Buck Nelson and the Pyramids

Has anyone here ever read Buck Nelson? He's known for a short work called "My Trip to Mars, The Moon, and Venus", and the corresponding fame that followed.

I've been working my way through early Contactee works, mostly to enjoy their incredible weirdness, When I noticed something odd.

On Page 29 of the 39 page pamphlet, Buck talks about information that he was given by the humanoid space aliens about the distant past. He'll go on and talk about the flood and Atlantis, providing fuel for many popular concepts (secret underground tunnels, advanced ancient technologies, alien-assisted pyramid building, and lost knowledge), but here on page 29 he says the following:

"There is a shaft in one of the pyramids (or was in times past), through which one particular star could be seen. When this star was seen, the Nile would overflow its banks in three days."

So that sounded to me an awful lot like what Temple writes about in "The Sirius Mystery", what Bauvel writes about in "The Orion Mystery", and what Graham Hancock writes about generally.

Interesting and specific, but something seemed off. I've got a degree in Ancient History, specializing the the Ancient Near East, and while I knew the shafts in the pyramids were old news, and that there were many theories about what these shafts were for, that particular theory, I thought, was pretty recent.

So I checked it out. Looking it up, seems that the first "Star-Shaft Theory" came about in 1964 via one Alexander Badawy.

Buck Nelson published his pamphlet in in 1956. The published version I have in hand is copyrighted 1961.

So my questions to all stalwart ATS researchers are these...

How could, even if he was a fraud, Buck Nelson know about this concept before the advent of modern communication and nearly ten years before the theory was announced?

Has anyone seen a copy of the original '56 pamphlet, and is this part included, or was it changed in a later edit?

Can anyone find proof that the "Star-Shaft Theory" predates 1964, or better yet, 1956?

Normally Contactee lit. fills my time for purely anthropological and socio-cultural studies, and most (particularly Adamski) are likely frauds, but WHAT is THIS?

a reply to: Herolotus

Starred and flagged for bringing up one my favourite Contactees. Here are some old images to brighten up your thread

I think people pointed out, long before "discovered" by Buck, that stone monuments around the world use alignments, shafts, etc. to track stars, the sun, planets. This has been known for 1000's of years, not since the 1950's...

originally posted by: Herolotus
Has anyone here ever read Buck Nelson? He's known for a short work called "My Trip to Mars, The Moon, and Venus", and the corresponding fame that followed.

I've been working my way through early Contactee works, mostly to enjoy their incredible weirdness, When I noticed something odd.

On Page 29 of the 39 page pamphlet, Buck talks about information that he was given by the humanoid space aliens about the distant past. He'll go on and talk about the flood and Atlantis, providing fuel for many popular concepts (secret underground tunnels, advanced ancient technologies, alien-assisted pyramid building, and lost knowledge), but here on page 29 he says the following:

"There is a shaft in one of the pyramids (or was in times past), through which one particular star could be seen. When this star was seen, the Nile would overflow its banks in three days."

So that sounded to me an awful lot like what Temple writes about in "The Sirius Mystery", what Bauvel writes about in "The Orion Mystery", and what Graham Hancock writes about generally.

Interesting and specific, but something seemed off. I've got a degree in Ancient History, specializing the the Ancient Near East, and while I knew the shafts in the pyramids were old news, and that there were many theories about what these shafts were for, that particular theory, I thought, was pretty recent.

So I checked it out. Looking it up, seems that the first "Star-Shaft Theory" came about in 1964 via one Alexander Badawy.

Buck Nelson published his pamphlet in in 1956. The published version I have in hand is copyrighted 1961.

So my questions to all stalwart ATS researchers are these...

How could, even if he was a fraud, Buck Nelson know about this concept before the advent of modern communication and nearly ten years before the theory was announced?

The "Soul Shaft Theory" has been around since the twenties - J. Capart in 1924 and G. Steindorff in 1929.

originally posted by: Herolotus
Can anyone find proof that the "Star-Shaft Theory" predates 1964, or better yet, 1956?

I'll look for specific "proof" and references, but offhand (and without researching), I know that the Napoleonic Expedition to Egypt and the pyramids in 1798 included mathematicians, astronomers, surveyors, engineers, etc. whose purpose was to conduct a scientific analysis of the pyramids.

Like I said, I need to find a specific reference, but I was always under the impression that some of the astronomical observatory hypotheses of the pyramids came out of the data and findings of this Napoleonic Expedition.

Let me see if I can find a specifics reference to the star shaft.

a reply to: Herolotus
Sounds like ol Buck might have hit on something by sheer luck, and someone else picked up on it later, and didn't give credit where it's due. Or maybe someone really did tell it to him? Just a thought.

Did George Lucas know about Iapetus before designing the Death Star for Star Wars?

Ha! Awesome work folks, and well done. I'm going to get on the info you provided.

Thanks!

And also, is it me or is this guy just as weird and lovable as anything? Giant shaggy space dogs! Rivers on the Moon! And the shape of his head is fantastic

a reply to: Signals

Well yes and no - it's called Archaeo-Astronomy, and a bunch of historians and archaeologists still don't like to talk about star-alignments as if they were important. The ideas didn't really become popular until approx. the early 18th century.

a reply to: Soylent Green Is People

Certainly! And if you'll note in one of my other replies above, that corresponds to the first modern experiments in Archaeo-Astronomy! So this is a strong maybe, Napoleon had some great work done there.

a reply to: draknoir2

Nicely DONE!

Seems these two were who Badawy studied and expanded on, and is probably the best bet for how Nelson could have the info. Rumors abound that he had research materials in his home.

Although...

He doesn't actually use the Soul-Shaft Theory, but the Star-Shaft Theory. I don't see where Capart and Steindorff actually said that the shafts aligned with stars, just as used as paths for the soul.

Still, maybe close enough, and I'll keep looking for more detailed info on what Capart and Steindorff actually proposed.

originally posted by: Herolotus
a reply to: draknoir2

Nicely DONE!

Seems these two were who Badawy studied and expanded on, and is probably the best bet for how Nelson could have the info. Rumors abound that he had research materials in his home.

Although...

He doesn't actually use the Soul-Shaft Theory, but the Star-Shaft Theory. I don't see where Capart and Steindorff actually said that the shafts aligned with stars, just as used as paths for the soul.

Still, maybe close enough, and I'll keep looking for more detailed info on what Capart and Steindorff actually proposed.

Edwards built on Steindorf's work in '47, and Vandier on Edward's in '54, around the same time Badawy was tying Capart's work to the stars, which would mean the concept was out there before 1956.

a reply to: draknoir2

Nice, and well done again - you clearly know your stuff!

I'm sure interest on this very specific subject is light, but I'm hopeful to find an article or publication someone like Nelson, who lived quite a rural lifestyle and doesn't appear to be of impressive education, could have had access to.

Regardless, I doubt anything will check out more clearly than the info you provided.

It's been awhile since I've read up on the subject, any literature you'd suggest?

a reply to: Herolotus

Someone stole his theory and published it. That was common and is still common. Remember, the original knowledge used to patent most things did not come from the patent holder. People discover things and get credit for the discovery even though some people have known about it for generations. Most times no official credit is given to the person who figures out something.

a reply to: Kandinsky

He seems to always be wearing bib overalls, just like me. I wonder if he had a hernia operation too or maybe just a hernia and can't wear a belt to hold up his pants.

a reply to: Herolotus


A History of Egyptian Architecture
By Alexander Badawy
1954

The Pyramids of Egypt
By I. E. S. Edwards, John Cruikshank Rose
1955


The Orion Mystery: Unlocking the Secrets of the Pyramids
By Robert Bauval, Adrian Gilbert
1995

a reply to: Herolotus

I know two things: Jack and Sh**.

Just researching online.

a reply to: Herolotus

How could, even if he was a fraud, Buck Nelson know about this concept before the advent of modern communication and nearly ten years before the theory was announced?

Arthur C Clarke's wartime ideas of satellites predated Sputnik.

Verne's Captain Nemo took the helm of the Nautilus years before the first commercial submarine was launched.

How did they know? Maybe it was logic, maybe it was an idea.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

I get that maybe, just maybe he thought of this on his own - but seriously this guy, you need to read his work, he is no Clarke, and he's certainly no Verne...

I give you three words - Giant Space Dogs

a reply to: draknoir2

Regardless, you get the award - I call the issue largely solved unless someone can find a period publication that he would have known about, which is the kind of thing one may need the Library of Congress for.

Thanks for the suggested reading - I'm familiar with everything on the subject after about 1970, so the stuff from the 50'ss should give me some good background so I can keep myself informed on the subject.

originally posted by: Herolotus
a reply to: draknoir2

Regardless, you get the award - I call the issue largely solved unless someone can find a period publication that he would have known about, which is the kind of thing one may need the Library of Congress for.

Thanks for the suggested reading - I'm familiar with everything on the subject after about 1970, so the stuff from the 50'ss should give me some good background so I can keep myself informed on the subject.

Maybe Harte will see the subject and chime in. He probably knows off the top of his head.