The DVD starts as many archaelogical DVDs do. In the desert of Saudi Arabia, a discovery is going to change the face of science. Under the sand is a sleigh runner. It is 800 years old and shows signs of having traveled at speeds as fast as 2000 miles an hour.
We have the usual talking heads of archaeologists and nuclear physicists talking about the profound leap of faith that would allow us to accept that this scant evidence proves a whole host of unbelievable things. We also have the mad scientist type experiments and grainy film strips.
The website says it is serious. My Santa-loving daughter believes it. I don't believe it but I don't believe any of those things — including most of the JFK conspiracies and theories about why King Tut died.
As serious as the DVD purports to be, there are some hints that it is tongue-in-cheek. The main researcher, Hutch Hoffman, has a twin brother, Harley Hoffman, who researches Bigfoot. The grainy film is called the Swoboda film, which repeated often enough, sounds very much like the Zapruder film.
Googling suggests that it is all made up, despite the seriousness of the proposition. The photographer is from Arctica magazine, which I did not find. Hutch Hoffman and his twin, Harley Hoffman, do not turn up. Nor does the scientist who found the sleigh in the Nafud desert.
One of the commenters, Franklin Ruehl Ph.d, is real. His usual beat also raises questions.
I enjoyed the DVD. Taken as tongue-in-cheek, it is quite amusing.
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