 Ralph Glidden has a rather interesting story to tell, a story which he continued to tell from the grave. While digging on Catalina Island in the Gulf of California between 1919 and 1928, he found, according to him, and numerous newspaper articles from the time, numerous skeletons. But what made his claims particularly interesting, however, was the claim that their average height was around 7 to 9 feet. The question arrived at by all those who have heavily researched his story is, where are these skeletons today? Could it really have just been a publicity stunt? Or did Glidden actually somehow find the remains of a lost race of giants? Santa Catalina Island, also just known as Catalina Island, is one of the Channel Islands off the coast of California in USA. The Channel Islands holds the title as the location of the earliest evidence for seafaring in the Americas, and also the earliest evidence of humans in North America. Ralph Glidden, who worked on the islands for several decades, was an amateur archaeologist who successfully uncovered ancient burial sites on Catalina Island. From 1919 to 1928, it is said that he excavated more than 800 gravesites from about 100 individual locations around the island. In addition to finding thousands of artifacts, he also stated that he dug up almost 4,000 human skeletons, a claim which has often received a lot of negative attention, many claiming he lacked respect for the dead. However, his reasoning was quite profound. He claimed that there once lived an advanced ancient race of tall, fair-haired Indians on Catalina Island and the adjacent islands. With the male adults around 7 feet in height, Glidden lost his sponsor after digging for almost 10 years, and the general opinion today is that he was just bluffing about finding giant skeletons, with the motive of creating interest and making money. However, he never made much money from his finds and received little financial attention. Additionally, Ralph Glidden was not the first to find a giant skeleton on Catalina Island. According to Pittsburgh Press, July 20, 1913, and also the Daily Telegraph on July 26, a German naturalist named Dr. A. W. Furstenan uncovered an 8-foot skeleton on the island. The skeleton was found with artifacts such as mortars, pistols, and arrowheads, all different from the ordinary Indian burials, plus a strange flat stone bearing unknown symbols. Furstenan had, while in Mexico, heard the legend regarding the noble race of giants that had once lived on Catalina Island long before the white man had arrived. He would find the skeleton along Avalon Bay in black hard sand, yet alas, the remains have since vanished. All over the islands, there are countless reports. According to several newspaper articles, Santa Rosa Island was the site of a dig in 1959, where they discovered several skeletons more than 7 feet tall. The tops of the skulls were painted red, and the skulls were described as having sloped foreheads. In San Nicolas Island, west of Catalina, in 1897, a party of relic hunters stayed three weeks on the barren island, and Newark Daily Advocate would subsequently tell of them finding bones of a giant race on San Nicolas Island. Whether these bones finally made it into private collections is unknown. In 1930, Glidden was ready to sell his collection, including his whole series of secrets regarding the island. In return, he requested an annual annuity for life, funding for five expeditions, and the necessary financing for various planned publications that included a large monograph chronicling all of his excavations. But it seems, sadly, regardless of Glidden's confidence, nobody wanted to buy his miraculous finds, and in 1962, at the age of 81 years old, he sold his collection for a mere $5,000. Six years later, Glidden died. However, in March 2012, an unlabeled box was discovered, resting deep within the Catalina Island Museum archives. In this box was Glidden's collection of secret records, among which was, most importantly, a series of unique photographs showing Ralph Glidden indeed excavating one of his authentic, giant, and very ancient skeletons. Many attributed the legend surrounding the great King of Uruk, and many of the city's written attributes to mythology. Uruk is said to have become famous as the capital city of the King Gilgamesh, the ancient ruler and hero of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is believed that Uruk was the biblical Erech from Genesis 1010, the second city founded by Nimrod in Shinar. The Epic of Gilgamesh, written by a Middle Eastern scholar 2,500 years before the birth of Christ, commemorates the life of the ruler of the city of Uruk, from which Iraq gets its name. Uruk went through several phases of growth, from the early Uruk period, 4,000 to 3,500 BC, to the late Uruk period, 3,500 to 3,100 BC. The city was said to have been formed when two smaller Obaid settlements merged. The temple complexes at their cores became the Iyana district and the Anu district, dedicated to Inana and Anu, respectively. In 2003, just prior to the Iraq invasion which toppled Hussein, astonishing discoveries were being made in Iraq, culminating in one of the most extraordinary claims anywhere for centuries. A claim which American forces have been strongly accused of confiscating, subsequently becoming the prime suspect as the driving force behind a complete suppression of these astonishing discoveries within the country. In April of 2003, Jörg Fassbinder of the Bavarian Department of Historical Monuments in Munich told the BBC's World Services Science and Action Program, quote, I don't want to say definitively that it was the grave of King Gilgamesh, but it looks very similar to that described in the Epic. They found just outside the city, an area in the middle of the former Euphrates River, the remains of such a building which could be interpreted as a burial, Mr. Fassbinder said. In the book, Gilgamesh is described as having been buried under the Euphrates, in a tomb apparently constructed when the waters of the ancient river parted following his death. He said the amazing discovery of the ancient city under the Iraqi desert had been made possible by modern technology. The most surprising thing was that we found structures already described by Gilgamesh, Mr. Fassbinder stated. We covered more than 100 hectares, we found garden structures and field structures as described in the Epic, and we found Babylonian houses. But he said the most astonishing find was an incredibly sophisticated system of canals. Here predictably is where the story goes silent. Due to conflict within the country, it was largely believed the excavations had been halted. However, it seems that the discovery of King Gilgamesh may not have been made in isolation, and apparently some onlookers were able to record the event. This footage was supposedly leaked to numerous places across the Internet, and has largely been put down as authentic footage of the find. Shortly after this was taken, reports state that American forces moved in and seized the find. Why do the powers that be see fit to suppress such discoveries? The very real tombs of characters long thought to have been mythical, Osiris being but one example among many which have undoubtedly been hidden from the public. Maybe some clues to why his tomb has been hidden lay within the epic, and the immense power as Gilgamesh was said to have possessed. He was the fifth king of Uruk, and his power was so mighty, many believe that the stories surrounding him are just myths that were built around his seemingly superhuman strength and endurance. However, serious scholars concluded that the story of Gilgamesh was nothing more than a fairy tale due to the astonishing story. In the epic, the great king is thought to be too proud and arrogant by the gods, and so they decide to teach him a lesson, sending the wild man, Enkidu, to humble him. Enkidu and Gilgamesh, after a fierce battle in which neither are bested, become friends and embark on adventures together. When Enkidu is struck with death, Gilgamesh falls into a deep grief and, recognizing his own mortality through the death of his friend, questions the meaning of life and the value of human accomplishment in the face of ultimate extinction. Casting away all his old vanity and pride, Gilgamesh sets out on a quest to find the meaning of life and, finally, some way of defeating death. In doing so, he becomes the first epic hero in world literature. The grief of Gilgamesh and the questions his friend's death evoke resonate with every human being who has wrestled with the meaning of life in the face of death. Although Gilgamesh ultimately fails to win immortality in the story, his deeds live on through the written word, and so does he. Is this leaked footage of the tomb of Gilgamesh? Regardless of its authenticity, why all the secrecy? Are we, as a species, not capable of being presented with things which test our core beliefs without erupting into chaos? It seems for now we may have to wait to find out. Borkley in his 1932 book, Death Valley Men, discusses within the chapter, Old Gold, a conversation which he had several years prior with a small group of Death Valley residents. This conversation and subsequent testimonies, along with several other peculiar finds within the valley, would suggest that something quite remarkable has been concealed there, hidden by powerful and shadowy figures working out of the Smithsonian Institute. Two of the men, Jack and Bill, describe their experience within an underground city which they claimed to have discovered after one of them had fallen through the bottom of an old mineshaft near Wingate Pass. They claimed to have followed about 20 miles of tunnel systems north into the heart of the Panamint Mountains. There they allegedly found a huge, ancient underground city. They claimed that within the city lay several perfectly preserved mummies, which were wearing thick golden armbands and wielding solid gold spears. They also discovered that the whole system was lit by an ingenious system of lights fed by subterranean gases. They claimed to have seen a large, polished round table which looked as if it may have been part of an ancient council chamber, giant statues of solid gold, heavy stone wheelbarrows which were perfectly balanced and scientifically constructed so that a child could use them, huge stone doors which were also perfectly balanced by counterweights, among many other incredible claims. Having followed the caverns upwards to a higher level, which opened out onto the face of the panamints, about halfway up the eastern slope in the form of a few ancient tunnel-like quays, they realized that the valley below was once underwater and they eventually came to the conclusion that the arched openings were ancient docks for sea vessels. They could see Furnace Creek Ranch and wash far below them. They told Borkley that they had brought some of the treasure out of the caverns and tried to set up a deal with certain people, including scientists associated with the Smithsonian Institute, in order to gain help to explore and publicize the city as one of the wonders of the world. Though unfortunately a close, quote, friend of theirs stole these treasures and they were rejected by when they went to find the mine entrance and could not find it. They claimed that someone had altered and rearranged the entire hillside and the landscape did not look like it had done before. When Lee last heard from the two men, Bill and Jack, they were preparing to climb the east face of the panaments to locate the ancient tunnel openings, or quays, high up the side of the steep slope. In 1946, a man called Dr. F. Bruce Russell, a retired physician, told a similar story about finding strange underground rooms in the Death Valley area in 1931. He told of a large room with several tunnels leading off in different directions. One of these tunnels led to another large room that contained three mummies. This found in the room appeared to be a combination of Egyptian and American Indian design. The most amazing thing about the mummies, though, was the fact that they were more than eight feet tall. Dr. Russell and a group of investors formed Amazing Explorations Inc. to handle the release and a profit from this remarkable find. But Russell mysteriously disappeared and the investigators were never able to find the caverns again, even though Russell had personally taken them there. Years later, Russell's car was found abandoned with a burst radiator in a remote area of Death Valley. His suitcase was still in the car. The old yet extremely reliable TV series Death Valley Days also once ran a short story about Western pioneers finding mummies in the desert. And since one of the script writers stated that there had never been a script without a solid basis in fact on the show, it would be interesting to find out what their source had been, if anyone can of course. For now, it seems Death Valley will continue to be shrouded in mystery.