#58 Giants, Gaslighting, and the Smithsonian

Over 100 newspaper reports from the 1800s claimed giant human skeletons were discovered across the U.S.—many reportedly sent to the Smithsonian. But today, there’s no trace. No bones. No files. Just silence.

In this episode of Think First, we dig deep into the forgotten headlines, the Book of Enoch, the role of America’s most trusted museum, and the patterns of erasure that hint at something bigger… and taller.

What if the real cover-up wasn’t about bones—but about the truths they threatened to expose?

Chapters

• 0:00 Tempo: 120.0

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

They say history is written by the victors, but what if it's curated by the gatekeepers? For nearly a century, newspapers reported giant skeletons unearthed across America seven feet, ten feet, even one reported at 18 feet, buried in a stone crypt with copper bracelets and hieroglyphic engravings. And where did those bones go? You already know the Smithsonian bones go. You already know the Smithsonian. And just like that they disappeared. Not just the bones, but the entire idea that giants ever walked the earth. What if the cover-up wasn't about what we found, but about what those findings could uncover? And today we're going there. And today we're going there. This is Think First. Where we don't follow the script, we question it Because in a world full of poetic truths and professional gaslighting, someone's got to say the quiet part out loud.

Speaker 1: 1:04

From the 1850s to the 1920s, over 100 newspaper articles document discoveries of abnormally large human remains, almost always in mounds, crypts or cave systems. In West Virginia, a skeleton over 8 feet tall with double rows of teeth. In Catalina Island, california, bones of a red-haired man estimated at over 9 feet, reportedly photographed by archaeologist Ralph Glidden. In Wisconsin, a burial site with over 200 skeletons, many 7 to 10 feet tall, found with copper tools and armor. So many finds, so many mentions of the Smithsonian. But check the public archive no bones, no names, no records. Ask about them. You're told it's folklore, a hoax, a misprint. That's not a lack of evidence, that's a campaign of forgetting. Now here's where it gets biblical. Literally, genesis 6-4 speaks of the Nephilim, the offspring of divine beings, and human women. But the Book of Enoch, banned from most modern Bibles, goes further. It describes angels descending to earth, taking wives, birthing giants and teaching mankind forbidden knowledge, weaponry, astrology, sorcery and how to manipulate DNA and childbirth. It reads like ancient science fiction. But if that story wasn't true, why did so many cultures preserve it across time, from Mesopotamia to the Mayans? And why did the church suppress Enoch for centuries?

Speaker 1: 2:36

Sometimes we don't hide things because they're false. We hide them because they're too close to something real. We hide them because they're too close to something real. The conspiracy isn't just that the Smithsonian destroyed bones, it's that it rewrote the frame around all unexplained findings Ancient mounds, native burials, massive stone structures with advanced alignments, coincidence, giant skeletons, tall tales from the 1800s. And yet every culture, from the Paiutes to the Greeks to the Hopi, has legends of giants, not metaphorical ones, actual, walking, war-waging, territory-dominating giants. And when modern researchers bring receipts, they're labeled as fringe or religious nuts or, worse, pseudoscientists, which begs the question if it's all so fake, why work so hard to make you feel crazy for asking that's not science, that's gaslighting. Maybe giants were real, maybe they weren't.

Speaker 1: 3:42

But when you erase the bones, erase the records and erase the questions, what's left? An approved version of history, sanitized, curated, contained. But truth doesn't stay buried forever. And the next time someone mentions giants in a pub or a podcast, don't laugh. Lean in, because they might be quoting scripture or folklore or a suppressed field report. And next time you visit the Smithsonian, ask for the vault. Beneath the vault, I'm Jim Detchen and you don't need all the answers, but you should question the ones you're handed. Until next time, stay skeptical, stay curious and always think first. Skeptical, stay curious and always think first. Want more. The full six-step framework we use is at Gaslight360.com. You can also dive into the deeper story, the bio, the podcast and the mission at JimDetchincom. And if you like this one, tag it, save it, share it, because when history leaves no trace, you have to wonder who's sweeping the floor.