Yeoman's in the Fork Blog

I recently watched an episode of Ancient Aliens on The History Channel that was entitled Aliens in the Old West. Whether a coincidence or not this episode could not have come at a better time from a marketing standpoint considering the upcoming movie Cowboys and Aliens starring Harrison Ford was just around the corner. For those unfamiliar with this program, basically the show focuses on the so called "ancient astronaut" theory. UFO claims, so called enigma's in history like the Great Pyramid of Giza or the Nazca lines in Peru are just a few of their topics. The idea that an race of aliens has made contact with the Earth giving us technology, helping our civilization evolve and even being the originator of our life itself are some of the theories proposed by the various authors and contributors on the show. This particular episode, among several other stories, told the strange last days of author, journalist and satirist, Ambrose Bierce.

Bierce was a very prolific literary figure who was probably best known for his work with the San Francisco Examiner. He is also widely known for his work The Devil's Dictionary. Many of his short stories had dark imagery and dealt with very strange subject matter. His love of the esoteric could have driven him to Mexico at the age of 71. It is said that he went to Mexico to cover the revolution and soon joined up with Pancho Villa. It seems that his whereabouts can be traced to the city of Chihuahua where he was with Villa's army. There is some controversy surrounding a supposed letter that he wrote to close friend Blanche Partington on December 26th, 1913. This supposed letter closed by saying, "As to me, I leave here tomorrow for an unknown destination." After that date, the whereabouts of Bierce are unknown and he vanished from history. His body was never found. The folks at Ancient Aliens use this letter and Bierce's mysterious side to theorize that he had met up with Mitchell-Hedges and had figured out a way to contact aliens. Thus, he knew that he was about to depart this world to some "other dimension" via a UFO through a wormhole. This explanation seems much more plausible to these guys than the idea that he was killed in battle or even killed by Villa himself, as some explanations have suggested. However, all of this can be called into question. The letter mentioned has never been produced, there is no proof Bierce was ever even in Mexico. But, there is no proof that he was not in Mexico either.

The mention of Mitchell-Hedges in all of this brings up a whole different subject. Mitchell-Hedges is known for his association with a crystal skull. There are many stories associated with this skull and the whole affair is very ambiguous and shrouded in mystery. For a great summery of this aspect of the story I suggest you go to http://www.philipcoppens.com/mitchellhedges_origin.html. This is an excellent article that also demonstrates how Ambrose Bierce fits into the whole affair surrounding the famous crystal skull. It seems that Mitchell-Hedges could have been a spy, as it is alleged by some that Bierce was as well. They could have both been going to Mexico for the same reasons and even spent time together there. Was it to look for the skull, which was supposedly "found" almost a decade later, or was it something else? We do know that Mitchell-Hedges had a period where lying about many aspects of his life was utilized with great vigor. Is it possible that they did find the skull together and that Mitchell-Hedges had to lie in order to keep possession of it. He acquired it legally in an auction at Sotheby's in 1943. So, if they found it in 1913, did Bierce really ride off with aliens into oblivion? The Mitchell-Hedges skull has never been examined to determine if it is indeed a hoax or not. Other skulls have been implicated as modern forgeries. It is curious that Mitchell-Hedges wrote a book called The White Tiger. This story seems to have some real life implications, even a possible explanation as to the final fate of Bierce. All of these details are covered by Coppens. I highly recommend it.