The Hooked X: Key to the Secret History of North America

by Scott Wolter – A newly-released book that may change history

Minneapolis, MN – The Hooked X: Key to the Secret History of North America, by geologist Scott Wolter, is the culmination of his 9 year odyssey to understand the origin of a mysterious symbol that first appeared on a highly controversial, century-old artifact called the Kensington Rune Stone.

The discovery of the meaning of the Hooked X symbol was amazing, as was the secret history behind it that gradually unfolded during Scott’s quest to learn more and uncover the truth through research. His journey winds through mysterious worlds of the medieval Cistercians, the Knights Templar, and modern Freemasonry.

The story of the Hooked X begins with the discovery of a 202-pound stone unearthed by a Swedish immigrant farmer Olof Ohman, who was clearing trees on his land in preparation for farming, in 1898. The slab of greywacke (a grey, earthy rock which is a variety of sandstone) contained a lengthy inscription carved in Norse runes whose message has only recently been accurately deciphered. In 2005, Scott Wolter co-authored a book entitled The Kensington Rune Stone: Compelling New Evidence, that presents a large body of research that conclusively proves the artifact is indeed a fourteenth-century document.

The Hooked X picks up where The Kensington Rune Stone story leaves off, taking the reader on a journey from Minnesota to the New England coast where four more medieval rune stones are found. The trail then leads to a mysterious round stone tower in Rhode Island that could only have been constructed by a highly controversial group from Europe, long before the time of Christopher Columbus.  The story that unfolds behind the Hooked X shatters many historical and religious paradigms, and ultimately reveals the startling untold history of North America.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Geologist Scott Wolter has authored eight books and has been president of American Petrographic Services in St. Paul, Minnesota, since 1990. He is responsible for the independent petrographic analysis testing laboratory where the Kensington Rune Stone was brought for investigation in 2000. He’s been the principal petrographer in more than 5,000 investigations throughout the United States and around the world, including the evaluation of fire damaged concrete at the Pentagon following the attacks of September 11, 2001. Wolter and his family live in a suburb of Minneapolis.

HOLY GRAIL IN AMERICA – A two-hour documentary which premieres on the History Channel on Sunday, September 20th, 2009 at 8 pm ET, chronicles Scott’s 9-year pursuit of the origin and meaning of the Hooked X symbol, and his research into the unknown and mysterious world of European visitors to North America prior to Columbus.  Produced by Committee Films, Minneapolis, Holy Grail in America won the 2009 National Association of Television Production Executives (NAPTE) Best New Documentary Film. Visit http://www.history.com/ for local TV listing information.

For more information visit http://www.hookedx.com/. To schedule an interview with Scott Wolter,
please contact Alice Larsson at 651-224-1673 or Email her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Foreword from
The Hooked X: Key to the Secret History of North America
by Scott Wolter

History needs to be rewritten.

The North American Continent is awash with evidence of pre-Columbian visitors who left their imprint on the landscape and their writing on stones and boulders as markers for those who followed.  Ogham and Runic inscriptions tell a story of Celtic and Viking penetration into the very hinterland of the New World (North and South America).

These early seafarers must have felt very much at home as they found one watercourse leading into another with a never-ending string of lakes replete with fish and waterfowl to meet their inner needs.  They had found a Paradise – a Garden of Eden – which was rich in wild grapes, blueberries and huckleberries, and which was so teeming with game that the word ‘wild’ seemed to be singularly inappropriate to describe animals who had still to learn to fear the sound of gun-shot.

What happened to bring an end to this idyllic scene? Historians have been singularly slow in finding an answer or, when they can’t explain the presence of runic inscriptions, they describe them as ‘fakes’ which, as will be seen, is a convenient excuse to hide their own ignorance.  Fortunately, there are those who have been prepared to challenge such arbitrary findings so that we might have a better understanding of those who left their imprint on pre-Columbian America.  One such man is Scott Wolter, whose new book The Hooked X: Key to the Secret History of North America, is a masterly combination of science and logic, as well as being a gripping detective story which leaves no stone unturned (literally as well as figuratively).

Scott’s book is guaranteed to make us take a fresh look at the rich evidence which lies beneath our feet and which, even when discovered, has been brutally pushed aside by the academic establishment for no better reason than to protect the ‘status quo’.

I have read Scott’s book. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for the perseverance and determination which he has shown in bringing an important part of America’s early history to light. In his book, he quotes an inscription which is to be found in the Sinclair family chapel at Rosslyn in Scotland. In ends with the words: “The truth conquers all”. There can be no better summary to describe Scott’s richly revealing and richly rewarding manuscript. It deserves to be read.
- Niven Sinclair

Niven Sinclair, born in Scotland in 1924, is chairman of the Friends of Rosslyn (the chapel featured in the film The Da Vinci Code), Founder of the Niven Sinclair Library and Study Centre at Noss Head, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (Scotland). Mr. Sinclair is a businessman, filmmaker, writer, broadcaster and has traveled throughout the world. He served as a Major in the Seaforth Highlanders and Kings African Rifles in Ethiopia and Burma during World War II. Prior to his work with the BBC, he farmed in Tanganyika for thirty years.