Arcadia Discussion Zone

Ben is shortly to post this on his website but he said I could also post it on here to answer many of the questions asked about the DRAC meetings. And to put the record straight, hopefully once and for all, by someone who was actually at these meetings - Ben Hammott:

There have been 3 meetings with the DRAC.


Ben Hammott, Jean-Pierre Giraud and Bruce Burgess

Meeting 1 - Location: DRAC offices in Montpellier:

Those in attendance were Jean-Pierre Giraud, Bruce Burgess and Ben Hammott.

To report the Tomb an appointment was arranged with Jean-Pierre Giraud, head of the Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles for the Languedoc. The meeting took place at the DRAC offices in Montpellier. Bruce Burgess and I first explained the history of my discovery - how and when I had found it, etc. All three Tomb films were then shown. Although at first giraud seemed sceptical because of the mention of Rennes-le-Chateau, by the time the third film had ended, Jean-Pierre’s scepticism had diminished and he now thought that we had indeed found something - he just wasn’t sure what. He then gave us his opinion on what he had just witnessed, saying it was a very strange and unusual burial but the objects were definitely real objects - whatever they were made of or how long they had been there. He said the body was also real and looked very old and mummified, which tallied with the results from our consultations with other experts. Just like us, Jean Pierre was keen to excavate the Tomb to find out exactly what was inside. After I had explained there was no obvious sign of an entrance, Jean Pierre said he would arrange for a couple of his colleagues, who were professional spelunkers, to come and view the tomb site to see if they could find a way inside.

Meeting 2 - Location: Tomb Site:

Those in attendance were Phillipe Galant, another DRAC representative, Bruce Burgess, and Ben Hammott

The two DRAC representatives were taken to our hotel and shown all of the Tomb footage so they could get an idea of its layout and the rock formation. They were intrigued and duly impressed and thought it a very exiting find. We then discussed the Tomb and the surrounding area and both parties signed a confidentiality agreement to safeguard the site, so that no details giving away the location of the Tomb were made public until it was safe to do so. They were then taken to the Tomb site.

It felt very strange taking strangers to the site but I knew that if I wanted the Tomb excavated we had to find a way in and these two men may be just the ones to find it. I took them inside the cave being careful not to disturb the bushes around the entrance too much, and showed them where the shaft was that I had filmed through and what I thought was the direction of the original entrance.

After examining the interior we all returned outside where they examined the surrounding rock formation . They noticed that there were signs of dynamite having been used, probably in the past fifty years or so. They did give a reason for this but to safeguard the site I will not reveal it here. When I asked if the explosions could have caused the collapse of the original entrance into the tomb, they said it was a possibility. Like me they could find no sign of the original entrance. This could explain why the Tomb has not been discovered before now and why it has not been looted - there is no longer any access. This does not make the job of excavating the Tomb an easy one. We already know by the rock fall in the Tomb that the cavern roof is possibly unstable, preventing access from the top.

I drew them a plan of the Tomb, the shaft and blocked entrance position. We spent the next hour taking measurements, working out the size of the Tomb, the size and depth of the shaft, height of the Tomb, etc. A GPS reading of the Tomb’s location was also taken. After consulting a detailed map they told us who owned the land. When all was done they said they would send their report to Giraud and he would decide what the next step to take might be and we would be contacted with the outcome.

Meeting 3 - Location: DRAC offices in Montpellier:

Those in attendance were Jean-Pierre Giraud, Phillipe Galant, Bruce Burgess and Ben Hammott.

During this meeting Giraud consulted the file that contained the report prepared by Phillipe on his visit to the Tomb site. We all agreed that the next step was to find out the best way to gain entry to the tomb without damaging further any of the artefacts inside. To do this we thought the best thing was to return to the site outside of the tourist season when there wouldn't be so many people about, and put the remote camera down the shaft to have a look at the roof structure of the cave to try and see how stable it is. Also we would try and see if we could remove some of the rocks from the blocked up entrance to see if there was a clear tunnel on the other side. It would be hard to do but it was worth trying. There was also the possibility we may be able to hook out an object for dating purposes. I had already tried this with a couple of other objects without success. Unfortunately there were not many hookable objects in the right position in relation to the shaft to be easily snagged but if we could open one of the chests, again something I had already tried without success, there may be something inside we could grab safely without damaging it.

As Philippe had other projects booked up it would be a few months before we would be able to do this.

Postponement:

It was shortly after this meeting that my son was diagnosed with cancer and at the time the meeting was to take place my son was in hospital undergoing a major operation. I then decided I needed to be with my son and my family during this time and I did not wish to be away for long periods until my son was better so any further work on the Tomb and excavation was put on hold.

A provisional date of 17th September 2008 was discussed to resume our joint exploration of the tomb prior to setting an excavation date. This date was originally chosen as my son's treatment should have ended by this time but there were complications and he is still undergoing treatment. So regrettably the meeting was postponed further. As it turned out I wouldn't have been able to visit the site during my recent visit to Rennes-le-Chateau when the Bloodline film was screened as too many people knew I was there.

Answering some of the false reports:

There IS a file with the DRAC that contains records of our meetings and the report made by Phillippe on his visit to the Tomb site - I know because I saw it at our last meeting, it was on the table in front of me and was referred to by Jean-Pierre Giraud.

I have no idea why this was deemed important enough to lie about but contrary to reports, Jean-Pierre Giraud did have a secretary at the time of our meetings. The Bloodline team and I have had contacts with her when arranging and attending some of the above meetings and follow-ups. She may not be Giraud's personal secretary but she was the one that worked for him, handling his phonecalls, etc. while Giraud was out of the office.

The quote Giraud gave was not given after the first meeting but many weeks after the third meeting and after the excavation was put on hold. Not that it matters when the quote was given, what is important is that the DRAC took the Tomb seriously enough to warrant a quote for Bruce to use in a press release, this is not the action of a man who thinks the Tomb does not exist or is not important enough to warrant further exploration.

Quote from Jean-Pierre Giraud:

"This is certainly a very intriguing discovery, but it's just too early to tell how important it is. We need to do a full survey of the site to determine the age of the corpse and the other items in the tomb. The archeology department of the DRAC-LR will be carrying out an examination of the site as soon as access has been made possible."

These meetings took place - I know - I was there and we have the correspondence with the DRAC, film and photographs.

There is still a confidentiality agreement in place between both parties so don't expect to see an area of land taped off with brightly coloured tape with a notice 'SECRET TOMB KEEP OUT' anywhere around Rennes-le-Chateau.

Ben Hammott

So a third person emerges, Phillipe Galant, archaeologist and speleologist.

Thank you VAM.

Blessings,
Paula

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I absolutely agree with you. However, it is done. I for one am pleased because, I really do wish to learn what Ben has to teach and share. And so very often here, things get misdirected by those whose purpose it is, to confuse what is rather simple.

Blessings,
Paula

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Understood.

Blessings,
Paula

Hmm, it will be interesting to see what Raven makes of this. He's said several on this forum and his website that he met with Jean-Pierre Giraud, who claimed to have no knowledge of any tomb file. Could it be that Giraud deliberately misled Raven, to keep things under wraps?

So the trickle of information continues, but this is quite a satisfying driblet. I can't wait to hear more.

It's great to finally read a report from the horse's mouth I must say. What took you so long? Fair play to you.

Will post this on Rennessence when I'm back from Seoul this weekend, assuming you don't mind.

Only the facts can decide here. The story explains many of the bits and pieces. You have my benefit of the doubt for the tomb until they surface. The PoS, bottles and parchments I still consider fully hoaxed.

Were you in touch with JP after his transfer to Paris or is it only Galant now
you're dealing with?

Greetings from S Korea,
Raven

Raven,

Would it be too much to ask for you to write up a similar account of your visits to DRAC, so that we can see whether your version and Ben's match, or whether they differ, and why? When you say that Ben's story 'makes sense of a lot of the bits and pieces', what specifically are you referring to? And how do we square your insistence that Jean-Pierre Giraud knew nothing of a tomb file with Ben's insistence that there is one and JP referred to it?

Raven,

I have to ask you , you remain skeptical and critical of many things in and around the Bloodline movie / Rennes :

From your Page:

There is clumsy mistakes in them, suggesting they are forgeries by someone without native command of the French langauge in the 19th century and too little knowlegde about the background of the true historical context of the Mystery of Rennes-le-Château.

Where have you proven at a university / doctorate level that in your field of study, based on experience and training you can debunk what other people discover simply because they don't conform to your train of thought.

I believe that if there is something fishy anywhere in these finds, they will root themselves out. And let the archeologists and doctors debate their authenticity. All the bickering here seems to border on jealousy, and childishness.

I admire Ben , Bruce and Bill because they have "shook the tree" so to speak, let's see what comes of it!!!

Hi John,

Thanks for your interest - always appreciated.

I don't see the link between what you say and anyone's train of thought. That is generalizing the problem away. (is that childish of me?;)

You give the best possible answer here yourself. You say "They have shook the tree". An Englishman would never write that, from which I derive that English is not your native tongue. The right sentence would read "They have shaken the tree" If a document contains many errors of this type, I consider it a certainty that it wasn't written by a native speaker. This is demonstrably the case with the parchments in the bottles from which I concluded they are forgeries. I am not asking anyone to agree, just giving my opinion.

No doctorate required to see this and I don't have one in any language.



Wise words, fully agree



I admire Bruce for sticking his neck out and heavily investing in an atmospheric documentary that I really like. Ben's a great guy, whether the tomb is real or not. Talking his way into the Chateau Hautpoul, past Monsieur Henry, has earned him my life-long respect already. There's nothing personal in this whole thing.

You'd be surprised to hear that Ben's tomb fits my train of thought like a glove. Jealous I am not. If you have taken notice of my work in the last years, you would hopefully conclude that I have made it a habit to promote others through the news service and the interviews on Rennessence. I do that beacuse I love this mystery. No mystery there.

Of course perception is truth for every receiver and rightly so.

Take care | Raven

How could anyone be blamed for thinking it's a hoax? The way Ben and Bloodline went about things, how could anyone think otherwise? The things in the tomb being changed around (after the rockfall, which may be explainable by the alleged dynamiting), a big slab of marble probably weighing a ton or two being taken up a mountain just to lay a body on. In regard to the Sauniere treasure hunt, the chest being found in such an obvious cave, even if not the main Magdalene cave. If people had checked the main cave, they'd have been pretty foolish not to have checked the triangular one too. They were already right there anyway. All those bottles and notes. It just seems like something some kids would do, more than someone involved in a very serious matter like Jesus and MM artifacts or tombs. Ben having the mysterious ability to decode the notes.

Of course, the tomb and the notes could be two unrelated things but then we have the question of how one guy could be so lucky as to make two unrelated major finds in the RLC area. Maybe everything is real but I really think that under the circumstances involved it is inappropriate for people like Sandy to be all indignant when people reach the very understandable conclusion that they are being put on.

Actually Raven english is my native tounge, I should have phrased it differently.Although not an Englishman, If I was, these locales would be easy to get to, I could investigate things a lot better. I will hope for a Euro / America tunnel, as soon as America straightens out her bank. I am going to read a little bit more, and continue to enjoy what unfolds here . This is going to be interesting.

JT

Same here, nice meeting you John. Good to bring some feedback to keep everybody sharp.

With this Rennes-le-Chateau thing answers are never black or white so let's see where this ends indeed !

Take care | Raven

I think Bill Kersey has lifted the veil a little bit by giving us his honest opinion about the PoS stuff in the film. (which was a courageous thing to do Bill).

In my mind it's all very much detached things we discuss. Remember Ben found this tomb years and years ago. The bottle-parchment story is much younger if I am not mistaken.

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Was this the best you can do? If this is your gut feeling at work, I fear for the rest of your research.
You're a 30-year author and researcher Bill. May I ask you to act in accordance with that status and substantiate your claim? Why Paul Smith? What varying account?

For your information: after the Bloodline team had invited everybody to contact DRAC for verification we simply called them and recorded the phone conversations with their statements. If you understand French, you will hear that they confirm my account.

Bill, all,

I will stop posting on this forum for a while now. With your last posting you have crossed a line, making me feel very uncomfortable here. I want to find at least as much energy here as I can give. At this moment that is no longer the case. I feel you don't play a fair game.

Take care | Raven

Thank you Raven, Ben's been waiting a long time to put the record straight and there is much more to come now his hands are not so tied. All of the lies and accusations against him will now be answered! VAM

Are we doing research here, or have you just joined the Republican election campaign and adopted their tactics??

Ben doesn't blame anyone for thinking it's a hoax because so few details have thus far been released. He has often said that were he on the outside looking in he would probably have his doubts as well. But remember what you have seen in the film is just a very tiny part of Ben's research and very little was explained how the clues were solved. As for the marble in the tomb - it may not be solid but possibly a sarcophagus that may contain a second body?

Everything is covered in his book and if and when you read it you will realise that you don't have to be an expert in ciphers etc. You just have to have the ability to see what is there. Luck also played its part at times. Also Ben can hardly be blamed for other people not solving the church clues before or finding stuff hidden in the landscape. VAM

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edited

I would imagine the answers would depend on who was asking the questions, their reason for asking, who they were asking and indeed what questions they were asking. I don't have these answers - you'd have to put these questions to the people who did the asking.

I wouldn't imagine that the DRAC would be in a hurry to make any more public statements after the way the last one was received by certain parties who have now ruined it for others.

I humbly suggest that we all wait patiently until the excavation takes place. VAM