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What if I were to tell you
that the greatest symbol of
American democracy hides
a secret message?
In 1876, the statue of liberty was given
to America in celebration of the 100th
anniversary of the
declaration of independence.
At the time, it was the tallest
structure in New York.
But some believe that this lady
is not who she appears to be --
that her outward message cloaks
a much darker meaning
A coded symbol meant
for a chosen few.
They say the men who designed
and built the statue were
members of the illuminati, a
small sect of one of the world's
most secret organizations,
the freemasons.
The masons deny any affiliation.
And it's hard to say because for
over 200 years, the illuminati
have remained so well hidden
that we have to question if they
actually exist at all.
Whatever the case, it's time to
find out, is one of America's
most iconic symbols actually
hiding a message in plain sight?
I'm Brad Meltzer.
I've spent my life
collecting stories.
The best include signs, symbols,
and codes, secret meanings that
are hidden in plain sight.
Some have become the basis
for my novels, but I've only
scratched the surface
of what's out there.
And now history has given me the
resources to investigate the rest.
This is "decoded."
Why would somebody want to do
this with the statue of liberty?
There's got to be a lot in
what he's saying about this
hidden-symbol possibility.
Buddy is like my eyes and ears
out there, and I trust him.
And people trust him.
This is the first thing that people
see when they come to the country.
It's the first thing that our
Our ancestors saw not too many
generations ago -- the
first symbol of hope.
McKinley's a mechanical engineer.
She understands and
believes in numbers.
She'll be great at decoding the
physical part of the statue itself.
But then why a hidden meaning?
Why not stick it right out there
and let everybody see it?
Scott's a former prosecutor.
He's a skeptic.
He doesn't believe anything
that can't be proven, which is
perfect, especially when dealing
with something like the illuminati.
I don't want this to be true.
I just find it really upsetting.
Ever since I was a kid, I was
taught that the statue of
liberty represented freedom and
democracy, so it seems crazy to
think that might not
be the whole truth.
On the other hand, Columbus
didn't really discover America,
so history's clearly imperfect.
[ Birds calling ]
Everyone knows the statue
of liberty, right?
But she's only been in new
York harbor for 125 years.
At 151 feet and 1 inch tall and
weighing 204 tons, she was the
biggest iron structure
ever built at the time.
It took over 200 men working seven days
a week for nine years to make her.
The statue sits on bedloe island, renamed
liberty island in 1956 by an act
of congress, and she once even
functioned as a lighthouse.
But one of the lady's secrets that
I love best is her shackled feet.
She stands amid broken chains,
but nobody ever gets to see that
because of the way she
stands on the pedestal.
Her torch is covered
in 24-karat gold.
Her copper outer layer is
incredibly thin -- in fact, no
thicker than two pennies.
And while she has an actual
value, she's probably most
valuable as one of the greatest
icons of American ideals.
And that's why she's now closely
guarded 24/7 by the U.S. park
police marine patrol unit.
She's beautiful.
She's more beautiful up close.
Oh, yeah.
She's pretty spectacular, yes.
Why is she stuck out on an island
and not right on Manhattan?
Well, that was the flair
of the artist, bartholdi.
He really was anxious that the
statue should be seen by as many
people as possible, especially
people coming on ships from
Europe, from the Caribbean,
from Canada, from all over.
As mysterious as the statue itself is
Its creator, frédéric bartholdi,
is even more enigmatic.
A few little-known facts -- we
were actually bartholdi's second
choice to receive the
statue of liberty.
Originally, he wanted to give
the statue to Egypt, but when
the Egyptian government rejected
the idea because they couldn't
afford it, bartholdi regifted the
statue to the United States.
Nice, huh? It's a regift.
Bartholdi modeled the physical
features of the lady after the
two most important people in his
life, his mother and his mistress.
Some believe bartholdi used his
mother's face as the basis for
designing liberty's face and modeled
her body after his mistress.
Can you say "oedipal disaster"?
Did anybody have an
objection to it?
In London, the London times
and other English papers said,
"oh," in a snotty sort of way,
you know, "isn't it strange that
France, which has so little
liberty, should give the
statue of liberty to America,
which has too much liberty?"
Also, a lot of new yorkers thought
she was ugly, an eyesore.
She was, like, crude because the
robes are so thick, and it makes
her look kind of heavy.
They objected to her waistline?
Remember, it was the tallest man-made
structure in New York city at that time.
Right.
There were no skyscrapers taller,
so she really attracted attention.
She's facing east?
Southeast.
Well, I like that idea that
Barry was talking about, where
she can see all the way to Europe.
As an engineer, I wanted to
look at the measurements of the
statue of liberty and see if
she was hiding a larger idea.
If the numbers just didn't make
any practical engineering sense,
then I might've been willing to believe
that she was hiding a secret message.
Her crown's seven rays suggest the
seven seas and seven continents.
What's the point of that?
The reason the numbers are interesting
to me is, for engineers and architects,
there's nothing
accidental about numbers.
If you're making a work of art
Do numbers matter?
Yeah, everything matters.
It's not a function.
It's a piece of art.
So they can choose
whatever they want.
Those numbers wouldn't be random?
I don't think anything about
this would be random, honestly.
The statue of liberty was a
symbol of freedom and democracy
for people all over the world.
I knew I had to listen to both sides
before coming to a conclusion.
The statue of liberty has
seen some dark days.
She's been attacked many times.
In 1916, German spies set off an
explosion and severely damaged her.
In 1956, a group of Hungarian
nationalists hijacked the statue
and hung their flag
over liberty's face.
And then in 1980, Croatian
terrorists detonated a bomb
inside the statue's face, and
the damage was considerable.
It is clear that for almost a
century, lady liberty's message
has been under almost
constant attack.
So, the height is 151 and 1 inch.
The foundation pedestal's
Plus 1 inch.
Index finger -- 8 feet, 1 inch.
Why are these added single inches?
Wouldn't it be standard just to
have it be 151 feet or 305 feet?
I don't know.
Do you think it's worth heading
back and seeing Scott?
Yeah, I want to see if we're
going down the right path here.
Okay.
There he is.
So, what did you find
out about the attacks?
Some pretty interesting stuff.
The bottom line is, it appears
that the attacks were simply
because she is the symbol of
America, and this was a great
stage upon which to get some
attention and get some publicity.
So I don't think, based on what
I've heard so far, that this
really has anything to do
with a hidden meaning.
So, I took some pictures when I
got inside of the undercarriage,
and does that remind
you of anything?
It's like the eiffel tower.
Yeah.
It has a similarity to it, but it's a little
It's a little different.
It's a little crooked, but it is the
first thing that comes to mind.
The men in question who were
part of the design of the statue
itself, you've got hunt, who
designed the pedestal, you've
got bartholdi, who designed the
statue itself, and then eiffel,
who designed the undercarriage and the skeletal
The statue of liberty is not
the work of one man.
When the French gave the statue
to the United States, they made
one request -- that a pedestal
be built so that it was more
easily seen from the water.
American designer Richard hunt
was chosen to build her perch.
Frédéric bartholdi was the
artist behind lady liberty, but
it was up to gustave eiffel to realize
the structure and bring her to life.
He did this with a twisted iron
skeleton, and it was never
intended to be pretty.
In fact, the inside of the statue was
never meant to be seen by the public.
But, clearly, eiffel was pleased
with his work because he went on
to repeat the idea and build the
eiffel tower and steal the title
for the tallest structure in the world
away from the Washington monument.
Is there anything in
common with them?
Are they
Let me check something out here.
Here's bartholdi.
Check that out.
The guy is posed like Napoleon.
His hand is hidden.
The hidden hand that
shaped history.
Oh, yeah, look at this.
The hidden hand?
Why Napoleon traditionally
depicted with his hand in his
waistcoat -- some theories
include he had a stomach ulcer.
Keep going.
There's something else
that I saw in there.
[ Laughs ]
Keep going, keep going.
Oh, wait a second.
A gesture of importance
in masonic rituals.
Members of the freemasons using this sign
are proven members of the freemasons.
I would be fascinated to see if
these three guys were masons.
Oh, my God, bartholdi
is a freemason.
What about hunt?
What about -- here he is.
Look down here -- freemason.
Absolutely. All right.
Well, okay.
Eiffel -- gustave eiffel.
Freemason -- eiffel's a freemason.
All three.
Okay.
You know, that doesn't necessarily
have to mean anything.
Right?
It's always the freemasons.
The freemasons are the world's
oldest and largest brotherhood.
They're steeped in covert
rituals and symbolism.
Some say they even built
king Solomon's temple.
That can't be proven,
but here's what can.
There are about six million
freemasons in the world today.
Everyone from our founding fathers,
including George Washington and
Benjamin Franklin, and presidents
from fdr to Gerald Ford were members.
Some have suggested that the
organization has a sinister and
dark agenda, which is what makes them
the most over-used plot device around.
We've been researching the
statue of liberty, and the most
interesting thread we have now
is that bartholdi, hunt, and
eiffel were all freemasons.
Is there anything to that?
Yeah, there's a lot to that.
The freemasons are an important
key to understanding what the
statue of liberty is about.
In fact, there's a lot of freemasonic
symbolism in the statue.
Wanted to show you this one.
See if it looks familiar to you.
Looks exactly like the
statue of liberty.
Exactly like the statue of liberty,
but this is the ancient Roman goddess
libertas.
This is a pagan goddess.
Another one.
This one you'll be familiar with.
What do you see here?
This should be familiar to you.
And, of course, it's being
held by an ancient Roman pagan
goddess from a period of history
that was not so nice and was
anything but free.
But I don't -- I don't know
quite how to put this.
There's a deeper darker, more
sinister side to this entire matter
That sort of exists within
freemasonry -- kind of a secret
within a secret society
Called the illuminati.
Who were the illuminati?
I would say a better term would be,
who are the illuminati?
Because they still exist.
The illuminati was formed
in Bavaria in 1776.
They called themselves
"enlightened ones," and they
felt they could create
a better world.
They wanted to abolish all
monarchies, religion, private
property, and nation states and
replace them with a utopian society.
But it doesn't matter
what their plan was.
What was amazing to me was how
they operated, infiltrating the
houses of power, from governments to
secret societies like the freemasons.
They swore a vow of silence and
remained completely hidden.
So when they were finally found
out and banned by the king of
Bavaria in 1784, there was
absolutely no way to be certain
they actually disbanded because
they were already inside.
And this is why some people
still believe the illuminati
hold positions of power
around the world today.
Very early on in their history,
the illuminati adapted
the form of freemasonry and then
decided to infiltrate masonic
organizations, giving
freemasonry a really bad rap to
the extent that they had
an influence on it.
Although, it was always a
hidden hand within freemasonry.
In other words, not all
masons are illuminati.
They quickly moved into much darker
ideas about the abolition of all
States all over the world and
to kind of merge the world into
this amorphous,
globalist community.
How's that for
straightforward and scary?
Okay, I don't like when people tell me
that the illuminati are trying to take
over the world.
But I will say if what we've
just heard is true, things just
got a lot more interesting.
The statue of liberty sits 151 feet
and 1 inch over New York harbor.
But what does the
Mac and buddy have uncovered
some strange inconsistencies in
the engineering of the statue.
And when the masons or
illuminati are involved, you
have to pay attention
to these things.
So, buddy and Mac are gonna
meet with a well-known
numerologist because when you're
talking about codes that are in
measurements, you need
to look at the numbers.
When we were looking at the
numbers, we found 13, 1, and 7.
Where did you find the number 13?
We found the 13 by figuring how
many inches the whole height
of the statue was and adding up
those digits and ended with 13.
What you want to do is find a
particular number that reasserts
itself or replays itself in
various ways multiple times.
So, having just a 13 isn't
necessarily that significant.
One number is very significant,
and that's the number 7.
As a matter of fact, you could
call the statue of liberty a
shrine to the number 7.
A shrine to the number 7?
Let me show you.
The first thing that we can see
with an image of the crown is
that you have a very conspicuous
presentation of the number 7
with the seven spikes,
or the seven rays.
Right.
Okay?
On a secondary level, you can
move down, you can see there's a
series of windows.
I know this is gonna be tough for you guys.
Come on, buddy, you can do it.
Seven.
In other words, we can find
numbers that break down to the
number 7, and we can reassert
that number 7 is part of a
pattern here that's continued.
In the base, you'll see that
there's four grecian columns.
Did you guys count these?
There were four on
each side -- 16.
Correct.
All right, let me show
you something else.
You remember this
part of the statue?
Definitely.
Okay, there are a series of
raised portions, or leaves
Surrounding the torch.
There are exactly 16.
Really?
Now, this is how you find a pattern
where a number reasserts itself.
We were in my world.
I love numbers. I love math.
There's always a concrete answer.
Pi will always equal 3.14.
Numerologists, on the other
hand, eh, I don't know.
[ Car horn honks ]
Hey, Brad. It's Scott.
Hey, Scott.
So, we know a couple things.
We know that the three men who
built the statue of liberty, we
know they're all freemasons.
Right.
Okay, so the statue we know
has clear symbolic meaning.
Let's talk to a few more people.
One of them is a guy named mark
dice, who I'd like you to see.
But I want you, most important, compare
him to Professor Steven bullock.
I'll send you his
information, as well.
And these two guys, they're
opposing views, and I think that
that's what we need.
You know, this is not a novel.
This is reality.
Now, you look deeper
into the structure.
For example, did you guys take any
measurements of, let's say, height?
Yeah, height from base to
torch is 151 feet and 1 inch.
Correct -- it's 151
feet and 1 inch.
Now, whenever you see a number
like this, 1 extra inch, it's
clearly some kind
of a clue or a cue.
Why would they do that?
So, 151 feet is
actually 1,812 inches.
You're gonna add the extra inch
for the total amount of inches.
You get 1,813 inches.
Not every number is divisible by
has a theme here.
The answer is 259.
Without that extra inch --
and this is what you have to
understand here 'cause this is a
remarkable situation -- without
the extra inch, the number is
not divisible by 7, and it does
not break down to 7.
So, we wonder if there is a
reason for that, and if you know
about number symbolism, you know
the number 7 is held as one of
the most sacred and
divine numbers.
The number 7 has such a profound
influence on society that even
today, our lives are
run by the number 7.
Seven days of the week.
Seven days of the week is correct.
Not only that, we've got
seven colors of the rainbow.
We've got seven seas, seven continents,
seven wonders of the ancient world.
There's even seven notes
in the musical scale.
In ancient India, they speak of the
seven rishis, or the seven sages.
In buddhism, Buddha walked, as soon as
he was born, seven miraculous steps.
In christianity, there are
seven virtues and seven sins.
In catholicism, there
are seven sacraments.
Yeah.
Okay?
Yeah.
And even in the islamic
religion, we have seven heavens
and seven gates to seven hells.
So it permeates every aspect
of almost every religion.
That's how sacred the number is.
So, whatever you think about
numerology, the number 7 keeps
repeating itself in the statue.
Can we say this is an accident?
Absolutely.
But when it comes to symbolism
and the freemasons, very few
things were ever an accident.
Does mean that the illuminati
infiltrated the masons?
I have no idea.
But with this 1 inch repeating
itself -- 1 inch, 1 inch,
that's a question that we need to ask.
Buddy, Mac, and Scott are
meeting with a guy who thinks
the illuminati are responsible for every
bad thing that's happening in world.
Yeah, now, this guy's anti-illuminati,
but he absolutely, 100% believes that
they exist.
If he has honest proof that
they exist, I would love to see
it because, you know, unless
there's proof that they exist --
they seem like this historical, fictional
Whether they still are
infiltrating, you know, governments
here, I find that very hard to believe.
Or huddled around somewhere,
playing "dungeons & dragons."
Like, are they real or are they
All we can ask you to do is
keep an open mind.
Just do that.
So, let's get going.
The statue of liberty is an
illuminati symbol, and when you
find out what it means, you'll
never look at it the same way.
The reason I wanted to meet you
here at the united nations is
that David rockefeller donated this land
To create this center.
He wrote in his memoirs that he
and his family are often accused
of being a member of a secret
society dedicated to creating a
one-world government, and he says,
"I am guilty, and I'm proud."
This is the birth child
of a secret society.
Wow.
This is happening right now
here on these streets today?
Today.
Can you tell us a little more about the
symbolism in the statue of liberty?
Absolutely.
If you look at the radiant crown,
she has these seven horns
sticking out of her head.
That's symbolic of the sun,
representing enlightenment.
Isn't enlightenment a good thing?
Enlightenment is a
good thing to them.
It doesn't represent America.
It doesn't represent freedom.
It represents Lucifer, Satan.
As far as I'm concerned, it should be
torn down and taken to a scrap heap.
If you want to learn about political
power, you must look at the illuminati.
If you're looking into the illuminati,
the statue of liberty is just a
footnote.
The illuminati identify with
Lucifer, and that is their huge
idol dedicating this country to him
and showing that they rule here.
And this is hidden in
the statue of liberty?
Lucifer literally means
"the light bearer," okay?
So, for the statue of liberty,
you have the torch -- the torch
representing light
and enlightenment.
All of us are looking at it,
and it's a symbol of peace and
freedom and liberty.
Well, I know that this is a little hard
to swallow, especially if you're new to
this.
To say the least.
The illuminati is not only a
religious secret society.
Very powerful men are members of
this organization, and they pull
the strings from
behind the scenes.
[ Sirens wailing ]
We should go find a
place to sit down.
Okay.
[ Siren wails ]
Let's just see what some other
people have to think, some
other prominent
historical figures.
I'll go to the library of
congress, and I'll show you
George Washington's
handwritten letter.
George Washington?
This was a letter written in 1798.
"It was not my intention to
doubt the doctrines of the
illuminati, and the principles
of jacobinism had not spread to
the United States.
On the contrary, no one is more
satisfied of that fact than I am."
You doubted that they
even continued to exist.
George Washington
says that they did.
He said the doctrines continue to exist,
and maybe some of the doctrines did.
It doesn't say that the
people continue to exist.
How do you think the
doctrines spread?
Let's hear what president John f.
Kennedy had to say about secret societies.
The very word "secrecy" is repugnant
in a free and open society.
And we are as a people
inherently and historically
opposed to secret societies, to secret
oaths, and to secret proceedings.
This was one of the most
ridiculous things I've ever heard.
Jfk was clearly talking about
communism in that speech.
It was the height of the
cold war, and Americans were
terrified of Soviet Russia.
That speech had nothing to
do with the illuminati.
Give me a break.
Has a President of the United States
been a member of the illuminati?
George w. Bush is illuminati,
his father is illuminati, his
grandfather was illuminati all
through the skull and bones
society, which is considered the
American branch of the illuminati.
Skull and bones is an
infamous secret society.
They were founded in
Their members are the power elite.
Both presidents bush and senator
John kerry are members,
which also makes them the most
incredibly over-played bad guys.
They're blamed for everything
from the invention of the
nuclear bomb to the
Kennedy assassination.
Are we supposed to take
your word for this?
Go around New York, look in
the top of some of the most
prominent buildings, and you'll
also see illuminati overtones --
the rising sun, a pyramid with
an eye, a pyramid with an
illumination coming behind it.
Some of the most powerful banks
and corporations and media
companies have illuminati
symbols in the logos.
And so they use their private
network, their good-old-boy
shadow network, to build the most
powerful companies in the world.
So, the illuminati have set up
multiple enormous monuments.
Go to rockefeller center.
Go to the cathedral of
Saint John the divine.
Central park has a giant
obelisk, a symbol of the
illuminati, another luciferian
symbol paid for by the second
richest man in the world,
William Vanderbilt.
William Vanderbilt put this
up, and he's an illuminati?
Yes.
So, once the new world order is
solidified, once the one-world
government, all the
infrastructure's in place, you
can have a one-world dictator
come forward and rule with an
iron fist, and there's gonna
be no way to stop him.
Come on.
I don't think there's been a
master plan by one small group
to take over the world since 1792.
But I do think that the past can
inform the present, and I do
believe there are hidden
messages all around us, left by
our ancestors as guides, sometimes
to teach and sometimes to warn.
Let's look at just facts.
There's no question that masons
built the statue of liberty, and
there's no question that because
of that extra 1 inch, the number
the statue's dimensions.
But the big question remains
whether those same men were also
members of the illuminati, a
shadowy sect with dark intentions.
I'm getting a second wind,
but I'm gonna need it.
I think we're getting there.
We're getting into a
lot of good stuff.
Hot dog, just the hot
mustard -- that's it.
All right.
Oh, man.
Are you starting to see
symbols everywhere?
Well, you know, we're in the
financial district right now.
You know, what are the symbols we
should be paying attention to here?
Well, he told us specifically what
symbols to look for and where to go.
No, I'm good. Thank you.
Thanks a lot.
We'll just go and
just eat on the run.
For a lot of people -- and
I'm one of them -- the
statue of liberty has nothing to
do with religion and everything
to do with freedom.
But for other people, she was a
threat to morality and certain
religious values.
Buddy, Mac, and Scott are about
to confront this one head on.
Wow. There it is.
Look at this thing.
It doesn't look that scary.
No, but it looks almost exactly
like the Washington monument.
Cleopatra's needle -- 1600 b.C.
I mean, that's just amazing to me.
The people who carved
that lived before Christ.
It was put up by the freemasons,
by the illuminated freemasons.
Dr. monteith.
Yes.
How are you?
But what we're really trying to
get to the bottom of is, are
these symbols of something
sinister, and what does this mean?
Well, if you were to fly over
this in a helicopter and you
were to look down, you would
see a point within a circle.
And that has a specific
occult meaning.
It's this idea of the eye.
You'll see it on the
back of the dollar bill.
And they use the eye repeatedly
as an emblem of knowledge -- the
eye of horus, the eye of Lucifer.
Does she represent
Lucifer to you, doctor?
No, the statue of liberty
is a pagan goddess.
What is a pagan goddess doing in
the harbor here in New York city?
But it was actually a gift.
It's a gift from
the French people.
It exemplifies the idea of the
destruction of the old order and
the bringing of this new one.
They wanted not only to destroy
the structure of government,
they wanted to destroy the
structure of religion.
We've got a pagan -- pagan goddess
out there in the estuary there.
It could represent semiramis,
the *** of Babylon.
I mean, I'm very concerned about
the future of this city, if you
believe in the Bible as I do and believe
that Babylon is going to be destroyed.
And I believe that New York
city is modern-day Babylon.
I'm sorry.
You believe New York city is modern-day
Babylon and it's going to be destroyed?
I believe it's going -- well,
that's what it says in the
Bible, and I happen to believe
the Bible is accurate.
He just called the statue
of liberty a ***.
I guess you can make certain connections
to New York and Babylon, but the
statue of liberty as
the *** of Babylon?
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
It's starting to look a
little bit like a pattern.
In science, two events
does not make a pattern.
But if you're looking at these
symbols of the sun God,
Lucifer, and there's other
places to look at, and let's go
see them and see if
there is a pattern.
I'll look.
Absolutely.
Let's take a look.
I'm willing to look.
Can you guys try and
keep up, please?
I know this sounds nuts, but
some people actually say that
David rockefeller was illuminati.
That's something we've
got to check out.
Rockefeller Plaza.
The house that rockefeller built.
Yes.
Check out
This is prometheus here.
Well, he's got the torch in the
right hand the same way as
the statue of liberty.
Mark dice said this is a
representation of Lucifer that
we should be looking for
in rockefeller Plaza.
Right.
Hey, you guys catching the flags?
What's that reminding you of?
Wow, okay, that has the u.N.
Very u.N.-Like, yes.
You know, the new world order -- u.
N. Flags everywhere, directly
in the center.
Prometheus, Lucifer.
At the center.
But what's interesting, I think, is that,
you know, rockefeller, the one who
allegedly admitted being in a
secret society, right, and
wanting a new world order, would
have a place after him like this
with prometheus right in the middle of it, the u.
N. Sort of flags around.
I mean, it's sort of in a sense,
I think, going along with
what -- what mark dice was saying.
Fire is a symbol of the
illuminati, but let's be honest.
If you look hard enough, you'll
start thinking that it's hidden
everywhere, from liberty's torch
to the statue of prometheus.
Almost everywhere you look,
there's some symbol.
You got atlas, mythological
titan, holding up the world.
Isn't that a weird placement,
right across from one of the
most beautiful cathedrals?
There's atlas
Holding up the world, one world.
Paganism, christianity.
Sort of an affront to
the church, in a way.
Right, and according to dice,
that's purposefully done.
On one hand, I felt like if I
couldn't see these symbols for
myself, then maybe they're
not that powerful.
But on the other hand, maybe they
really weren't meant for me.
They were meant for other
members of the same club, and
that made it kind of creepy.
All right.
So if you believe that
prometheus holding the flame is
an illuminati symbol and atlas
with the world on his shoulders
represents one world order and
that this was intentionally
placed across the street from a
catholic church and that the
statue of liberty is an
illuminati beacon, then, yes,
you can say that there's a
powerful network of symbols
across the island of Manhattan pointing
to the hidden conversation of a secret
society.
But that's if you believe the
illuminati even existed in the
what we've yet to prove.
You know who else sees
the world like this?
Who?
Paranoid schizophrenics.
They see everything as a
part of a larger pattern.
Yeah, well, is it changing the way we
look at the statue of liberty yet?
Okay, I've heard this
one a million times.
I even wrote a book on it --
that the masons have infiltrated
every part of society.
But the most shocking and
outrageous thing we've heard is
this -- that the illuminati may
have hidden a satanic message
inside the statue of liberty.
Again, let's go back
to actual facts.
There's obviously a connection
between the masons and the statue.
But a satanic message that's
hidden in the statue itself, or
even the illuminati being real?
I just want someone who's
credible and who doesn't dress
like they should have
been on "the x-files."
So buddy and Mac and Scott are
headed to meet a man who spent
his life actually searching
for the illuminati.
Professor bullock, do you think
the statue of liberty has
any hidden symbols or meaning?
I just don't see it.
I think the statue of
liberty is about liberty.
It's about the end of the
civil war, maybe about the
attempt to bring liberty to
France, but I don't think there
are any other secret
meanings than that.
But there seems to be people
that feel absolutely the
opposite way and really have
some radical views about this.
Well, there certainly are, but I think
anytime you're talking about secret
conspiracies, it's very, very
hard to kill the illuminati,
which, I guess, it's
sort of a zombie idea.
You know, you keep killing it, you keep
attacking it, and it keeps coming back.
Well, do they exist?
As you probably know, they
certainly did back in the 1770s,
What about this notion that
corporations are controlled by them?
We've heard presidents were
members of this organization.
The answer we got is that the
illuminati are in charge of the
banks, so they start the wars
because it's profitable for them.
People keep coming up with things.
Conspiracy theorists want to suggest that
everything is related, everything is
interconnected, and having
studied history all these years,
it doesn't seem as if
things look that way.
Finally, someone I could
agree with, someone who knew
what they were talking about.
There was just no evidence that
some all-powerful group called
the illuminati was wrestling
for world domination.
These are all people who are
claiming to look from the outside.
Do we have any evidence of
someone coming out of the
illuminati, that they found this
plot, and they can name people,
they can name things?
You mean like a mole?
You just don't have it.
That, to me, is a really
strong point -- like, if they
existed, someone would
defect at some point.
Where are they?
Professor, you've
read all this stuff.
You've researched it.
Was bartholdi an illuminati?
I've never found any illuminati
in history, and, you
know, if anything, you know, the
appeal for me would have been
finding this kind of thing.
So you would have been
happy to find them?
That would have been
a great coup for me.
Instead, I'm forced to
suggest there isn't that.
Can I say "I told you so"?
You know, not necessarily.
I mean, I'm not sure whether the
illuminati exist, or they don't
exist, or what at this point,
but I can tell you I was not
convinced that there's evidence to the
contrary after that conversation.
But there's no evidence that they
do exist is what he's saying.
But that was the only
answer he could give.
There's no evidence they do exist.
It's crazy.
You know, we've got so much information
that we've received so quickly.
Right now it just feels like one crazy
idea after another until I feel like I'm
off-balance.
I mean, there's no question
about that there were some of
the symbols that we'd been told to look for, so
And atlas right across the
street from the cathedral is
kind of -- it is interesting.
The location is like they're
giving the finger to the church.
I was reminded of how when
you're deer hunting at, like,
dawn, and you really want to see
deer, you start seeing their
antlers in the branches, and
everything starts to look like a deer.
Because we see billions of
things in our lifetime, and if
our filter is such that we just
see certain kinds of things,
we're gonna block
everything else out.
That is true.
That is absolutely true, but it
does not mean that the people
that designed and built the
statue of liberty did not have
something in mind, in their
minds, when they did it.
Agreed.
What I would say is
we've heard the song.
Yeah.
We know what it means to us, but what
did the person who wrote it mean?
All right, guys, let's figure
out where we are right now.
We know that the masons built
the statue of liberty.
Yep.
And assuming that the illuminati
infiltrated the masons, can we then safely
assume the the illuminati put some
sort of hidden symbolism in it?
Lucifer himself is a
symbol of the illuminati.
Oh, check it.
Oh, there she is.
She just came into view from
behind the other bridge.
That's a great view.
The question is is the statue of
liberty representing Lucifer?
Could that really be possible?
That's what we need to find out.
Exactly.
No matter whether you believe
the statue of liberty was built
as a tribute to Lucifer or,
like me or most sane people,
that it's a symbol of freedom,
it is unquestionably one thing.
It's a symbol.
So what I want to know is where'd
the Lucifer concept come from?
This is a reckless
and dangerous idea.
But whether we like it or not,
there's a real power in symbols,
especially this one.
Nice to meet you.
My pleasure completely.
Thanks for meeting us here.
We really appreciate
you coming out.
We're trying to figure out
whether the statue of liberty
has some sort of hidden meaning, maybe
something sinister and nefarious.
One of the most incredible
things that we've heard so far
is that the statue of liberty is
actually Satan or the devil or Lucifer.
The statue of liberty actually
is a symbol of Lucifer.
Oh, Jesus.
Okay, go to your computer and
put in the words "statue of
liberty" and "Satan," and 500
pages are gonna immediately come
up, telling you that they're linked,
and we all have access to that.
That's just noise.
What we don't have is the truth,
and that's why we started this
journey -- to find that truth.
Where did that idea come from?
And every time we make some
progress, we wind up right back
where we started, with someone
once again saying that the
statue of liberty is
somehow a satanic symbol.
But what is the answer?
Where did it start?
The statue of liberty actually
is a symbol of Lucifer.
[ Chuckling ] Killing me.
But not the Lucifer that
you're thinking of, all right?
She breathes a sigh of relief.
How is the statue
of liberty Lucifer?
Okay. Excellent question.
First, we have to go into
what Lucifer really means.
Now, where people get confused
about Lucifer is specific to a
passage of the Bible in the book
of Isaiah, where he says this --
"how art thou fallen from heaven,
o Lucifer, son of the morning?"
People have been saying, "well,
this is about Lucifer the
devil," and it is not.
But the word "Lucifer" here is
not meant as a proper name.
In the 4th century, in Latin,
Lucifer meant "one who bears
light," and it was often used as
a name for the planet Venus, the
morning star, the one who bears
light first thing in the
morning, before the
sun even comes up.
In that sense only the statue
of liberty is a Lucifer.
It is a light bearer, not in the
sense of Satan, not in the sense
of beelzebub, you know,
the prince of darkness.
It's not that kind of
connection at all.
I was so relieved.
This man had sound credentials,
and I trusted him.
So first, I was freaking out,
but then I understood.
Lucifer is the Latin word
meaning "light bringer," so in
that regard, the statue of
liberty is a Lucifer.
So they're making a misinterpretation,
point-blank, of the word Lucifer?
Hello. That's exactly it.
There's nothing there at all
about the statue, in any kind of
way, abstract or not,
being a Satan.
That's just not happening.
Wow.
Hard to look at it the same way as
we did a couple days ago, isn't it?
Now, I'll say that there's
more about it than I knew.
Absolutely.
Definitely.
I'm not sure most Americans know
that she's modeled after a goddess.
I mean, they just see a woman
statue with a torch, and it
means something to them, but that's
not evil, and that's not hidden.
That's just part of its
history that we didn't know.
For me, the way it breaks down is, you
know the scientific method, right?
You create a hypothesis, and
then you gather data, and you
create an unbiased conclusion.
And for me, the difference
between the folks who believe
the illuminati planted symbols
in the statue of liberty is they
aren't coming from
an unbiased place.
They're coming from a biased place,
and then they match the data to it.
You know, I started this journey
three days ago, and I've
come to the conclusion that,
yeah, there are hidden symbols
in the statue of liberty.
I believe that bartholdi put
this statue, this monument on
the island to remind ourselves
of what our founders started in
the first place -- ideas
like reason, truth, freedom.
I can look at that torch now,
and it represents enlightenment
and freedom from the oppression
of backwards thinkers.
It illustrates to me that, you know,
history isn't this static thing.
History is ongoing, you know?
It moves forward.
Absolutely.
And you know what the statue
means to me now is the people
that want to say there's an evil
intent behind it, the statue is
what gives them the right to
think that and the right to say
the stuff that they want to
say and the right to believe
whatever they want to believe.
Even if it means that you believe this
thing is filled with satanic symbols.
So, in fact, it's exactly the opposite
of sinister and the opposite of evil.
It's all that is good.
Are there hidden meanings
in the statue of liberty?
Sure.
Absolutely.
Yes, there are.
Good ones.
In the end, despite the urban
myth, we couldn't find a single
piece of proof that the
illuminati exist today.
But you know what?
What we did find is that the
statue of liberty definitely has
multiple meanings, depending
on who's looking at it.
To some, she's a symbol of evil,
but to others, including myself,
she's a symbol of hope and democracy
and all that is right about America.
Think about it.
There are two sources of power
in every symbol -- one bestowed
by its creator and the other
by those who read its message.
And what's truly powerful about
the statue is that she is and
can be all things to all people,
and that is what America should