Original subtitles

Previously on America Unearthed. The hot text proves that the Knights Templar

came to America before Columbus.

I believe the Templars evolved into modern day Freemasonry. But there's one

piece to this puzzle, the Newport Tower.

The history that we were all taught growing up is wrong.

My name is Scott Wolfe, and I'm a forensic geologist.

There's a hidden history in this country that nobody knows about.

There are pyramids here, chambers, tombs, inscriptions.

They're all over this country.

We're going to investigate these artifacts and sites, and we're going to

the truth.

Sometimes history isn't what we've been told.

Rhode Island is the smallest U .S. state, but home to one of America's

mysteries,

the Newport Tower.

28 feet tall and made of thousands of intricately placed stones.

No one knows who built it, when, or why.

Some people think it's a colonial -era windmill or watchtower, but I don't

it looks anything like colonial architecture.

I think it's proof an ancient group of explorers sailed here from Europe in the

1300s. They're called the Knights Templar.

The Order of the Knights Templar was created by the Catholic Church in the

century to protect Jerusalem during the Crusades.

But during that time, they became increasingly powerful.

Too powerful, according to the King of France.

He banned the order and had many of the knights executed.

But others are said to have fled with something that I think is very important

to Christian beliefs.

The Holy Grail.

The Grail is thought to be the cup that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper, or

perhaps symbolized hidden secrets.

I think the Templars brought the Grail to North America.

and the Newport Tower is proof that they were here.

It's an explosive theory, and it's brought me head -to -head with academics

experts like Jim Egan, curator of the Newport Tower Museum and an authority on

the structure.

If I can convince Jim that I'm right, then maybe academics can be convinced

This is no question my favorite pre -Columbian site in North America. Pre

-Columbian? You still into that Templar thing?

Yes, I definitely am.

And, I mean, come on, Jim, take a look at it. They built many churches in

exactly like this. Oh, really? Okay. And you've got the round cylinder sitting

on eight round heavy columns, equally spaced, the round Romanesque arches, and

the capstone ledges clearly for structural support for a first -story

ambulatory all around the building.

It's exactly identical to what they built in the 12th century, and they

here, of course.

There are many churches in Europe with connections to the Templars.

They incorporate architectural elements also found in the Newport Tower, and

they were built at the time when the Templars were around.

Mellifont Abbey in Ireland.

The Round Churches throughout Bornholm in Denmark.

And the Cambridge Round Church in England.

But Jim Egan has a different idea.

Everyone comes to the tower with their own theory. But I studied Rhode Island

history, and I came across a chapter in Rhode Island history that very few Rhode

Islanders even know about.

You still on that John Dee thing?

Well, I am, as a matter of fact.

I've come across John Dee in my investigations before.

He was a talented man of many trades.

Astronomer, mapmaker, and advisor to Queen Elizabeth in the late 1500s.

Jim says that Dee designed the tower in 1583 and had it placed in Newport to

help the Queen establish a land claim here in America.

But I don't buy it.

This fellow John Dee was not only the navigational guide, he was the architect

of this entire plan to colonize the New World, and I'd claim he was the

architect of the tower.

Jim, I know you like this 1583 date, but there's no way that the tower was built

then. Why? I found a map that has the tower on it that dates to 1569.

This map was drawn by Gerardus Mercator in 1569.

And it was one of the most significant maps of its time.

And he was the first one to coin the term Atlas for a collection of maps.

And we have what is a sort of crude depiction of the northeast coast of

America. But here we have Narragansett Bay.

And take a look right there on the east side of the bay in an area roughly in

the area of Newport.

Looks to me like a church.

looks very similar to the Newport Tower.

Well, why would he draw a square tower instead of a round tower if this is a

depiction of the map of that tower? Well, this has got a conical -shaped

here, so that indicates to me that it's a cylinder and that it's round.

We have a stone tower that appears to have a first -story ambulatory around

tower.

It's an exact duplicate.

of Cambridge Round Church, which looks exactly like that, but still has the

ambulatory attached.

The fact that we have the tower depicted on this map proves that the tower was

here before 1569. I think it was here long before that, but clearly it's

depicted here on a map prior to John Dee and your whole thesis.

That's just sort of representation of cityness. It has nothing to do with the

tower.

I think that maybe what we should do at this point is just respectfully agree to

disagree. I'll agree with that.

Even if the map evidence didn't convince him the advantage I have over Jim is

that I'm a geologist.

I know rocks.

Of course, being a geologist, as you know, the things that I'm going to

gravitate to are... The rocks. The rocks, yeah. And, you know, I've been

lot of research into different aspects of this, as you have, and I'm very

interested in the two keystones, the only prominent keystones in the tower,

egg shape here and the notch keystone on the outside.

Keystones often have a special shape.

They're used in buildings to connect the center of an archway.

They also have an architectural purpose and sometimes serve as a signature of

the builder.

I will agree that these rocks are significant. This egg -shaped rock here

very significant because, as you know, on the winter solstice, the sun comes up

and about a half an hour after it shines through the west window, it illuminates

that rock with a box of light on it. Very dramatic.

It is a very important thing in the sense that this building is a calendar.

Not only to keep track of all of the days of the year, but most importantly,

days like Easter. And you know what the symbol for Easter is that goes all the

way back to the Mesopotamian times?

The egg.

I don't really think that John Dee was related at all to the Templar. They have

the same tradition of sacred knowledge.

And you don't think there's a connection at all?

Well, the Templars pretty much got obliterated, most of them, in the 1300s.

John Dee was 1500.

We're talking 250 years later.

You mentioned that the Templars were put down and destroyed, right? Right.

Okay, you understand the concept that you can kill people, right? Right. But

you think you can kill an ideology or a belief system? Sure, again, they come

and go all of the time.

Well, I maintain that that ideology continued on in secret.

And the information is out there, and more and more of this information about

these secret societies that evolved from the Knights Templar.

I think the Freemasons are the modern -day keepers of Templar secrets.

Many of our nation's founders, such as Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, and

George Washington, were Freemasons.

The society still exists today, with many prominent men continuing these

traditions.

And we see a lot of symbols in our society that I think are shared by both

Templars and the Freemasons.

To me, this is all evidence that their ideology lived on beyond the people that

started it.

I'm convinced this is a Templar structure. It's got the architecture

on. It's got the archaeoastronomy features that we know the Templars

and would incorporate into their ancient structures.

We've got the solar alignments and, of course, the illumination. We've got

symbolism. You've got the egg shape, the Master Mason's keystone. We read

different ways, but that's okay.

But there's something else about the Templars that's very important.

They had a reverence for the planet Venus.

Venus to them and to many other ancient cultures was a physical manifestation of

the goddess in the heavens.

Very, very important.

So if this was a Templar structure...

There should be Venus alignments in this tower, and that's what I want to try to

test. I'd like you to help me take some measurements tomorrow.

Are you up for it? Let's give it a test. I'll bring my ladder. Hey, thanks a

lot, Joe. We'll see you in the morning. See you in the morning. Take it easy.

It's been almost five years since I started thinking there could be Venus

alignments in the tower.

I seem to find clues to my Templar theory every time I'm here.

I should have known this trip would be no different.

Hey, Paul, this is Scott Walter. Hey, Scott.

Hey, listen, do you remember that piece of Cumberland that we looked at in your

house that night it was there?

Yes. Where did you find that again?

Well, I found that on an island north of Newport called Prudence

Island.

Prudence Island.

Well, I tell you what, I think I just found a piece.

I know I found a piece here in the Newport Tower.

Really?

Well, I have some ideas. Could we maybe go there and take a look and see if we

can find another piece? Yeah, sure.

Sure. Where do you want to go? As soon as possible.

The Newport Tower in Rhode Island is a mysterious structure.

I believe it proves that some of the history we've been told about America

who discovered it. is wrong.

I think this tower was built by the Knights Templar in medieval times as

fled Europe with the Holy Grail.

And a key piece to this whole investigation could be a piece of rare

Cumberlandite. I think that finding a single block of it placed in the Newport

Tower is incredibly significant and could be hidden evidence of Templar

and a trademark of their presence.

I'm meeting my buddy Paul, who knows where to find Cumberland and can help me

show how this clue connects with the temples.

Now, we're going to Prudence Island. Prudence Island is the second largest

island in the Bay.

These islands are so strategic and have this rich history, and it certainly

makes sense to me that the Templars would have been exploring all around the

Bay, and they certainly could have found that piece of Cumberlandite that's in

the tower.

So, Scott, why are you so interested in the Cumberlandite? Well, there's a piece

of Cumberlandite in the south column of the Newport Tower. It seems to be

strategically positioned.

And I don't think that's an accident.

And the reason I think that that stone is there is that the Templars who built

the tower, I think, would have revered this stone. And the reason for that, it

has some very unique properties.

Cumberlandite is a magnetic rock formed in only one place, Cumberland, Rhode

Island. Glaciers have moved some of it to Narragansett Bay.

The rock was also thought to have spiritual power and known by some as the

of the Goddess or the Stone of Venus.

Venus and all it represents was important to the Templars, meaning its

in the tower could help prove who built it. If we can find some of this

Cumberlandite here on Prudence Island, this could be another important piece to

the puzzle that ties the Templars with the Newport Tower.

Now you see these rocks.

This is where you'll find it.

So what we're looking for is a black rock with white.

See, these are barnacles. But it looks similar. It's very subtle.

Look at that one.

You know, that feels pretty heavy.

And that kind of looks like...

The stuff you have here. You can feel it. Yeah. I think you may have found

Well, I tell you what, let's do the surefire test.

I got the magnet here. Now, it should pull this. It didn't pull that, but

I mean, it's definitely.

Let me see. Yeah.

If the Templars found Cumberlandite here in the bay across from Newport.

it makes sense that they would have used it.

This is because Cumberlandite is sometimes called the Stone of Venus.

And I think Venus was very important to Templar beliefs.

There might be another connection between the Knights Templar and

In northern Rhode Island, in Cumberland, where Cumberlandite has been found,

there was a Cistercian monastery.

It has since burned down, but...

Aren't the Cistercians and the Templars connected?

Absolutely they are.

And there's a Cistercian monastery here. They're extremely rare in the United

States. And to have one here in Rhode Island, I don't think is a coincidence.

In 1128, the Knights Templar Order was founded by a Cistercian monk, a guy by

the name of St. Bernard de Clairvaux, who wrote the charter for them that was

based on the Cistercian charter.

And that's when they became an official order. Of course, they existed before

that. But to have a Cistercian monastery associated with the

Cumberlandite, to me, can't be a coincidence. And to have the

associated with the Newport Tower, well, everything seems to be connecting.

And that's the reason why this Cumberlandite is so important to me.

So I have a picture of the Cistercian monastery, and I suspect they might find

Cumberlandite in that as well.

Here are those photos of the Cistercian monastery in Cumberland.

Look at that. Well, this is perfect.

It looks just like Cistercian abbeys that I've seen before. This is a classic

layout, no question about it.

And this is where the Cumberlandite source was, right?

That's right.

What's interesting is that the Cistercians and the Templars had a

with the Virgin Mary.

You can see the name of the monastery is named Our Lady of the Valley. I mean,

every one of these monasteries was named in honor of Our Lady. The physical

manifestation of the goddess in the heavens to them was the planet Venus.

And they revered the planet Venus, and they kept full track of its movement.

I believe there's no question that Venus was central to what the Templars

believed.

Cumberlandite was the stone of Venus, and Templar beliefs centered on it.

And I think there are Venus alignments in the Newport Tower that I believe show

that Templars built it.

And now I've got an experiment that could prove it.

I think that the Newport Tower in Rhode Island was built by the 9th Templar long

before Columbus came here.

Now, I'm going to try and prove it. I already know that the style of

architecture matches other Templar structures.

And in the tower, I've discovered the use of Cumberlandite, a rare rock that

symbolizes the planet Venus.

Cumberlandite could be another clue that the Templars were here because of the

rock's connection to Venus.

Venus is a symbol for the female. It was likely an important symbol for the

Templars because it represented something their leadership believed in

strongly, that men and women were equal.

These ideas put them at odds with the church and were part of the reason for

their exile and execution in 1307.

Because of the importance the Templars placed on Venus, they tracked it in the

sky and used it to orient their churches and other structures as a physical way

to represent their revolutionary beliefs.

And I think they used Venus alignments in this tower.

Some, including Jim Egan, think I'm wrong. So I have to try and prove that

alignments are really here.

Okay, Jim, so here's what I think is going on on that upper floor.

Now, you see that window right there on the west side?

To my knowledge today, nobody knows why those windows are there, correct?

Not really. There's not much information up there on the second floor. Well, I'm

absolutely certain that those windows were used for making observations of the

planet Venus. Well, what's so special about these windows? I think there's

going on here.

Okay. To many ancient cultures going back thousands of years and certainly to

the Templars, they revered it from a spiritual sense.

Okay. So Venus represents the goddess in the heavens. And so it rises before the

sun and then the sun follows. Many of these ancient structures, they would

actually capture the light of Venus. How do you mean capture it? Well, they

would capture it by focusing it through a very small aperture like we have in

the tower. Yep.

And the light would come through and it would be captured by some type of

receptacle that would reflect that light of Venus and bring the goddess into the

room, so to speak. We might have that. Maybe on the winter solstice, the light

of Venus coming through and possibly being captured in the niche on the west

side above our keystones.

You'll never see that nowadays.

All of these lights are pollution from the city. You're right about that. I

think it's going to be very difficult for us to see what they saw going back

the 12th century.

However, what I think we can do is to see if there is an alignment that would

allow that to happen. There may be a specific day of the year when that

the winter solstice perhaps, where the light will go through that window at an

angle of about 22 degrees, and then the light will... fit the backside of that

niche throughout the six months that venus is in the southeastern sky during

winter anybody looking through that window could make observations of the

venus it would be in a perfect position for that okay for six months when it's

an evening star during the summertime you look through that west window you

could make observations for six months during that time we might also have a

similar type of capture of the light inside of a niche coming from the west

that will come through at roughly the same angle and hit somewhere on the

of the tower. But think about this. When we have the light coming from the east

and the light coming from the west, it crosses. Not at the same time, but

throughout the year, we get this crisscrossing X symbol, which I find

interesting.

This cross.

which forms an X, is a symbol I've seen on many artifacts that I think were left

in America by the Knights Templar.

In fact, it was on an artifact called the Narragansett Runestone, only about

miles from here, that was stolen and that state authorities are trying to

I think the symbol was the Templars' trademark, and finding it here in this

bay, so close to the tower, is more evidence they were here.

To see if my alignment theory works, I need to measure the angle of the niche

from the window.

I know that Venus appears in the night sky at an angle of around 22 degrees on

the solstice.

And if there's a straight line from the niche up through the window towards

Venus, then it's another clue that the Templars built this tower.

So I'm going to use my Brunton compass.

my geologic compass, and I'm going to try to measure that angle.

What angle do you get?

That angle's around 25 degrees.

It's a pretty teeny sliver. How are you going to be able to see through that?

The engineering of this tower was very precise, was it not?

Yeah, all these things are special.

We've got the alignment of Venus coming through that window down to this niche.

We've got when it's a morning star, when it's an evening star, it comes through

that window up there, down somewhere here on this wall perhaps to that niche,

and it makes an X. And if we can show that.

That'll be another piece of the puzzle that proves that the Templars built this

tower. You know how we're going to figure it out? Well, we have to come

here on the winter solstice.

I'm back in Rhode Island, heading to the Newport Tower.

It's been two months since I was here preparing for what I think is going to

a spectacular alignment with the planet Venus.

Clearly seeing Venus in the night sky is important to proving this is a Knights

Templar built tower.

But during the winter solstice, the stars may only align for a short window

time, the days either side of the solstice.

Modern ambient light pollution means that the light of Venus won't ever be as

bright as it once was.

I'm going to use fog and lasers to show how I think the shafts of light would

have penetrated the window and hit the niches on the tower wall.

You know, Jim, I know you think John Dee built this tower during Elizabethan

times. 1583.

But you're wrong.

Well, why?

I'm absolutely convinced that the Knights Templar built this tower.

And if this Venus alignment works the way I think it will, it's absolutely

to solidify the true history of this tower and who built it.

All right, so how is it going to work?

We're going to take our laser and put it up inside that niche and shine it up

into that window to replicate the light of Venus.

I brought a fog machine, and we're going to fog up the inside of the tower.

So when we get the lasers crossing, we'll be able to see them, and they will

make an X.

That X symbol represents the essence of the ideological belief system of the

people that I believe built this tower, the Knights Templar. In my mind, Jim,

finding this X symbol in the Venus alignment could only be the work of the

Knights Templar.

Let's see what this laser test of the giant X is.

You ready?

Yeah. All right, let's do this.

All right, green one's on.

Position's good.

Hey, look at that. The blue one's on.

Hey, hey, hey. Whoa, look at that.

And there's the X.

The Venus alignments cross and make a perfect X.

Nobody but the Templars would design this into a structure like this.

I know. They were the only one with laser light shows back in the 1200s. But

that's what you think is going to happen, that the light's going to shine

through this into here.

Venus is going to be up in a couple of hours. Let's see what actually happens.

All right.

We're going to see the light come through.

You're going to love it. Let's see.

If the weather is clear today, then I can try and prove my theory.

But if it's not, then I could lose my shot.

There's only a few days around the solstice when I think Venus will line

Well, there it is.

We got lucky on the first day.

Do you think the weather's going to hold? Oh, yeah. I tell you what, if the

light comes through the window and hits that niche...

And even if it's close, it basically proves my theory.

But I still think that it's going to rise really low and be low in the sky,

where the sun is about 26 degrees above the southern horizon. I don't think it's

going to go anywhere near your window.

It'll be close, but does it hit it? That's what we've got to find out.

The clouds have moved in. I can't believe it.

Yeah, it's still a little cloudy on the horizon there.

It's starting to brighten up a little bit because the sun's coming up.

Damn it.

It's like these clouds just came out of nowhere.

Damn it.

Well, there's always tomorrow.

All right.

I guess we're just going to have to hope for the sun.

The stars only align for a short window of time right around the solstice.

But the stars aren't aligning for me.

Seeing Venus clearly in the night sky is important to showing other people that

the Knights Templar built the tower.

Rained out again.

Yeah. Yep.

It's almost 9 o 'clock and it's not going to happen today.

We've only got two more days.

Well, I hear it might clear up tomorrow.

If I have any chance of convincing Jim and other people that the Templars built

this, I need the weather to cooperate.

Hey, honey.

Hi, honey.

How's it going out there?

It's going terrible.

This is the fourth damn day in a row of just the worst weather I've ever seen

out here.

I mean, it's been cloudy just in the most inopportune time. It's been

and today it's cloudy, raining, and the wind is blowing.

You know, Janet, you and I both know that these Venus alignments are

there. We know the solar alignments are there. And the only people that could

have done this are the Templars.

If this weather doesn't clear, though, God, we have to find a way to prove

Hang in there.

Hopefully it'll clear up tomorrow.

Hey, wait a minute.

I just noticed something.

What is it?

It's a keystone in one of the archways that has a very specific shape.

I'll tell you what it means. It means that no matter what happens with the

experiment tomorrow, even if we get it or not, I think we have a final piece of

evidence to seal the deal.

I've seen that keystone before, but I just now realize where else I've seen it

and how it might be another important clue to solving this mystery.

Finally, after four days of frustration, looks like we're going to get a clear

day. Yeah, to see Venus is going to slowly rise.

And I think it's going to stay clear because you can see all these other

in the sky. So we should be good.

Let's do it. All right.

Jim doesn't believe the Venus alignment is going to come anywhere close.

Like a lot of people, he doubts my theory that the Knights Templar came

built this tower.

But I'm about to try and prove they're wrong.

It's rising a little bit as we speak here in the eastern horizon.

I think Venus is still a little bit low in altitude.

I don't think there's any way this is going to happen. I think it's going to

much more further to the south.

I can see Venus.

If it doesn't hit the niche, it's going to be damn close.

You know what? I think it is a little bit to the south.

I think Venus is off to the right, to the south, a little bit.

So it's actually hitting over here, behind me.

It's not going to hit my niche.

Damn it.

Yeah, it might not have hit your angle that you were talking about, but it

definitely is going to come through that window someplace.

What could explain that is the possibility that...

The precision of these alignments is not the same as it was in the distant past

when this was originally built. Even though we didn't hit it today into the

niche, maybe in the past it did.

The axis of the Earth in relation to Venus has changed in the past 500 years,

and earthquakes may explain why things no longer line up.

The Venus alignment may not have worked exactly like I wanted.

But it's not the only illumination here that tells me the Templars built this.

At 9 a .m., a time when Templar monks would be at prayer, an incredible event

occurs.

The morning sunlight illuminates the egg -shaped keystone.

And I think the way this happens is something only the Templars would have

engineered.

When the sun comes in to this womb, this allegorical womb, with the egg in the

west archway, then the sunlight sends a shaft of light into the womb and

allegorically fertilizes that egg on the shortest day of the year. This is very

significant. And to the people that I believe built this tower, the Knights

Templar, they embraced this sacred feminine architecture.

It's a wonderful allegory marking this important day of the year.

Well, Jim, I think we can agree that this is not a colonial structure and it

goes back at least hundreds of years. Yep, I'm on to that one, Scott. Okay.

The more research that's done, the more we're going to learn about this tower,

because I think you'll also agree with me that there's probably things going on

in this tower with these heavenly bodies that we don't know about yet.

Astronomers, archaeologists, they would have a field day with this. It's

incredible. I don't know why there aren't more of them that study it. I

let's face it. The academic community has dropped the ball, not just with this

Newport Tower, but with many of these ancient sites and artifacts that

that people have been coming to what is now America for thousands of years.

And Jim, I really believe that the society that the Templars envisioned was

eventually laid out by modern Freemasons over a period of centuries.

And those symbols, the signs, are all around us, hidden in plain sight.

While waiting for the weather to clear, I noticed a special stone in the tower

that was in the shape called the Mark Master Mason's Keystone.

It unites the arch and the tower.

But it's also a symbol of unity used by the Templars and the modern -day

Freemasons, the group who I think carry on Templar beliefs today.

This connection makes me certain that these symbols, like the keystone, are

hidden all over America, sometimes right in front of our eyes.

And I think the Freemasons put this symbol somewhere very important to all

Americans.

I've seen that keystone symbol many times, but there's only one way I can

see it.

Hey, Jim. Hey, Scott. How are you? Hey.

Okay, Jim, here's what we're looking for. This is a picture of a keystone.

called a Mark Master Mason's Keystone, and you can see that it's got these

notches here up at the top.

And if we can find this out here, I think what it would do is not only prove

that the Knights Templar and the modern -day Freemasons are connected, but it

would also prove that these two orders were responsible for founding our United

States itself.

Okay,

Jim, can you...

notches at the top, and that was his honor to tie that structure together

structurally and allegorically.

The gold flame represents illumination or enlightenment, which is one of the

tenets of the people that I think built this, the Freemasons.

The Templars used the symbol before them, and it's one of the many things

connecting these two highly secretive organizations together through history.

All the clues that I've seen scattered across our nation tell me something

amazing about who I think really shaped our United States.

I believe the Templars came to the New World and the Newport Tower is

proof they were here.

I think they came to America in search of religious freedom and to escape

persecution.

In that way, I think the Templars set the stage for countless others to

for the same reason.

be them Puritan or Quaker, Jewish or Muslim.

I think the Templars passed on many of their ideals to the Freemasons, some of

whom were founding fathers of the United States.

By incorporating their unique symbol into one of the most iconic pieces of U

history, I'm certain both the Templars and the Freemasons left no doubt they

were instrumental in America's design.

To me, the Templars, whose practices and belief live on in modern Freemasonry,

determine the very destiny of our nation.

Next time on America on Earth.

We found a treasure map here on this island.

Are you telling me you just got a hit for gold?

Holy shit, what is that?

Don't tell me what's a void.

We might have the Holy Grail right down here.

Guys, it sounds something.

If you have a mysterious artifact or site I need to see, I want to know about

it. Go to history .com slash unearthed.