Gemstone File

Last updated

The Gemstone File is a conspiracy theory document attributed to Bruce Porter Roberts. In 1975, "A Skeleton Key to the Gemstone File" appeared and is generally attributed to Stephanie Caruana. The "Key" is purportedly a synopsis of Roberts' documents that presents a chronicle of interlocking conspiracies, including claims that world events since the 1950s were shaped by suppressed information, the names of supposed shooters of President John F. Kennedy, and suggested connections between a number of political assassinations which occurred within a relatively short time frame. Authors James McConnachie and Robin Tudge called it "the original mega-conspiracy theory." [1]

Contents

History

Originally distributed in 1975 by hand and mail in photocopy form, the Gemstone File has appeared in slightly revised form in Hustler magazine and on the Internet. Roberts, known only to Stephanie Caruana and conspiracy theorist Mae Brussell, purportedly began gathering information in the file when Howard Hughes stole his invention for processing synthetic rubies, hence the title "Gemstone". [2] According to Gerald Carroll, Roberts was born in New York State on October 27, 1919, and died of lung cancer in San Francisco on July 16, 1976. [3]

Factsheet Five publisher Mike Gunderloy collected and distributed several versions of the Gemstone File. Gunderloy wrote that the original Gemstone File was simply a list of contributors to Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP), while the subsequent versions gradually linked various figures of the Watergate and Kennedy eras. [4]

Outline

The Gemstone File proposes that Aristotle Onassis, Joseph P. Kennedy, and other prominent figures were involved in various schemes to forward a vast global conspiracy, involving the Mafia and corrupt politicians, brutal oil and drug cartels, rogue military operations, and more. It also posits that early in 1957, Aristotle Onassis had Howard Hughes kidnapped from his Beverly Hills Hotel bungalow; that Hughes suffered a massive brain injury during the forcible kidnapping, and that Hughes was subsequently a virtual prisoner of Onassis on Skorpios and injected regularly with morphine, while Onassis took over the operation of Hughes's considerable financial affairs, including airlines and U.S. defense contracting. [1] [2]

The Gemstone File portrays Onassis as the main force behind the election of John F. Kennedy as president and, subsequently, Kennedy's assassination in 1963. According to the documents, Lee Harvey Oswald was a patsy in the JFK assassination plan and was linked to the Central Intelligence Agency, and to Mafia connections in New Orleans, with Jimmy Fratianno, Johnny Roselli, and Eugene Brading as the real shooters.[ citation needed ]} The Gemstone papers claim that John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Joseph P. Kennedy were involved with the Mafia and Onassis, and when the Kennedy brothers attempted to break away, they were murdered. [1] [2]

Books

In fiction

In the television series La Femme Nikita , the Gemstone File documents the plans for world domination of Operations (also known as Paul Wolfe), the leading operative of Section 1, which involve the support of Saddam Hussein, a pawn in Operations' schemes. The former head of Section 1, Adrian, plans of revealing the Gemstone File first to George, head of Oversight, and then to the public in order to shatter Operations's bid for power, though Nikita ends up siding with Operations, as simulations predict world chaos and destruction should Hussein be removed from power.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Ruby</span> Murderer of Lee Harvey Oswald (1911–1967)

Jack Leon Ruby was an American nightclub owner who murdered Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963, two days after Oswald was accused of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Commission</span> U.S. commission established by President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the Kennedy assassination

The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through Executive Order 11130 on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy that had taken place on November 22, 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of John F. Kennedy</span> 1963 murder of the 35th U.S. President

On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife, Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally's wife, Nellie, when he was fatally shot from the nearby Texas School Book Depository by former U.S. Marine Lee Harvey Oswald. The motorcade rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where Kennedy was pronounced dead about 30 minutes after the shooting; Connally was also wounded in the attack but recovered. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was hastily sworn in as president two hours and eight minutes later aboard Air Force One at Dallas Love Field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States House Select Committee on Assassinations</span> Former assassination investigation committee

The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) was established in 1976 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 and 1968, respectively. The HSCA completed its investigation in 1978 and issued its final report the following year, which concluded that Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. In addition to now-discredited acoustic analysis of a police channel dictabelt recording, the HSCA also commissioned numerous other scientific studies of assassination-related evidence that corroborate the Warren Commission's findings.

<i>American Tabloid</i> 1995 novel by James Ellroy

American Tabloid is a 1995 novel by James Ellroy that chronicles the events surrounding three rogue American law enforcement officers from November 22, 1958, through November 22, 1963. Each becomes entangled in a web of interconnecting associations between the FBI, the CIA, and the Mafia, which eventually leads to their collective involvement in the John F. Kennedy assassination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Roselli</span> American mobster

John"Handsome Johnny"Roselli, sometimes spelled Rosselli, was a mobster for the Chicago Outfit who helped that organization exert influence over Hollywood and the Las Vegas Strip. Roselli was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in a plot to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Kennedy assassination Dictabelt recording</span> Audio recording related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy

A Dictabelt recording from a motorcycle police officer's radio microphone stuck in the open position became a key piece of evidence cited by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) in their conclusion that there was a conspiracy behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Made on a common Dictaphone-brand dictation machine that recorded sound in grooves pressed into a thin vinyl-plastic belt, the recording gained prominence among Kennedy assassination conspiracy theorists following the HSCA's 1978 conclusion, based in part on this evidence, that there was a "high probability" that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone and that the Kennedy assassination was the result of a conspiracy.

History's Greatest Mysteries is an American documentary television series that aired on the History Channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Anderson (columnist)</span> American newspaper columnist (1922–2005)

Jack Northman Anderson was an American newspaper columnist, syndicated by United Features Syndicate, considered one of the founders of modern investigative journalism. Anderson won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his investigation on secret U.S. policy decision-making between the United States and Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. In addition to his newspaper career, Anderson also had a national radio show on the Mutual Broadcasting System, acted as Washington bureau chief of Parade magazine, and was a commentator on ABC-TV's Good Morning America for nine years.

Mae Magnin Brussell was an American radio personality and conspiracy theorist. She was the host of Dialogue: Conspiracy.

The Realist was a magazine of "social-political-religious criticism and satire", intended as a hybrid of a grown-ups version of Mad and Lyle Stuart's anti-censorship monthly The Independent. Edited and published by Paul Krassner, and often regarded as a milestone in the American underground or countercultural press of the mid-20th century, it was a nationally-distributed newsstand publication as early as 1958. Publication was discontinued in 2001.

David Samuel Lifton was an American author who wrote the 1981 bestseller Best Evidence: Disguise and Deception in the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, a work that puts forth evidence that there was a conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy.

The John F. Kennedy assassination and the subsequent conspiracy theories surrounding it have been discussed, referenced, or recreated in popular culture numerous times.

Gerald Patrick "Gerry" Hemming, Jr. was a former U.S. Marine, mercenary and Central Intelligence Agency asset within the Domestic Contact Division beginning in 1960, using the aliases Jerry Patrick, Gerry Patrick, Heming and Hannon. He was primarily involved in covert operations against Cuba.

The CIA Kennedy assassination is a prominent John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory. According to ABC News, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is represented in nearly every theory that involves American conspirators. The secretive nature of the CIA, and the conjecture surrounding the high-profile political assassinations in the United States during the 1960s, has made the CIA a plausible suspect for some who believe in a conspiracy. Conspiracy theorists have ascribed various motives for CIA involvement in the assassination of President Kennedy, including Kennedy's firing of CIA director Allen Dulles, Kennedy's refusal to provide air support to the Bay of Pigs invasion, Kennedy's plan to cut the agency's budget by 20 percent, and the belief that the president was weak on communism.

There are several non-standard accounts of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination, which took place shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles, California. Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel, during celebrations following his successful campaign in California's primary elections as a leading 1968 Democratic presidential candidate; he died the following day at Good Samaritan Hospital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories</span> Conspiracy theories regarding the assassination of JFK

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 has spawned numerous conspiracy theories. These theories allege the involvement of the CIA, the Mafia, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro, the KGB, or some combination of these individuals and entities. Some conspiracy theories have alleged a coverup by parts of the federal government, such as the original FBI investigators, the Warren Commission, or the CIA. Former Los Angeles District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi estimated that a total of 42 groups, 82 assassins, and 214 people had been accused at one time or another in various conspiracy scenarios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CIA assassination attempts on Fidel Castro</span> Assassination attempts on Cuban Leader Fidel Castro

The United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) made numerous unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro. There were also attempts by Cuban exiles, sometimes in cooperation with the CIA. The 1975 Church Committee claimed eight proven CIA assassination attempts between 1960 and 1965. In 1976, President Gerald Ford issued an Executive Order banning political assassinations. In 2006, Fabián Escalante, former chief of Cuba's counterintelligence, stated that there had been 634 assassination schemes or attempts. The last known plot to assassinate Castro was by Cuban exiles in 2000.

Lamar Waldron is an American writer and historian who often writes about conspiracies and cover-ups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Luther King Jr. assassination conspiracy theories</span> Aspect of Martin Luther King Jr.s death

Conspiracy theories about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., a prominent leader of the civil rights movement, relate to different accounts of the incident that took place on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. King was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, the day after giving his final speech "I've Been to the Mountaintop". Claims soon arose over suspect aspects of King's assassination and the controversial role of the alleged assassin, James Earl Ray. Although his guilty plea eliminated the possibility of a trial before a jury, within days, Ray had recanted and claimed his confession was forced. Suspicions were further raised by the confirmation of illegal surveillance of King by the FBI and the CIA, and the FBI's attempt to prompt King to commit suicide.

References

  1. 1 2 3 James McConnachie; Robin Tudge (1 September 2008). The Rough Guide To Conspiracy Theories . Penguin. pp.  131–. ISBN   978-1-4053-8385-1 . Retrieved 23 May 2012. The Rough Guide To Conspiracy Theories gemstone.
  2. 1 2 3 Mark Fenster (1999). Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN   978-0-8166-3242-8 . Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  3. Carroll, Gerald A. (1994). Project Seek: Onassis, Kennedy, and the Gemstone Thesis. Bridger House. p. 3. ISBN   9780964010406.
  4. "Glossary", Factsheet Five, no. 44, p. 86, August 1991, ISSN   0890-6823