. In fact, matters began to spiral with extraordinary speed when talk of the scrolls began to heat up in and around Bethlehem, particularly when more scrolls were found in 11 other caves, and throughout a period of time that extended up until 1956.