We are continuing to pursue the first people in our area from pre-historic time. The history is just now being written.

What does Orontius Finaeus have to do with Original Americans? A map circa 4000 BCE.

Orontius Finaeus Delphinatus (Latin name, Oronce Fine in French) (1494-1555) is a pivotal scientist you never heard of. He was a noted French mathematician, astronomer, cartographer, and prolific author, including the large tome Protomathesis in multiple volumes. Educated as a physician, like many of the day, he was a polymath promoted to Chair of Mathematics at the College Royal (France). He served two short stints in prison, before his appointment, for proffering scientific ideas which challenged the Church in control of France politics. We used to think that was an odd circumstance, but we now see the same canceling of differing views.

Finaeus gave “pi” the approximation of 22/7 which every school kid in mathematics still uses. In Protomathesis, among a broad array of topics, he addresses the sexagesimal number system. Recall that was a Sumerian process, which he used extensively in his astronomy and cartography.

The Orontius Crater on the moon and Finaeus Cove on Antarctica bear his name.  The significance of the Antarctica honor is key to our research. He established a methodology for measuring longitude, a unique sundial, and other instruments. We are expending a few words to show his ability and credibility.

A contemporary of Admiral Re’is, in 1531, Finaeus released a map of the world, also showing details of the land mass of Antarctica without ice. It showed inlets, estuaries, rivers, and mountains instead. At the time of the map, Antarctica had an ice-cover, so he necessarily had base maps which were before a time of ice.

Charles Hapgood, FRGS, a Harvard educated history of science professor had his students research the Piri Re’is map, we discussed last article, and the Finaeus Map. In his book, Hapgood affirms that he and the students discarded hundreds of hypotheses, which is totally consistent with the scientific method.

As a self-check for one of his books, Hapgood had the inimitable Dr. Albert Einstein review the manuscript. In the introduction, Einstein was very effusive including that the hypothesis was “of great importance to everything that is related to history of the earth’s surface.î Heady words indeed.

With the assistance of M.I.T mathematician Richard W. Strachan, Hapgood converted the “rhumb” (constant bearing) lines of the map into modern latitude and longitude. This is not unlike converting a grid-based map to a Mercator-base. The original rhumb lines on the Piri Re’is map were a circle centered near Syene, Egypt, along the Tropic of Cancer. Hence the original map likely was from that area at a prehistory date, posited as circa 4,000 BCE.

Before publication, Hapgood received strong support for his map research from the U.S. Air Force. Why would the Air Force be interested? Like other analysis, context tells much of the story.

Look at the title block for the report to Professor Hapgood: Chief, Cartographic Section; 8th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron (SAC); Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts.

The cartographic section is responsible for maps. The Eighth Air Force (SAC) was the Strategic Air Command who controlled the long-range nuclear arsenal of the United States.

The time was during the Cold War. The power of the world divided into two camps, the United States sphere, and the Soviet Union sphere. Intense competition surrounded everything in an attempt to rule the politics. From space competition, technology theft, to manufacturing superiority, the race was to obtain power. Lest one think this was superfluous, throughout history this attempt to rule and control has existed, exists, and continues.

Why Reconnaissance Squadron? This organization’s charge was creating maps and identifying every structure and anomaly on the planet. How could they possibly do that? This was at the time of the earliest satellites, which the Soviet Union launched first. The spacecraft gave a huge advantage in technology, military, and politics.

The Air Force was flying reconnaissance aircraft across the planet. The planes took reams of camera footage. The film was then flown back to Westover for reading, interpretation, and analysis. They investigated every anomaly to determine whether natural, mining, or missile.

How do I know all this? Some of it was published-knowledge. During the era, I was an Air Force officer and electrical engineer. My assignment was to a Test Group using very similar camera technology for tracking airborne events. Westover was one of the few bases that were potential assignments with my specialty code.

Why was the Reconnaissance Squadron interested in working with Professor Hapgood? Think about it just a little. He presented a map of the earth before any significant changes by humans. It was a base map of the world. It provided insight into the planet structure and architecture. Literally, it was a dream come true for reconnaissance.

The commander was Colonel Harold Z. Ohlmeyer, a highly decorated and distinguished bombardier during World War II. He knew what the face of the planet looked like through a bomb-sight and camera. He wrote the initial letter to Professor Hapgood. The project implementation was in the organization of Captain Lorenzo W. Burroughs. After the Air Force obtained their needed data, eight officers and airmen volunteered their time over a two-year period to further interpret the maps.

Few cartographic, archaeological, or historical research has received the intense scrutiny that the Piri Re’is (1513) and Orontius Finaeus (1531) maps have through the U.S. Air Force and as we saw in the previous article, the U.S. Navy, and numerous other researchers.

Both organizations validated the maps are the real deal. In his detailed analysis, Captain Burroughs noted:

ì..beyond a doubt, that it also was compiled from accurate source maps of Antarctica, but in this case of the entire continent. Close examination has proved†the original source maps must have been compiled at a time when the land mass and inland waterways of the continent were relatively free of ice.†This conclusion is further supported by a comparison of the Oronteus Fineaus [sic] Map with the results obtained by International Geophysical Year teams in their measurements of the subglacial topography.î

Think about: What data could logically, rationally, and scientifically contend with this analysis?

What does that mean in our understanding of people development?

What does it mean in terms of environmental knowledge?

Why is this well researched and documented historical reality not taught and known?