The Atlantic Conference - About Us

The Atlantic Conference is a not-for-profit company whose sole aim is to further the study of early trans-Atlantic contact. This year, the planning is being handled by Rick Osmon and Steve St. Clair. 

Since the 1933 discovery of a flint spearhead unearthed at Clovis, New Mexico, scientists, academics and just about everyone else became entrenched in the idea that North Americans arrived on this continent exclusively via the Bering Strait land bridge. The mammoth skeleton that lay beside the Clovis point was carbon-dated to 11,500 years ago and there seemed to be no other find that pointed to older human habitation in North America. This theory became so accepted that archaeologists stopped looking for older artifacts.

But, all along, our native friends have told a different story. They speak of many waves of migration between the peoples of Europe and those of North America, and it was not just a one way street. People may have gone both ways.

Many different people throughout the world have, in the past couple decades, arrived at conclusions that point to ancient contact from both sides of the Atlantic.

·     Native tradition states that there were 3 waves of early migration across the Atlantic – the last in the 14th century - and that the populations of Europe and North America are mixed. Also, the migrations went in both directions. DNA evidence could be a way of solving this hypothesis.

·     A new report of a skeleton found in Norway showing a distinctly Incan feature is causing quite a bit of debate. Click here.

·     Pre-Clovis explorers crossed the Atlantic about 17.000 years ago, settling in what is now South Carolina.

·     Cliff paintings and stone carvings in Scandinavia and also in North America seem to point to a connection.

·     The Kennewick Man was living in what is now Washington State about 5000-9000 years ago.

·     Hebrew explorers may have crossed about 1000 B.C.

·     Leif Ericcson and company crossed about 1001 A.D.

·     Prince Henry St. Clair may have crossed from Scotland in 1398.

·     The Cabot family crossed in 1497 and possibly had a first voyage just before Columbus.

The Atlantic Conference will be a gathering of experts who will share information between a variety of disciplines regarding early trans-Atlantic contact. It will be a “cross pollination” of sorts. For instance, we suspect than a Maritime Historian might get new ideas about research if he or she gets access to the research of those archeologists who found that 1,000 year old skeleton in Norway. Some Linguists might advance their work by learning more from native tribal leaders, etc.

The Atlantic Conference will be a meeting that welcomes a skeptical approach and demands proofs. To that end, those who agree to speak will also agree to post their presentations in full on our password protected website for review 3 months in advance by the other speakers. If the presenters decide, we will also open this part of the site up to others whom the speakers want to allow in for peer review.

Usually, proofs follow questions and hypotheses. While we want the facts, we also acknowledge that all the facts are not yet known. The discovery of L'anse aux Meadows and the treatment of Helge Ingstad are a good example of why The Atlantic Conference will also invite those who are exploring non-traditional areas of early trans-Atlantic contact. Their presentations will undergo a rigorous scrutiny and will be held to the same standards as every other speaker. 

The Atlantic Conference is a group of folks who share an interest in early trans-Atlantic contact and do active field work themselves. Though most of us are not professionals, we share a high regard for accepted practices of scientific inquiry.  

Through our contacts in setting up this conference, we have seen extraordinary information that should, in our opinion, reach the mainstream. Yet it is consistently held back by an academic environment that has for a very long time enjoyed a monopoly on ideas regarding ancient contact.

While we're not academics and are not schooled in the rigors of the process such researchers go through to get their work out to the mainstream, we are conservative enough to believe that we can avoid the sloppy research processes and the lack of rigor of which ALL those outside the mainstream academic environment are often accused.

Our intention is to help further the work of legitimate researchers who follow scientific rigor and careful analysis.

To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. Scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.

We had seven speakers at the 2008 Atlantic Conference who clearly followed Scientific method in the papers they shared. And they had the good sense to guide the audience to possible interpretations of their data that might contradict their hypotheses. We interspersed presentations of Native history which has been shared orally over many thousands of years and is, we believe, just as credible in most areas as are carvings in stone.

We do not exist to support breathless speculation. But we will support researchers like Helge Ingstad, the Norwegian lawyer, writer and adventurer who followed a hunch and an ancient map to identify the place where Vikings landed in North America 500 years before Columbus. He was publicly embarrassed by an establishment which could not allow one from the outside to gain credit for changing history.

We believe that, somewhere between academia and the kook fringe, there is just enough room for the serious enquiry of heretofore unexplored evidence. We will help to further such research by -

  • Making connections between researchers which may help both in their work

  • Identifying possible sources of funding

  • Publicizing the research of credible researchers who employ scientific rigor

Rick Osmon

Rich has for many years hosted a weekly radio show and blog, The Oopa Loopa Cafe, which gives a public forum to serious researchers exploring beyond the boundaries of everyday science. Rick was a sponsor of the 2008 Atlantic Conference and enjoyed it so much that he's taken a leading role in the 2009 conference. His scientific standards are very demanding. Yet his way of handling those he interviews on his weekly show are extremely respectful. This may explain the the worldwide respect Rick has earned. His vast connections have proven critical to the success of the upcoming conference and the lengthy list of speakers he's attracting. 

Steve St. Clair

Steve runs a sucessful advertising firm by day and explores difussionism in his free time. He also runs the Sinclair family worldwide DNA project and applies a rigor to it inspired by the work of the serious researchers who will speak at the Atlantic Conference. Steve ran the successful 2008 conference in Halifax and is applying the same standards in vetting the speakers for the 2009 conference. The standards are high. The research presented will be well worth your time in attending. To get an idea of Steve's approach, please visit the Sinclair DNA project at the link above.