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                   NBC's "The Mysterious Origins of Man"
                                 Jim Foley
                       [Last Update: June 12, 1996]



Outline

   * What's it all about?
   * Claims made on "Mysterious Origins of Man"
   * Where to complain
   * Advertisers

What's it all about?

On Sunday February 25th 1996, NBC broadcast "The Mysterious Origins of Man"
(hereafter MOM), narrated by Charlton Heston, purporting to be a
documentary about scientific evidence that would overturn currently
accepted views of human history and evolution.

In late May 1996, NBC issued a press release [offsite] announcing that MOM
would be re-broadcast on Saturday, June 8, 1996.

The film was produced by B. C. Video Inc. (P.O. Box 97, Shelburne, VT
05482, Ph: 800-846-9682), which has set up a web site to publicize it
[offsite].

Although MOM was anti-evolutionary, it was not advocating scientific
creationism, even though some of the "experts" and arguments are familiar
to readers of scientific creationist literature. Instead, just as
scientific creationism is an attempt to use science to support
fundamentalist Christianity, MOM is apparently an attempt to use science to
support Hinduism. Much of the material in the program is based on the
contents of two books, Forbidden Archeology [offsite] and The Hidden
History of the Human Race [offsite] by Michael Cremo and Richard Thompson,
both of whom appeared on the show and are members of the Bhaktivedanta
Institute, a branch of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
Both books are published by Govardhan Hill Publishing [offsite].

Other material for MOM came from Graham Hancock's book Fingerprints of the
Gods [offsite], Rand and Rose Flem-Ath's book When the Sky Fell [offsite],
and Robert Bauval and Adrian Gilbert's book The Orion Mystery [offsite].

Reviews of The Mysterious Origins of Man:

     NBC's Own Mystery Science, by John Carman [offsite]
     A Review of NBC's "The Mysterious Origins of Man", by Glen Kuban
     NBC Program Mysterious Origins, by Frank Steiger

Bill Cote, producer of MOM, has written a response to Steiger's review.

A review of Forbidden Archeology:

     Creationism: The Hindu View, by Colin Groves

A review of The Hidden History of the Human Race:

     Hidden History, Hidden Agenda, by Brad Lepper

A review of The Orion Mystery:

     Book review: "The Orion Mystery", by Mark Hammons [offsite]

Why are people so upset about MOM? Mainly because a pseudo-scientific
mishmash of discredited claims and crackpot ideas was presented as cutting
edge science, with no attempt at balance. Few of the experts presented are
recognized scientists.

Claims made on "Mysterious Origins of Man"

One of the "experts" on the show was "Dr." Carl Baugh, a young-earth
creationist whose claims are so bizarre that even other creationists find
him an embarrassment [offsite]. At Glen Kuban's Web site about the Texas
dinosaur/"man-tracks" controversy, there are documents about the Burdick
footprint, a supposed human footprint found alongside dinosaur prints and
featured in MOM, the dubious credentials of Carl Baugh and Don Patton, and
other articles about tracks at the Paluxy River.

MOM claimed that some blue spheres, of an apparently artificial origin, had
been found in South Africa in rocks dated to 2.8 billion years. Paul
Heinrich has written a response to this claim.

Another claim was that an advanced civilization lived on Antarctica 12,000
years ago, and was destroyed by a massive shifting of the Earth's crust
which also caused many mammoths to be instantly frozen. This claim has been
rebutted by Paul Heinrich. See also the talk.origins mammoth FAQ for more
information on the frozen mammoths.

It was also claimed that the Oronteus Finaeus Map of 1532 supported the
idea that Antarctica had been ice-free in historical times. This is
discussed by Paul Heinrich

MOM claimed that a number of artifacts, such as a mortar and pestle, which
have been found in California contradict current scientific views. Again,
here is Paul Heinrich's response. Many people thought that a skull known as
the Calaveras Skull was one of the objects being referred to above. Michael
Cremo has since said that MOM was not referring to it, but here is some
information about the Calaveras Skull anyway.

MOM briefly discussed the evidence for human evolution, claiming that no
evidence for human evolution had been found. Here is a response to that
claim by Jim Foley.

Another "expert" featured on MOM was author/researcher David Hatcher
Childress. Here is a list of Childress' books, retrieved from various sites
on the internet. They cover a wide range of topics such as free-energy
devices, anti-gravity devices, artificial gravity, anti-mass generators,
gravitational pulse drive, vortex propulsion, how to build flying saucers,
the flying saucer technology of Nazi Germany, flying saucer propulsion,
government UFO conspiracies, Roswell, death rays, ozone generators, thought
machines, crystals and their role in levitation, inhabitants and structures
on many of the planets and moons of the solar system, lost cities in
Africa, the Americas, and Asia, living dinosaurs and pterodactyls, crystal
skulls, Irish Incas, Atlantean ruins, King Solomon's mines, the Ark of the
Covenant, Jesus' tomb, Moslem Illuminati, Noah's Ark, the Hollow Earth,
Nazca lines, Yetis, giants, megaliths, ley lines, acoustic levitation, and
more! Judge for yourself whether these interests are the credentials of a
scientific expert, or a pseudo-scientific expert. Clearly, the producers of
MOM considered Childress a scientific expert.

MOM received heavy criticism from the scientific community [offsite], to
which the producers of MOM have written a response [offsite].

Where to complain

Should you wish to complain about the presentation of pseudoscience as
science, you can email NBC at:

   * http://www.nbc.com/mail.html or
   * mailto:entertainment@nbc.com

or contact the following NBC employees:

   * Mr. Robert Wright (President of NBC)
     NBC
     30 Rockefeller Plaza
     New York, NY 10019
   * Mr. Todd Schwartz (acquired the film for NBC)
     3000 W. Alameda,
     Burbank, CA 91523
     (818)840-3009
   * Dorothy Elery Austin,
     Entertainment Press & Publicity,
     (818) 840-3647
   * Robert Pientrantion,
     Entertainment Electronic Publicity,
     (818) 840-3565

or the makers of the film at:

   * bcvideo@interport.net

Keep it polite; Usenet-style flames will not have as much effect as a calm
letter explaining why you disliked the film. If you have a letterhead
showing your credentials, or university or museum affiliation, make use of
it.

Advertisers

The following companies advertised on the show, in case you want to let
them know what you thought of it.

   * Coca-Cola
   * McDonalds
   * Olive Garden
   * Toyota
   * Kelloggs
   * J. C. Penney
   * Wendy's
   * LensCrafters
   * Folger's Coffee
   * M&M's Candy
   * Safeway
   * Kentucky Fried Chicken
   * Ford
   * Chili's
   * General Motors
   * Norelco
   * Red Lobster

(One advertisement was about how kids should better appreciate their
teachers and enjoy learning. It takes a special sort of chutzpah to place
an advertisment extolling the value of education in a show that makes a
mockery of scientific inquiry.)

NOTE: We incorrectly placed Chevron on this list of advertisers. Chevron
did not sponsor the MOM program. We apologize for the error.

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