Project Seek is an attempt to verify the information contained in a document circulated samisdat-style named “The Skeleton Key to the Gemstone File.” The Gemstone File is an overview version of recent history in which Aristotle Onassis is the main figure in the JFK assassination and Howard Hughes is kidnapped and replaced by a double. “The Skeleton Key” purports to be a summary of a larger body of work, but is condensed so that it is easier to circulate clandestinely. The source of the information is supposed to be Bruce Porter Roberts, an artificial-gem manufacturer who claims that his work was stolen by the Hughes Corporation.
Gemstone was known to conspiracy researchers, but not examined by them. The first serious look at Gemstone was The Gemstone File by Jim Keith. Although this book brought forward new information and broadened public awareness of Gemstone, it was lacking in many ways. In particular it failed to shed much new light on Roberts. The best aspect of Carroll’s book is that he is a former newspaper reporter and follows up on as many facts as he can, and reveals that much of the information that sounds incredible in Gemstone has a factual basis. He tracks Robert’s paper trail extensively, and has even found a photograph that may be of the elusive whistle blower.
One oddity in Gemstone that Carroll leaves unexplored is Roberts’ use of the Canadian tabloid Midnight twice for verification of his claims. Why would Roberts taint his tale by using what is considered such an unreliable source? Perhaps his use of a tabloid source shows that Roberts knew something John Q. Public doesn’t. The connection of the CIA and Organized Crime to the tabloids is something that is only now getting scrutiny. TC

Publisher: Bridger House
Paperback: 388 pages
Illustrated