The Gemstone File is a

conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

document attributed to Bruce Porter Roberts. In 1975, "A Skeleton Key to the Gemstone File" appeared and is generally attributed to Stephanie Caruana. The "Key" is purportedly a synopsis of Roberts' documents that presents a chronicle of interlocking conspiracies, including claims that world events since the 1950s were shaped by suppressed information, the names of supposed shooters of President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

, and suggested connections between a number of political assassinations which occurred within a relatively short time frame. Authors James McConnachie and Robin Tudge called it "the original mega-conspiracy theory."

History

Originally distributed in 1975 by hand and mail in

photocopy A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers ...

form, the Gemstone File has appeared in slightly revised form in

Hustler magazine ''Hustler'' is an American pornographic magazine published monthly by Larry Flynt Publications (LFP). Introduced in 1974, it was a step forward from the '' Hustler Newsletter'', originally conceived by founder Larry Flynt as cheap advertising ...

and on the Internet. Roberts, known only to Stephanie Caruana and conspiracy theorist

Mae Brussell Mae Magnin Brussell (May 29, 1922 – October 3, 1988) was an American radio personality and conspiracy theorist. She was the host of ''Dialogue: Conspiracy'' (later renamed ''World Watchers International''). Early life Mae Magnin was born on ...

, purportedly began gathering information in the file when Howard Hughes stole his invention for processing synthetic rubies, hence the title "Gemstone". According to Gerald Carroll, Roberts was born in

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

on October 27, 1919, and died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

on July 16, 1976. ''

Factsheet Five ''Factsheet Five'' was a periodical mostly consisting of short reviews of privately produced printed matter along with contact details of the editors and publishers. In the 1980s and early 1990s, its comprehensive reviews (thousands in each iss ...

'' publisher Mike Gunderloy collected and distributed several versions of the Gemstone File. Gunderloy wrote that the original Gemstone File was simply a list of contributors to

Committee to Re-elect the President A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

(CREEP), while the subsequent versions gradually linked various figures of the Watergate and Kennedy eras.

Outline

The Gemstone File proposes that

Aristotle Onassis Aristotle Socrates Onassis (, ; , ; 20 January 1906 – 15 March 1975) was a Greek and Argentine business magnate. He amassed the world's largest privately-owned shipping fleet and was one of the world's richest and most famous men. He was marri ...

Joseph P. Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr. (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the ambitious patri ...

, and other prominent figures were involved in various schemes to forward a vast global conspiracy, involving the

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

and corrupt politicians, brutal oil and

drug cartel A drug cartel is a criminal organization composed of independent drug lords who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the illegal drug trade. Drug cartels form with the purpose of controlling the supply of the i ...

s, rogue military operations, and more. It also posits that early in 1957, Aristotle Onassis had

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

kidnapped from his

Beverly Hills Hotel The Beverly Hills Hotel, also called the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows, is located on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California. One of the world's best-known hotels, it is closely associated with Hollywood film stars, rock stars, and ...

bungalow; that Hughes suffered a massive brain injury during the forcible kidnapping, and that Hughes was subsequently a virtual prisoner of Onassis on

Skorpios Skorpios or Scorpios (, ) is a private island in the Ionian Sea off the western coast of Greece and just to the east of the island of Lefkada. The 2011 census reported a population of five inhabitants. Administratively it is part of the munici ...

and injected regularly with

morphine Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...

, while Onassis took over the operation of Hughes's considerable financial affairs, including airlines and U.S. defense contracting. The Gemstone File portrays Onassis as the main force behind the election of

as president and, subsequently, Kennedy's assassination in 1963. According to the documents, Lee Harvey Oswald was a patsy in the

JFK assassination John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

plan and was linked to the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

, and to Mafia connections in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, with

Jimmy Fratianno Aladena James Fratianno (born Aladena Fratianno; November 14, 1913 – June 29, 1993), also known as "Jimmy the Weasel", was an Italian-born American mobster who was acting boss of the Los Angeles crime family. After his arrest in 1977, Fratian ...

Johnny Roselli John "Handsome Johnny" Roselli (sometimes spelled Rosselli; born Filippo Sacco; July 4, 1905 – August 7, 1976) was an Italian-born mobster for the Chicago Outfit who helped that organization exert influence over Hollywood and the Las Vegas Str ...

, and Eugene Brading as the real shooters.} The Gemstone papers claim that John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Joseph P. Kennedy were involved with the Mafia and Onassis, and when the Kennedy brothers attempted to break away, they were murdered.

Books

* ''The Gemstone File'',

Jim Keith James Patrick Keith (September 21, 1949 – September 7, 1999) was an American author and conspiracy theorist, best known for the books ''Black Helicopters Over America'' and ''The Octopus'', co-written with Kenn Thomas, detailing theories aroun ...

, ed. (1992, IllumiNet Press. 214 pages) Includes the Skeleton Key; an interview with Stephanie Caruana; excerpts from

's 2 1977-8 KLRB radio broadcasts on the Skeleton Key and Bruce Roberts' Gemstone File; Kiwi Gemstone; and articles by

Jonathan Vankin Jonathan Vankin is an American author, journalist and comic book writer/editor. Biography Vankin is best known for his books '' Conspiracies, Cover-Ups and Crimes'' and, with co-writer John Whalen, the '' Greatest Conspiracies'' series, beginning ...

Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American writer, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...

Kerry Wendell Thornley Kerry Wendell Thornley (April 17, 1938 – November 28, 1998) was an American author. He is known as the co-founder (along with childhood friend Greg Hill) of Discordianism, in which context he is usually known as Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst or si ...

, Ben G. Price and others. OOP. * ''Project Seek'' by Gerald A. Carroll (1994, Bridger House. 388 pages.) Extended documentation of Skeleton Key. Includes Kiwi Gemstone, discussion on Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinations; interviews with an employee of Hughes, etc. * ''Inside the Gemstone File'' by

Kenn Thomas Kenn Thomas (June 12, 1958 – September 22, 2023) was a conspiracy writer, archivist, and editor and publisher of '' Steamshovel Press'', a parapolitical conspiracy magazine. Thomas, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, wrote over a dozen books o ...

(Steam Shovel Press) and

David Hatcher Childress David Hatcher Childress (born June 1, 1957) is an American author, and the owner of Adventures Unlimited Press, a publishing house established in 1984 specializing in books on unusual topics such as ancient mysteries, unexplained phenomena, pseu ...

(1999, Adventures Unlimited Press, 250 pages) Explores connections between

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

's "

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

" novels and movies and the Skeleton Key. Includes Kiwi Gemstone, account of Danny Casolaro's mysterious death, Com-12 Briefing Documents, Interview with Stephanie Caruanaa, etc. * ''The Gemstone File: A Memoir'' by Stephanie Caruana (2006, Trafford Press, 480 pages) Contains an updated, expanded ''Skeleton Key'', 2 related articles by Stephanie Caruana and Mae Brussell, and 220 edited pages from Bruce Roberts' original handwritten Gemstone File letters; the Kiwi Gemstone, and other items.

In fiction

In the television series '' La Femme Nikita'', the Gemstone File documents the plans for world domination of Operations (also known as Paul Wolfe), the leading operative of Section 1, which involve the support of Saddam Hussein, a pawn in Operations' schemes. The former head of Section 1, Adrian, plans of revealing the Gemstone File first to George, head of Oversight, and then to the public in order to shatter Operations's bid for power, though Nikita ends up siding with Operations, as simulations predict world chaos and destruction should Hussein be removed from power.

References

{{Reflist

External links

The Gemstone File and Freemasonry

1975 documents Conspiracy theories John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories Non-fiction books about the assassination of John F. Kennedy