Whitley Strieber (email) welcomed author and investigator Graham Hancock, who discussed evidence for an ancient advanced human civilization that was destroyed 12,000 years ago as well as his research into the Ark of the Covenant. Hancock cited maps from antiquity, which depicted how the planet looked during the ice age, as a key piece of evidence for this lost civilization. He explained that the existence of the maps reveals that there was a culture from that era that was both capable of navigating around the globe and creating the sophisticated charts. He stressed that this civilization "may not have conquered interstellar space" and was possibly just a small group sharing the Earth with less advanced stone age humans.

On why the concept of an advanced ancient culture continues to be overlooked by archaeologists, Hancock pointed to a pair of fallacies which skew mainstream research. First, he said, archaeologists make the mistake, when looking at anomalous ancient sites, of attributing their creation to the latest culture in the area. As such, the researchers are then forced to develop convoluted and illogical theories on how these primitive people created such elaborate structures. Additionally, Hancock observed that archaeologists "come to the study of history and pre-history with a reference frame already in place." This perspective, he said, is that "there are no mysteries there" and that human development has taken place over one long upward trajectory.

Regarding his research into the Ark of the Covenant, he recalled visiting a cathedral in Ethiopia, where it is claimed the relic resides. Outside of the building, Hancock met an old monk who said that he was the "guardian of the Ark." The monk rebuffed his request to view the relic, told him that "the Ark is a thing of fire," and noted that the device had caused him to be blinded due to severe cataracts over his eyes. Hancock also noted that several fundamental religions view the Ark as a critical element in their respective apocalyptic prophecies. As such, he suggested that, for the safety of all mankind, it is kept in such a remote location because "maybe that's a really good place for this dangerous, poisonous object to be."

Tesla's Lost Work

In the first hour, reporter Ralph Steiner talked about why Nicola Tesla's work remains classified and what is still hidden deep in the government's secret vaults. He explained that the Tesla papers, which were confiscated by the FBI following his death in 1943, are currently kept at Los Alamos National Laboratory and are highly classified. He theorized that the US government used the inventor's research to develop "extremely sophisticated and powerful weapons technology." Therefore, he said, the materials are likely still being kept secret because the government does not want the information to fall into enemy hands and it also keeps our own exotic weaponry shrouded in mystery. Over the course of his appearance, Steiner also discussed Mars anomalies, parallel dimensions, and the research being done at CERN.