# Has "In Search of..." et al ever found anything? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 27, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589 "2019-03-27T01:42:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/21 "2019-03-27T19:24:24Z")
> [@guestchaz](#): > > Huh, all this time I thought it was green jello. Wasn’t there one of those where they hooked green jello up to an ekg and it had brainwaves? > > ETA that might explain the ice cream in the sub sub basement. It’s not really cream, it’s frozen yogurt. Started to doubt my memory but, wow, the episode is [online](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BkKFxeGwO8) and is crazier than I remembered. The Yogurt wasn’t crying because you ate it; it was crying because you ate a different jar of yogurt. The Yogurt stuff is at around 19 minutes. Still, I love this show anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/22 "2019-03-27T19:30:45Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Started to doubt my memory but, wow, the episode is [online](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BkKFxeGwO8) and is crazier than I remembered. The Yogurt wasn’t crying because you ate it; it was crying because you ate a different jar of yogurt. The Yogurt stuff is at around 19 minutes. > > Still, I love this show anyway. The 70s were a weird and wonderful time. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/23 "2019-03-27T20:19:01Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > The L’anse aux Meadows site in Newfoundland was initially identified as a c. 1000 AD Norse settlement in 1960. While that identification was controversial at first, by the time _In Search of…_ aired its _…Lost Vikings_ episode in 1978, that identification had been solidly established, and was no longer even remotely controversial among archaeologists and historians. In fact, that same year, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. > > The perception among the general public of what archaeologists and historians thought, however, was a different story. As recently as this year, the History Channel’s _America’s Lost Vikings_ presented the L’anse aux Meadows site as if it were a recent revelation, rather than one that has been widely known and accepted among scholars (and for that matter, interested laypersons) for nearly 60 years. Thanks for that info. This episode is on YouTube, and my memory of it is about right. The show does present it as though it were a controversial hypothesis at the time. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/24 "2019-03-28T12:04:04Z")
In Search Of… Big Tush! ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/25 "2019-03-30T00:34:24Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > In Search Of… Big Tush! Good heavens! Such a lascivious obsession for a…a Franciscan Friar! Aren’t you supposed to be celibate and chaste and all that? * * * I didn’t watch the show frequently but I vaguely recall one that was In Search Of…\*Atlantis \*that caught my interest at the time. They dragged it out for an hour, talking about the legends and their sources (Greece, Rome, Egypt, et cetera) and supposed characteristics and imputed location (somewhere west-ish across a huge body of water). And then they wrapped up by claiming some Egyptian leader-type had an artifact in his collection from trade with Atlantis. It was analyzed to be a tobacco-stained corn-cob pipe and Mr. Nimoy speculated (but refused to firmly establish) that the source was a tribe of pre-Columbian America. I basically stopped watching after that; there was too much background-and-speculation and not enough firm conclusion in the show. * * * I remember Tom Hanks referencing the show, maybe in the movie-ization of DragNet with Dan Akroyd. “Friday! You were gone so long I was about to send Leonard Nimoy out _In Search Of_ you!” –G! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/26 "2019-03-30T01:36:40Z")
I remember Nimoy’s straight-faced promo for the show: “I think you’ll find it … _fascinating_.” ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/27 "2019-03-30T16:11:09Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > The L’anse aux Meadows site in Newfoundland was initially identified as a c. 1000 AD Norse settlement in 1960. While that identification was controversial at first, by the time _In Search of…_ aired its _…Lost Vikings_ episode in 1978, that identification had been solidly established, and was no longer even remotely controversial among archaeologists and historians. In fact, that same year, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. > > The perception among the general public of what archaeologists and historians thought, however, was a different story. As recently as this year, the History Channel’s _America’s Lost Vikings_ presented the L’anse aux Meadows site as if it were a recent revelation, rather than one that has been widely known and accepted among scholars (and for that matter, interested laypersons) for nearly 60 years. There have numerous \*\*other \*\*claims about Viking exploration in North America that are less than credible The Vikings are known to have visited Newfoundland and Labrador; there has being speculation they made it as far south on the Atlantic as Cape Cod. For decades, people thought that the Newport Tower in Rhode Island was of Viking origin but it’s now believed to be of early Colonial origin. The Kensington Runestone alleges the Vikings made it as far inland as Minnesota but it is now believed to be a hoax. It’s highly unlikely the Vikings made it that far into North America. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport\_Tower\_(Rhode\_Island)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport_Tower_(Rhode_Island)) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington\_Runestone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Runestone) ---
**Author:** ![HyacinthBucket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hyacinthbucket/32/3063_2.png) [@HyacinthBucket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HyacinthBucket)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/28 "2019-04-01T15:27:15Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > Good heavens! Such a lascivious obsession for a…a Franciscan Friar! > Aren’t you supposed to be celibate and chaste and all that? > > * * * > > I didn’t watch the show frequently but I vaguely recall one that was In Search Of…\*Atlantis \*that caught my interest at the time. They dragged it out for an hour, talking about the legends and their sources (Greece, Rome, Egypt, et cetera) and supposed characteristics and imputed location (somewhere west-ish across a huge body of water). And then they wrapped up by claiming some Egyptian leader-type had an artifact in his collection from trade with Atlantis. It was analyzed to be a tobacco-stained corn-cob pipe and Mr. Nimoy speculated (but refused to firmly establish) that the source was a tribe of pre-Columbian America. > > I basically stopped watching after that; there was too much background-and-speculation and not enough firm conclusion in the show… One of my pet peeves. All the “Searching For Atlantis”-genre programs that we seem to have been inundated with in the last 20 years drives me absolutely NUTS. The connection between Atlantis and Thera was suggested 50 years ago, soon after Dr Marinatos started excavating the Akrotiri site. And the excellent book **Atlantis** by Galanapoulos and Bacon published in 1969 did a very good job of connecting the dots with Plato’s original writings. Why do all these shows and “investigators” spend their money and waste their time looking for something that was found 50 years ago? There has been new geological evidence found recently but that only added additional backup to the evidence of where and what Atlantis actually was and what happened to it, not to mention that it’s the only place where ruins showing a highly civilzed culture like Plato described actually have been found. There’s nothing mysterious about it. And the truth behind the legend is a lot more fascinating than all the turgid fiction espoused by so many bogus “Search Of” or “Finding…” or “Mystery of…” programs that keep looking for something that was right in plain sight all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/29 "2019-04-01T16:00:10Z")
Ratings, I assume. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/30 "2019-04-01T16:25:59Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > There have numerous \*\*other \*\*claims about Viking exploration in North America that are less than credible The Vikings are known to have visited Newfoundland and Labrador; there has being speculation they made it as far south on the Atlantic as Cape Cod. For decades, people thought that the Newport Tower in Rhode Island was of Viking origin but it’s now believed to be of early Colonial origin. The Kensington Runestone alleges the Vikings made it as far inland as Minnesota but it is now believed to be a hoax. It’s highly unlikely the Vikings made it that far into North America. > > [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport\_Tower\_(Rhode\_Island)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport_Tower_(Rhode_Island)) > > [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington\_Runestone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Runestone) [Yeah, well, they had some troubles on landing.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EbiyiKswA8) ---
**Author:** ![HyacinthBucket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hyacinthbucket/32/3063_2.png) [@HyacinthBucket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HyacinthBucket)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/31 "2019-04-02T02:50:57Z")
Quote: Originally Posted by BrotherCadfael _In Search Of… Big Tush!_ > [@Grestarian](#): > > Good heavens! Such a lascivious obsession for a…a Franciscan Friar! > Aren’t you supposed to be celibate and chaste and all that? > –G! I believe our dear Brother Cadfael is a Benedictine - whose vow of chastity wasn’t spoken until after leaving his lover and, unbeknowst to him, unborn son, back in the Holy Land. She must have had a very nice tush too. 😃 _(Hope a spoiler alert wasn’t neccessary there)_ ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/32 "2019-04-02T03:05:35Z")
> [@GMANCANADA](#): > > Thanks Exapno for putting me in my place. My deepest apologies for have offended you and wasted your valuable time with such a ridiculous post. > > I’m a forgetful idiot for wondering if possibly in one episode of one of those shows they may have actually found one artifact or archaeological site or something (non-supernatural) or worse to have thought that an entertaining SDMB discussion may come from the topic. > > On the other hand, your reply has reinforced to me exactly why I don’t visit message boards like this much anymore. I find it very sad that someone can’t even post something fun on Cafe Society without being smacked down. There is no supernatural stuff. Not so sure his response was a smackdown, more of a this is how it is. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/33 "2019-04-02T19:35:06Z")
> [@HyacinthBucket](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by BrotherCadfael > _In Search Of… Big Tush!_ > > I believe our dear Brother Cadfael is a Benedictine - whose vow of chastity wasn’t spoken until after leaving his lover and, unbeknowst to him, unborn son, back in the Holy Land. She must have had a very nice tush too. 😃 > > _(Hope a spoiler alert wasn’t neccessary there)_ Big Tush (a takeoff on Bigfoot) was the search object in Mad Magazine’s takeoff of \*In Search Of… \* A bit too obscure, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/34 "2019-04-02T19:47:18Z")
This brings back a fond memory from college. Late one afternoon a bunch of us were in the common room in the dorm watching the In Search Of … The Swamp Monster episode. There were several football players there, and every time someone in the show talked about hearing “strange noises”, there’e be an exchange like “Man, I’d be outta there so fast you’d think I’d disappeared.” “Nuh-Uh! You’d be eating MY dust.” Afterwards we were laughing about how these big macho football players were bragging about who was the biggest chicken. ---
**Author:** ![HyacinthBucket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hyacinthbucket/32/3063_2.png) [@HyacinthBucket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HyacinthBucket)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/35 "2019-04-02T20:10:00Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Big Tush (a takeoff on Bigfoot) was the search object in Mad Magazine’s takeoff of \*In Search Of… > \* > > A bit too obscure, I guess. Sorry, I haven’t read Mad for probably 50 years. So maybe a bit too recent? 😃 Now if it had been a reference from “Star Bleech” or “Grim Pix” I might have caught it. ---
**Author:** ![Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reindeer_flotilla/32/3024_2.png) [@Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reindeer_Flotilla)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/36 "2019-04-02T20:12:31Z")
Leonard Nimoy: “Hello. I’m Leonard Nimoy. The following tale of alien encounters is true. And by true, I mean false. It’s all lies. But they’re entertaining lies. And in the end, isn’t that the real truth? The answer is - No.” Of course that Simpson’s episode also featured one of my favorite quotes of the series, so although it’s unrelated I have to include it: Mr. Burns: “A lifetime of working with nuclear power has left me with a healthy green glow… [mutters under breath] and left me as impotent as a Nevada boxing commissioner.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/37 "2019-04-02T21:42:35Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > There is no supernatural stuff. Not so sure his response was a smackdown, more of a this is how it is. Uh, yeah. And I notice nobody since has contradicted that answer. BTW, there never was a Noah or an ark or a worldwide flood and nothing ever landed on the top of Mt. Ararat either. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/38 "2019-04-02T22:04:24Z")
> [@Reindeer\_Flotilla](#): > > Leonard Nimoy: “Hello. I’m Leonard Nimoy. The following tale of alien encounters is true. And by true, I mean false. It’s all lies. But they’re entertaining lies. And in the end, isn’t that the real truth? The answer is - No.” Back in the '80s, I wrote a parody of the show called _ **In Quest Of** _. The opening went “This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture. Where there was no evidence, it was fabricated.” ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/39 "2019-04-03T03:11:29Z")
Must link to [this](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OlURaumkAA8)! (From “Amazon Women on the Moon”) ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589/40 "2019-04-03T04:05:59Z")
my favorite episode creeped me out as a kid it was the one of the full moon and its effects and was talking about how the alleged effects of violent incidents spiked during the full moon… bu showing two people well shadowed fighting …. I think one “killed” the other …. but they had the creepiest music and drums for that show … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-in-search-of-et-al-ever-found-anything/831589.md?page=3)