Wednesday, April 04, 2018

Here There Be Giants (Maybe)

Several months ago, I had been watching a series about the search for giants, meaning, I suppose, a race of extra-large humans. I saw some newspaper articles from decades ago suggesting that an extraordinary tall man had lived and died in a small town. The doctor suggested he was, maybe nine feet, maybe eight feet tall. The point is that there seemed to be some evidence for the existence of this man that included measurements made by the doctor.

I also noticed that there were those who rejected the idea, saying that there were no giants. It was a wild goose chase, not unlike the search for treasure on Oak Island (okay, they didn’t say Oak Island, I just mentioned that because it seems to be me that Oak Island is/was a wild goose chase).

But, I wondered, just how tall was the tallest human who had ever lived. Anyone who had a computer can learn about Robert Pershing Wadlow, who, according to the documentation available was nearly nine feet tall when he died. He was huge. He was, dare I say it, “A giant.”

The Long and the Short of It.
Photo courtesy Roswell Yearbook.
There was also Angus MacAskill who was nearly eight feet tall, which would have qualified him for the NBA, had it existed in the nineteenth century and who was mentioned on some lists because he was what they called a natural giant. That meant, simply, that his size was not the result of a malfunction of his pituitary gland.

And, because the program had focused on giants in antiquity, I thought I would mention Maximinus Thrax, a Roman emperor, who died sometime around 238, and was claimed to have been just over eight and a half feet tall. In other words, in the Roman world of the time, he would have been considered a giant.

I thought, there is some compelling evidence that there had been some very tall people throughout history. They were so tall that they would be considered giants, especially in a world where people might not have averaged much over five feet tall. We don’t have to look for evidence that there were giants. That seemed to be established fact by the proper documentation.

But, of course, that wasn’t the point of the search for giants. They weren’t looking for the individual who suffered from a glandular problem, but for a race of humans who would have been considered giants. They weren’t really looking for someone pushing nine feet tall, but a race that was twelve or fifteen feet tall. They wanted to prove that there had been giants at one time, living among, or near the smaller humans.

In fact, there was a report not all that long ago, in December, 2014, in the World News Daily Report that claimed the Smithsonian Institution had destroyed thousands of giant human skeletons at the beginning of the last century. In a legal case that supposedly made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court, the Smithsonian was required to release documentation about all this, proving that these skeletons had existed and that those at the Smithsonian had destroyed them.

The allegations came originally from the American Institution of Alternative Archeology which claimed that the skeletons, which would have called the theory of evolution into question had been ordered by high-ranking administrators at the Smithsonian destroyed.

So, I have moved from the idea that there were individuals who might have been considered giants but that there was no race that would be considered giants, to a point where evidence of giants had been systematically destroy to preserve a specific idea. Evidence and documentation that was required to be released by the Supreme Court.

Frankly, the article made little sense to me. I don’t know why the Smithsonian would have classified documents about administrative details, I don’t know why they would have destroyed “tens of thousands” of skeletons” of what would have been historical significance, nor do I understand why the Supreme Court would have been brought in on this… and if they had, wouldn’t their ruling not only be of  interest to the media, but wouldn’t I (or a lawyer) be able to retrieve information about such a ruling because it would be in the public record?

I couldn’t find any information about this American Institution of Alternative Archeology. Anytime I see something like “alternative archaeology,” I become suspicious. The alternative suggests that it is not a recognized organization. But, in this case, I couldn’t any references to it, other than from the original article. All references ended up there.

Or, in other words, I don’t buy any this story, and it seems that while there is some very good information out there debunking it, not to mention some logical and internal inconsistencies, there still seems to be way too many who believe it. After all, the government is hiding the evidence of giants, or so they believe.

Here’s the truth about all this as I understand and my research, quick as it might have been, tells me about it. Yes, there have been some very tall people and I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t a couple who exceeded nine feet in height. Wadlow came very close at just over eight feet, eleven inches. However, they weren’t part of a separate race of giant humans, but individuals from the human race who grew very tall.


There is just no independent, corroborative evidence that a race of giants ever co-existed as a separate body from the smaller human race. (Yes, I know about Gigantopithecus but that is classified as an ape and not human,) The best evidence available to us today is that some people grow very tall, some just tall, some fit into the average, and some people are short. Other than that, this has become a non-story that is based on a bogus article about a non-existent organization and that is driven by those who make what we laughingly call documentary television.

11 comments:

Adam S. said...

The idea/myth/legend of giants probably originated from early modern humans attempts to explain the bones of extinct species, including neanderthals. Similarily, the myth of dragons arose from dinosaur bones.

Louis Nicholson said...

Okay, interesting read, but what is the story behind the Roswell picture? Do you know how tall those guys are? Did they have anything to do with the Roswell crash?

Daniel said...

Hi! Kevin:

First time here for me. I've read your comment on Giants,found it interesting, and smiled when you said; "Dare I say it,“A giant.”"

Well, tall people can be thought of as Giants, I think!?
If you can make this lengthy link to work, OR Google;...

"The tallest people in the world" ... you will see what I mean.

Warning though! don't let your jaw drop to the floor, when I say tall, I mean Giant tall.............


https://www.google.com/search?q=tallest+people&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=4eXOxo_f20Z6uM%253A%252C3-yg4COwO99mYM%252C_&usg=__PxSDWm1FtJoE6GSjceolqul3Qz8%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjguYOF1qfaAhUIUrwKHZDGBZUQ9QEIkAEwEA#imgrc=4eXOxo_f20Z6uM:

purrlgurrl said...

Giants are a mainstay in children's fairy tales and fantasy literature. They represent a child's earliest perceptions of his parents as well as the other adults in his world. No wonder they have such a hold on our imaginations. We've all had first-hand experience of giants.

Meanwhile, when you're under 5-feet tall as a full-grown adult, the world is full of giants. Wink.

Daniel said...

Nice one, "purlgurrl" and agree, but what would we think if archaeology uncovered the remains of 9 ft. plus," for real" All of a sudden, it's not a fairy tale anymore. They have, and I've seen the photos. It's on the internet, if you look. Also, there are videos you can watch. I mean it's an interesting subject, when one asks the question; Who built "Stone Henge?" and other sites.............

purrlgurrl said...

Oh, it's on the Internet . . . well then of course it must be true and not photoshopped or a vintage photo hoax, or OMG fake news. And there are videos (on YouTube perhaps?). You're right, it's impossible to fake or doctor videos, we all know that.

But really, Giogio Tsoukalos has already assured us that aliens built Stonehenge, the Pyramids and other ancient sites not giants.

Smile. In the end, what major difference does any of it make to our daily lives other than to amuse and entertain us?

Daniel said...

I'm smiling, purrigurrl, but just for your amusement, the giants might have been the aliens you talk of:)...the photos looked impressive enough, for me...I might say this though, for "my amusement" Your on the net, and your real, are you not?
Keep smiling purrigurrl:)................

Adam S. said...

Daniel, as a former archaeologist I can assure you that any of these claims you see on the internet are, best case, misidentifications. Worst case, fabrications. The concept of giants and dragons and such most probably arose in early folklore due to the reason I mentioned above.

Daniel said...

Adam S:

I find it hard to believe that ALL, archaeological finds, dating back millions of years are, misidentified or fabricated, some maybe, but not all, otherwise what would the point of archaeology be worth, in our ancient history, of unbelievable discoveries, some of which, are put to one side, not matching the said story of our history, therefor leaving history incomplete, or wrong...I am not the only one to surf the net of interest. Maybe it needs a "quality control" for the truth, yeah?:)
Mostly, I "presume" is correct, after all, isn't it the largest Library in the world?.................

purrlgurrl said...

Adam S. - Daniel is perfectly happy inside his bubble. Let's not continue trying to burst it.

Anomalies and the paranormal are fun, but irrelevant, when the time to make the monthly mortgage payment rolls around again. It's always that way for me.

Brian B said...

Legends about “giants” date back thousands of years. Just about every culture has stories about them. To put it in perspective though - ancient Sumerian men were say about 5’6” tall on average. Seeing men that were 6’6” or close to 7’, as many are today, would make most of those smaller men feel like they were among giants. Even in North America there is anecdotal evidence that some native tribes were perhaps taller than average. And let’s not forget that over thousands of years human bones often completely deteriorate depending on the environment where they are left. Finding giant bones, if they exist, would be very difficult.