Dear Robert

A few observations about your comments on the Horizon programmes. As you correctly suggest, in "Giza: The Truth" we do dismiss Ed Krupp's "north means north" criticism of your theory, since in our view it is unduly pedantic and basically unfounded. We are similarly unconvinced by Kate Spence's theory about the groundplan. I communicated both these observations to Horizon's producer, Chris Hale, shortly after the programme was aired. However, I also pointed out to him that it was a great shame that he had chosen to use these two arguments as his prime rebuttal, since in "Giza: The Truth" we establish what are in my view far more pertinent pieces of evidence as to why your theory is unsound. These are as follows:

When I checked your data using SkyGlobe, I found that the 45 degree angle between the two main Belt Stars did not occur in 10,500 BC but more like in 12,000 BC, one thousand five hundred years previously. In 10,500 the angle was more like 35 degrees (see Giza: The Truth pp. 364-7, although note that we have made our figures slightly more accurate since the hardback was published). I admit that I am doing nothing more scientific than using a protractor held up against the screen, and that the figures vary slightly according to which belt star is on the meridian when you measure, but I think the variation is sufficient to seriously call into question your insistence that 10,500 is pinpointed with great accuracy. Could it have something more to do with Edgar Cayce's prophecies perhaps? Incidentally, Clive Prince and Lynn Picknett performed exactly the same analysis entirely independently of ourselves and arrived at exactly the same conclusion (see Stargate pp. 46-50). I urge anyone who has any doubts about this to download SkyGlobe from the Internet, set it with south on the horizon and Cairo as the location, and shift back 1000 years at a time and measure the angle for themselves. Remember also that this angle is unchanged by the seasons (albeit that the time of culmination changes), and only changes incredibly slowly in observation terms due to the ongoing effects of precession.

If we now ignore the dating issue, and look at the basic proposition that the pyramids were laid out to reflect the Belt Stars, we have two further pieces of information which are not normally elucidated elsewhere in relation to your theories but are in my view absolutely crucial. First, whilst noone can argue that the third star, Mintaka, is offset from the diagonal formed by the other two, it is equally clear that the visible magnitude of this star - by pure observation with the naked eye alone - is not significantly smaller. In fact the visible magnitudes of Al Nitak, Al Nilam and Mintaka (representing supposedly the Great, Second and Third Pyramids respectively) are 2.05, 1.70 and 2.23. On this basis we would expect the SECOND pyramid to be the larger than the Great Pyramid by roughly the same amount as the latter would be larger than the Third. OK, before you accuse me of pedantics, all I am saying is that Mintaka is NOT significantly smaller than the other two, and certainly not small enough to warrant the Third Pyramid having only of the order of 20 per cent of the base area of each of the other two!

Second, there is significant evidence in the internal layouts of the Second and Third Pyramids which suggests that they were replanned to a very significant degree in terms of size and/or position AFTER construction had already begun. What could be more devastating to a theory of a critical ground plan covering all three structures than the fact that the size and position of the later two was not incontrovertibly fixed in advance? (The evidence for this is in parts complex, but involves an appreciation of the multiple descending passages and chambers in these two structures - the arguments are explained in full in "Giza: The Truth" p. 118.)

Might I humbly suggest that before you compare your position to that of some of the finest minds of the past (Copernicus, Darwin et al), you come back down to earth somewhat and answer criticisms such as these - which, after all, come from independent researchers who have no scientific or professional position to protect, and who are quite willing to consider the possibility of advanced ancient civilisations etc provided the evidence therefor is not manipulated, distorted or selective.

Best regards, Ian Lawton