History is fragile.

Whether it is the notion that medieval people thought the world was flat (most knew it was round), that witches were burned at the stake in Salem (they were lynched and sometimes drowned) or that George Washington had wooden teeth (he had fakes but none were made of wood), the history we were taught in school is constantly disproved or rewritten.

This isn’t anything new. Humans have always been able to find new evidence or better explanations. As of late, however, this exercise seem to be in hyper-drive … Thanks to the Information Age, historical debunking can now be done by pretty much anyone with a laptop or smartphone.

It is a risky enterprise though, and the result is two-fold: on one hand, access to so much knowledge has opened our eyes to what really happened in the past; but, on the other, there is a vast amount of misinformation and sensationalism out there that can cloud our understanding.

History professors and conspiracy theorists alike seem to be faced with dissent whenever they preach their ideas.

This means that we almost always challenge before believing. Moreover, we not only question things like George Washington’s dental records or what is really released in “chemtrails”, but we challenge beliefs that would completely rock the foundations of who we are and where we come from.

We seem to be questioning bigger and bigger ideas about history. As mentioned though, some evidence cited in this practice is hardly legitimate or trustworthy and it’s next to impossible to determine what’s true (much less what’s false).

So how does one determine what’s real history and what is fabrication?

Well, we here at Monty Carlos tend to look at the hard evidence. Or, as they say in the business, evidence that is “dispositive”.

In certain cases the hard, dispositive evidence is much stronger for alternatives than it is for mainstream history. Taking it a step further, we have found that there are some aspects of mainstream history that aren’t really backed by dispositive evidence at all.

For some things, there has to be another story; an explanation backed by stronger evidence.

To help ease any shock that may be experienced if (and when) a really big belief is proven wrong, we have compiled the following list of historical events or assumptions that aren’t holding up well to hard evidence. Hopefully, this countdown will help prepare you both emotionally and psychologically for changes to our historical record when they most likely come.

Here are the top 8 beliefs about history that will probably be disproved in our lifetime:

8. Thomas Edison’s bulb was the first form of artificial lighting.

This one would probably be higher on the list if it wasn’t all but disproved already.

Whether it’s Ancient Egyptian glyphs (that look startling similar to our modern light bulbs) or Greek philosopher Thales’ description of a cat fur and amber static electricity generator, evidence is surfacing that supports humans having knowledge of artificial lighting long before Edison.

What’s shocking is that it wasn’t just a knowledge of artificial light, but that ancients actually found ways to use it in a practical manner. The best example of this is the Baghdad Battery; a terracotta pot containing an open-ended copper cylinder and small iron rod from around 300 AD. Baghdad Batteries strongly resemble our simple galvanic batteries and have actually been tested to power modern light bulbs.

So why are we still taught this? Energy is one of the most lucrative industries in the world. Like degrading Tesla’s accomplishments (after he built a tower that emitted free energy for anyone to use), power providers do anything they can to discourage people from using different forms of artificial lighting. They need people to believe that the only way to light a room is by plugging a bulb into their power source.

7. Vikings were really the first non-native visitors to North America.

This is a perfect example of how fragile history really is.

The idea that Thorvald Eriksson and a band of Vikings were actually the first non-native people to visit North America is new and it debunks the previously held belief that Christopher Columbus was first. What we are finding is that even the Viking visits were probably predated by others crossing the Atlantic (or Pacific).

We have found countless stones and artifacts across North America that are marked with Ancient Egyptian, Hebrew and Greek letters/symbols. One discovery worth mentioning was made by a man named G.E. Kinkaid.

When exploring the Grand Canyon, Kinkaid stumbled upon a network of caves that appeared to be man-made and contained several interesting artifacts. Specifically, he found a very old statue of Buddha.

By itself, the statue doesn’t mean much; anyone could have put it there, including Kinkaid. However, the reaction to it’s discovery by the Smithsonian, and the very peculiar events that followed their investigation, seem to only legitimize it’s authenticity.

When Kinkaid contacted the national historical society about what he found, they quickly came to the site, dated it and then put Buddha (along with many other objects found in the cave) on a train for Washington DC.

Neither the objects nor Kinkaid were ever seen or heard from again. Today, the area where Kinkaid found the cave network is strictly off-limits to Grand Canyon visitors.

So why are we still taught this? It’s unclear why the keepers of history (if there are such people) protect the date when non-native groups started venturing to North America. It seems that as a population, we are at least flexible on this one … We have already shifted from Columbus to the Vikings without much hoopla. This is probably a Christian or white European thing (they want to be the first and best at everything). The problem with this one though, is that it establishes an idea that our current society is best and that we have progressed linearly.

6. The lone gunman.

There are volumes of physical, eye-witness, medical, video and empirical evidence for why Lee Harvey Oswald was not the only shooter in the assassination of JFK. In fact, there is so much dispositive evidence against the lone gunman theory that the people who believe it (or that there was a “Magic Bullet”) are now the crazy ones.

Spend even a little bit of time with the evidence against the lone gunman and you’ll see how shaky that theory really is.

It still has it’s defenders, though. There was even a ridiculous theory put out a few years ago that described how a Secret Service member assigned to protect Kennedy slipped and fell with an automatic rifle in his hands. The theory states that the gun discharged and it was his bullet that delivered the fatal shot. It then goes on to explain that this is the reason for all of the secrecy, because it would jeopardize the Secret Service.

Talk about a reach…

So why are we still taught this? Since all hard evidence seems to be against the lone gunman, what is most interesting about the Kennedy assassination is not if there were multiple shooters, but who those shooters were. Groups ranging from mobsters to government officials and Fidel Castro to Anti-Castro Cubans have all been implicated in the assassination of JFK, but the evidence for “who else” is still closely protected. We will get this answer in our lifetime as most classified documents about “who else” are to be released in the next 20 years.

5. Reptiles are the closest cousins of dinosaurs.

They are not, birds are. In fact, modern birds probably are dinosaurs…

From the toucans of the tropics to the penguins of the Antarctic, ours is a world of birds. They are among the most successful land animals – and have been for a very long time. If a birdwatcher could step back 70 million years, they would be absolutely dazzled by the birds on show.

But the evolutionary history of birds has long been an enigma. Ever since a single fossil feather was dug up 150 years ago, the origins of birds have been one of biology’s most contentious issues.

That has all changed with a string of recent discoveries, most notably the famous feathered dinosaurs of China. This has spawned further research into the dinosaur fossil evidence that we already have. What we’ve found is that most dinosaurs probably did have birdlike qualities, such as feathers and beaks.

In a little over a decade these findings have transformed our understanding of both dinosaur and bird origins.

So why are we still taught this? This is likely a holdover of anti-evolutionist sentiments. Although the Theory of Evolution has it’s own holes (and could very well be on this list), modern birds evolving from dinosaurs is a devastating counter-argument for those who support Darwin’s theory.

4. WTC Building 7 collapsed due to structural failure through fire in a “pancake” fashion.

Outside of number one on our list, there may not be another aspect of history with more misinformation surrounding it than the events of September 11th.

At this point, we have all seen Loose Change, Zeitgeist or numerous other 9/11 conspiracy documentaries that are filled with very compelling (yet hardly reliable) evidence about what happened that day. However, when looking at hard, dispositive evidence surrounding this event — not the “9+11=20 and that was Bush’s favorite number” stuff — it’s clear that at least some of what the truthers claim is legitimate.

Specifically, around the collapse of the not-so-infamous Building 7 (which you may not have even heard of until now).

There are several holes in the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s explanation that fires in Building 7 (started by falling debris from the collapses of the North and South towers) caused structural failure that made it fall in a “pancake” fashion. To keep this short, though, we’ll focus on one part of their report that the laws of physics just don’t support…

Here is an explanation from University of California – Berkley physical chemistry professor David Chandler for why physics doesn’t allow for Building 7 to fall the way the commission claims it did:

So why are we still taught this? If the explanation for Building 7’s collapse is disingenuous, it brings into question the entire 9/11 Commission report (which the NIST report on building 7 supports). Two wars have been fought based on their findings and that’s a can of worms very few want opened.

3. The Pyramids of Giza were used as tombs for pharaohs.

It’s quite simple, really … No mummy or tomb has ever been found in the three famous Pyramids of Giza.

We’ll repeat this: No mummy or tomb has ever been found in the three famous Pyramids of Giza.

Evidence actually points to the pyramids being more practical machine than aesthetic burial art. We probably cannot do a better job of describing this than the following video:

So why are we still taught this? Similar to number 8, this would have major effects on energy economics. Changing this would also drastically mess with the historical timeline. Ancient access to electrical energy also brings into question the “miracles” of several religions. Imagine the effects on Judeo-Christian beliefs if something like the Ark of the Covenant was really just an electrically powered machine…

2. The “Big Bang” theory.

Number 2 on our list is more about the lack of evidence that supports it, rather than dispositive evidence for something else.

Up until now, the Big Bang theory (which holds that the universe came into being about 13.8 billion years ago as a result of a single event that launched the universe into a continuous state of expansion) has made the most sense. This theory has long held its own as a way of understanding Einstein’s theory of general relativity, but as scientists have delved deeper into the fascinating world of quantum physics, the Big Bang model has become quite shaky.

The biggest problem with the Big Bang theory is that none of the equations that explain what happened in the singularity can take us all the way back to the moment the Big Bang actually happened. Instead, the laws of physics can only explain what occurred after the theoretical event.

Another basic problem is that if the universe is expanding, Big Bang requires that it must have been expanding from an area that was, at one point, incredibly small and dense. New models move away from this “expanding universe” theory by relying on a “cosmological constant” that puts the universe at a finite size. In other words, instead of originating from a single point and being infinite, the universe has simply always been around and roughly the same size.

So why are we still taught this? Well, for starters, this is much harder to wrap your head around than the Big Bang. The Big Bang is easy but also largely democratic; it allows for both science and religion to mutually exist. In short, it doesn’t really piss anyone off. Despite this, it seems that the Big Bang is losing momentum and may go by the wayside.

1. We are alone in our universe.

As mentioned above, nothing has more misinformation and half-truths associated with it than the existence of life outside of our world. Simultaneously, there isn’t another item on our list that has more hard, dispositive evidence backing it. You truly have to “sift through the bullshit” to find the truth.

Lucky for us, Dr. Steven Greer recognized this unreliable information problem.

In his Disclosure Project, Dr. Greer set out to both find real evidence and discredit evidence that is fabricated or based on little fact.

He has collected information from over 500 government, military and intelligence witnesses testifying to their direct, first hand experience with UFOs, ETs or ET technology. He has compiled official documents from the United States, Canada, UK, France, Russia, New Zealand, Denmark and countless other national governments. His information is so reliable that he has been asked to brief the Administrations of multiple US Presidents, the CIA, military officials at the Pentagon and select members of Congress.

It’s hardly Billy Bob describing what the blue light looked like before it sucked him up to a flying saucer.

Instead of attempting to summarize all of Dr. Greer’s information, we highly recommend diving into his material yourself at http://www.disclosureproject.org.

With this level of dispositive evidence and contemporary society’s apparent UFO craze, it will most likely be proven within our lifetime.

So why are we still taught this? Countless reasons exist for why we are not given adequate information about ETs. Here are a few of the majors: (1) there are massive religious implications associated with proving life exists elsewhere; (2) the knowledge of how a more advanced species visits Earth — particularly the energy, transportation methods and other technology they use to get here — would instantly end several lucrative industries; and (3) the fear of uncontrollable, mass hysteria. It would completely change life as we know it.

Well, there you have it. The top 8 beliefs about history that will probably be disproved in our lifetime.

Are there any that are missing? Do you disagree?

Please share your thoughts, history belongs to everyone.

But, let’s not forget:

It’s fragile.