BRAD MELTZER: 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? [theme music] 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 gotta 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 ancestors saw not too many generations ago,
the first symbol of hope. BRAD MELTZER: 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. BUDDY LEVY: 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. BRAD MELTZER: Everyone knows
the Statue of Liberty, right? But she's only been in the
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 US Park Police Marine Patrol Unit. MCKINLEY: She's beautiful. She's more beautiful up close.
- Oh, yeah. She's pretty spectacular, yes. Why she's stuck
out on an island and not right on Manhattan? Well, that was the flair
of the artist, Bartholdi. He really was anxious
for the statue to be seen by as many people
as possible, especially people coming on ships from
Europe, from the Caribbean, from Canada, from all over. BRAD MELTZER: As
mysterious as the statue itself is, its creator,
Frederic 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
re-gifted the statue to the United States. Nice, huh? It's a re-gift. Bartholdi modeled the
physical features of the lady after the two most important
people in his life-- his mother and his mistress. Some historians 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 edible disaster? SCOTT ROLLE: 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? BARRY MORENO: Yeah.
They were, yeah. The Liberty was the
tallest man-made structure in New York City at that time. There were no
skyscrapers taller, so she really
attracted attention. She's facing east? BUDDY LEVY: Southeast. Boy, I like that idea that Barry
was talking about where she can see all the way to Europe. MCKINLEY (VOICEOVER):
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 have been
willing to believe that she was hiding a secret message. Well, her crown's seven
rays suggest the seven seas and seven continents. What's the point of that? MCKINLEY: Yeah. The reason the numbers
are interesting to me is that for engineers
and architects, there's nothing
accidental about numbers. If you're making a work
of art, do numbers matter? MCKINLEY: Yeah.
Everything matters. It's not a function,
it's a piece of art, so they can choose
whatever they want. BUDDY LEVY: Those numbers
wouldn't be random. I don't know 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 base and the damage was considerable. It is clear that for
almost a century, Lady Liberty's message has been
under almost constant attack. MCKINLEY: So the height
is 151 and 1 inch. The foundation petal's
305 and 1 inch. BUDDY LEVY: Plus 1 inch. Index finger, 8 feet, 1 inch. Why are these added
single inches? I know. 151 plus 1 inch. Why? Wouldn't it be standard
just to have the team be 151 feet or 305 feet? I don't know. Do you think it's worth
heading back and seeing Scott? MCKINLEY: Yeah, I wanna see if
we're going down the right path here.
- OK. 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. And 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? BUDDY LEVY: Whoa.
MCKINLEY: The Eiffel Tower. BUDDY LEVY: Yeah. SCOTT ROLLE: It has
a similarity to it, but 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 skeletals. 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. Frederick 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-- BUDDY LEVY: Let me check
something out here. All right. 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? BUDDY LEVY: Why Napoleon
traditionally depicted with his hand in his waistcoat? Some theories include
he had a stomach ulcer. - Yeah.
- No. Keep going.
- Winding his watch. There's something
else that I saw. He had a skin disease. SCOTT ROLLE: Keep
going, keep going. BUDDY LEVY: Oh, wait a second. A gesture of importance
in Masonic rituals. MCKINLEY: Members
of the Freemason. Using this sign are proven
members of the Freemasons. It's always the Masons. I would be fascinated to
see if these three guys were Masons. BUDDY LEVY: Oh, my god. Bartholdi is a Freemason. How about Hunt? Here he is. Look at down here--
Freemason. Yep, absolutely. All right. Well, OK. Eiffel. Gustav Eiffel. Freemason. Eiffel's a Freemason. All three. MCKINLEY: OK. 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
overused plot device around. MCKINLEY: 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. I 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. SCOTT ROLLE: Yeah, it's
got the seven points. ALLEN GREENFIELD: 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?
SCOTT ROLLE: Torch. ALLEN GREENFIELD: 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 remain 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. ALLEN GREENFIELD: 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 the amorphous
globalist community. How's that for
straightforward and scary? OK. 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. [music playing] The Statue of Liberty sits 151
feet and 1 inch over New York Harbor-- 1 inch. It's a silent symbol. But what does the
1 inch stand for? 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 out how many inches the whole
height of the statue was and adding up those digits. It 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 seven. As a matter of fact, you could
call the Statue of Liberty a shrine to the number seven. A shrine to the number seven? JOSH SIEGEL: 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 seven
with the seven spikes, or the seven rays.
- Right. JOSH SIEGEL: OK? On a secondary level,
you can move down. You can see there's
a series of windows-- 25. 2 plus 5-- 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 seven, and we can
reassert that number seven is part of a pattern here. Let's continue. In the base, you'll see that
there's four Grecian columns. Did you guys count these?
- There were four in each side. 16.
- Correct. 1 plus 6-- 7 again. All right. Let me show you something else. You remember this
part of the statue? BUDDY LEVY: Definitely. OK. There are a series
of raised portions, or leaves surrounding the torch. There are exactly 16. Really? JOSH SIEGEL: 1 plus 6-- 7 again. Now, this is how you
find a pattern where a number reasserts itself. MCKINLEY: We were in my world. I love numbers. I love math. There's always a
concrete answer. 1 plus 1 will always equal 2. Pi will always equal 3.14. Numerologists, on
the other hand? Ugh, I don't know. SCOTT ROLLE: Hey, Brad. It's Scott. BRAD MELTZER (ON
PHONE): Hey, Scott. So we know a couple of things. We know that the three men who
built the Statue of Liberty-- we know they're all Freemasons.
Right? SCOTT ROLLE: Right. BRAD MELTZER (ON PHONE): OK? 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 to, most
important, compare him to Professor Stephen Bullock. I'll send you his
information, as well. And these two guys are--
they're opposing views. And I think that
that's what we need. You know, this is not a novel. This is reality. JOSH SIEGEL: 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. JOSH SIEGEL: 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 1812 inches. You're gonna add the extra inch
for the total amount of inches. You get 1813 inches. Not every number's
divisible by 7, OK? Because we know that
7 has a theme here. 1813 is divisible by 7. The answer is 259. Two plus 5 plus 9 is 16. 1 plus 6 is 7 again. Without that extra
inch-- and this is what you have
to understand here, because this is a
remarkable situation. Without the extra inch, the
number is not divisible by 7, and it does not
break down to seven. So we wonder if there
is a reason for that. And if you know about
number symbolism, you know that number seven
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 seven. Seven days of the week. JOSH SIEGEL: 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. Oh, yeah. In Christianity there's
seven virtues and seven-- sins. BUDDY LEVY: Sins. In Catholicism,
there's seven sacraments. Yeah. OK? 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 seven 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 are
ever an accident. Does that mean that the
Illuminati infiltrated the Masons? I have no idea. But with this 1 inch
repeating itself-- 1 inch, 1 inch, 1 inch
always in the measurements-- 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 the world. SCOTT ROLLE: 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-- Well, whether they still are
infiltrating governments here, I find that very
hard to believe. Right. Or huddled around somewhere,
playing "Dungeons and Dragons." I don't-- like, are
they real or are they-- Well, all we can ask you
to do is keep an open mind. Just do that.
So let's go going. BUDDY LEVY: Oh, OK. 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. But 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. BUDDY LEVY: Wow. And this is happening right now,
here, on these streets today. Today. SCOTT ROLLE: 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? MARK DICE: 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 lightbearer, OK? 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, it's a-- very powerful men are
members of this organization. And they pull the strings
from behind the scenes. [siren] We should go find
a place to sit down. OK. MARK DICE: 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. MARK DICE: This was a
letter written in 1798. "It was not my intention
to doubt the doctrines of the Illuminati and the
principles of Jacobism 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. SCOTT ROLLE: He said the
doctrine has continued to exist. And maybe some of
the doctrines did. It doesn't say that the
people continued to exist. How do you think
the doctrines spread? Let's hear what President
John F. Kennedy had to say about secret societies. JOHN F. KENNEDY: 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. MCKINLEY (VOICEOVER): 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 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
1832 at Yale University. Their members are
the power elite. Both Presidents Bush
and Senator John Kerry are members, which also makes
them the most incredibly overplayed 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 ol' boy shadow network, to build
the most powerful companies in the world. So the Illuminati has set up
multiple, enormous monuments. Go to Rockefeller Center. Go to the Cathedral of
St. John the Divine. Central Park has
a giant obelisk, a symbol of the Illuminati,
another Luciferian symbol. Mark-- Paid for by the second
richest man in the world-- SCOTT ROLLE: Who?
- William Vanderbilt. William Vanderbilt
put this up? - He paid for it to--
- 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. [music playing] 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 seven-- it keeps
repeating in 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. MAN: Same?
- Hot dog, just the hot mustard. That's it. MAN: All right. BUDDY LEVY: Oh, man. MCKINLEY: You starting to
see symbols everywhere? BUDDY LEVY: Well, you know
we're in the financial district right now. What are the symbols we should
be paying attention to here? MCKINLEY: Well, he
told us specifically what symbols to look
for and where to go. Oh, man.
MCKINLEY: No, I'm good. Thank you.
SCOTT ROLLE: This is good. Thanks a lot. MCKINLEY: We just go
and just eat on the run. BRAD MELTZER: 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
is 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. SCOTT ROLLE: No, but
it looks almost exactly like the Washington Monument. Cleopatra's Needle, 1600 BC. I mean, that's
just amazing to me. MCKINLEY: Yeah. The people who carved
that lived before Christ. STAN MONTEITH: It's put
up by the Freemasons-- by the Illuminated Freemasons.
SCOTT ROLLE: Dr. Monteith? Yes.
SCOTT ROLLE: 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 order. They wanted not only to destroy
the structure of government, they wanted to destroy
the structure of religion. We've got a pagan goddess out
there in the estuary, there. It could represent Semiramis,
the whore 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. MCKINLEY: I'm sorry. You believe New York City
was modern-day Babylon-- STAN MONTEITH: I
believe that it is. --and it's going
to be destroyed. STAN MONTEITH: I believe
it's going-- well, this is what it
says in the Bible, and I happen to believe
the Bible is accurate. BUDDY LEVY (VOICEOVER):
He just called the Statue of Liberty a whore. I guess you can make certain
connections to New York and Babylon. But the Statue of Liberty
as the whore 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. - I'll look.
- Let's take a look. We'll need 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 gotta check out. SCOTT ROLLE: Rockefeller Plaza. The house that
Rockefeller built. Yes. Check out-- this
one's Prometheus here. Well, he's got the torch in
the right hand, the same way as the Statue of Liberty. BUDDY LEVY: Mark Dice said this
is a representation of Lucifer that we should be looking
for in Rockefeller Plaza. SCOTT ROLLE: Right. Hey, you guys
catching the flags? What's that reminding you of?
- Wow, OK. That has--
MCKINLEY: call the UN. BUDDY LEVY: Like the UN. SCOTT ROLLE: Very UN-like, yes. You know, the new world
order, UN flags everywhere. Directly in the
center, Prometheus-- Lucifer. BUDDY LEVY: At the center. And then-- SCOTT ROLLE: But what's
interesting, I think, is that, you know, Rockefeller,
the one who allegedly admitted being in a secret society and
wanting a new world order would have a place after him
like this with Prometheus right in the middle of it,
the UN sort of flags around. I mean, it's sort of,
in a sense, I think, going along with 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. Yeah, 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. It's sort of an affront
to the church, in a way. Right, and according to
Dice, that's purposefully done. MCKINLEY (VOICEOVER):
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 20th century, and
that's 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? BRAD MELTZER: OK. 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. [music playing] 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's 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 hard to kill, unless the Illuminati,
which I guess-- it's sort of a zombie idea. You know, I keep killing
it, we keep attacking it, and it keeps coming back. And you're sure-- Well, do they exist? STEVEN BULLOCK: As
you probably know, they certainly did, you know,
back in the 1770s, and 1780s. But you know, it's gone. SCOTT ROLLE: 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. MCKINLEY: 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've found this plot and they can name people,
they can name things? BUDDY LEVY: You
mean like a mole? STEVEN BULLOCK: 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? Never found any Illuminati in
the history, and if anything, you know, the appeal for
me would have been finding this kind of thing. I would've been-- So you would've 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. Well, 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,
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. 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.
We can't possibly take it in. SCOTT ROLLE: 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. MCKINLEY: Agreed. SCOTT ROLLE: What I would
say is we've heard the song. 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. We know that the Masons
built the Statue of Liberty. MCKINLEY: Yep. SCOTT ROLLE: And assuming that
the Illuminati infiltrated the Masons, can we then safely
assume that the Illuminati put some sort of hidden
symbolism in it? Lucifer himself is a
symbol of the Illuminati. BUDDY LEVY: Oh, check it. Oh, there she is. She just came into view
from behind the bridge. Yeah. SCOTT ROLLE: That's
a great view. The question is, is the
Statue of Liberty representing Lucifer? Could that really be possible? BUDDY LEVY: That's what
we need to find out. SCOTT ROLLE: Exactly. BRAD MELTZER: 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. BUDDY LEVY: Nice to meet you. My pleasure completely. SCOTT ROLLE: 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 or 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. BRAD MELTZER: OK. Go to your computer
and put in the words "Statue of Liberty" and "Satan." 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. Kill me. MARK KOLTKO-RIVERA: But
not the Lucifer that you're thinking of. All right? BUDDY LEVY: She breathes
a sigh of relief. How is the Statue
of Liberty Lucifer? MARK KOLTKO-RIVERA: OK. 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, oh 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 fourth 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 lightbearer. 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. MCKINKEY: 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 lightbringer. So in that regard, the Statue
of Liberty is a Lucifer. SCOTT ROLLE: 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. BUDDY LEVY: Absolutely. MCKINLEY: 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 they want.
- Sure. And the right to believe
whatever they wanna 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. BUDDY LEVY: Are
there hidden meanings in the Statue of Liberty?
MCKINLEY: Sure. SCOTT ROLLE: Absolutely. BUDDY LEVY: Yes, there are. BRAD MELTZER: Good ones. In the end, despite
the urban myth, we couldn't find a
single piece of proof that the Illuminati
exists 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 always stand for.
