Robert Milton Schoch is an American associate professor of Natural Sciences at the College of General Studies,

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. Following initial work as a vertebrate paleontologist, Schoch co-authored and expanded the

fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts and music * "The Fringe", or Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * Purple fri ...

Sphinx water erosion hypothesis since 1990, and is the author of several

pseudohistorical Pseudohistory is a form of pseudoscholarship that attempts to distort or misrepresent the historical record, often by employing methods resembling those used in scholarly historical research. The related term cryptohistory is applied to pseudoh ...

and

pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

books.

Education

Schoch received a BA in

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

and a BS in

Geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

in 1979. He was awarded MS and PhD degrees in Geology and

Geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and Physical property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...

from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

(PhD, 1983). Schoch's PhD dissertation, ''Systematics, Functional Morphology and Macroevolution of the Extinct Mammalian Order

Taeniodonta Taeniodonta ("banded teeth") is an extinct order of eutherian mammals, that lived in North America and Europe from the late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) to the middle Eocene. Taeniodonts evolved quickly into highly specialized digging animals ...

'', was published in 1986 by the

Peabody Museum of Natural History The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University (also known as the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History or the Yale Peabody Museum) is one of the oldest, largest, and most prolific university natural history museums in the world. It ...

Teaching

Schoch has taught at

since 1984. He is an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

of Natural Sciences at the College of General Studies, a two-year core curriculum for bachelor's degree candidates. He teaches undergraduate science courses, including biology, geology, environmental science, geography, and science and public policy. He is a co-author of the college textbook ''Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions'', now in its fifth edition. In 1993 a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of extinct mammals, ''Schochia'', was named after him. This genus was renamed ''Robertschochia'' in 2011, but later recognised as a synonym of genus ''

Wortmania ''Wortmania'' ("Wotman's animal") is an extinct genus of taeniodonts from extinct subfamily Wortmaniinae within extinct family Stylinodontidae, that lived in North America during the early Paleocene The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a ge ...

''.

Works and views

From the 1980s to the 2000s, Schoch published research in

vertebrate paleontology Vertebrate paleontology is the subfield of paleontology that seeks to discover, through the study of fossilized remains, the behavior, reproduction and appearance of extinct vertebrates (animals with vertebrae and their descendants). It also t ...

, primarily on fossil mammals from the

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

period, such as taeniodonts,

brontotheres Brontotheriidae is a family of extinct mammals belonging to the order Perissodactyla, the order that includes horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs. Superficially, they looked rather like rhinos with some developing bony nose horns, and were some of ...

pantodonts Pantodonta is an extinct suborder (or, according to some, an Order (biology), order) of eutherian mammals. These herbivorous mammals were one of the first groups of large mammals to evolve (around 66 million years ago) after the K-T boundary, en ...

, dinoceratans and early rhinocerotoids. His works on the subject include the 2002 book ''Horns, Tusks, and Flippers: The Evolution of Hoofed Mammals'' which he coauthored with

Donald Prothero Donald Ross Prothero (February 21, 1954) is an American geologist, paleontologist, and author who specializes in mammalian paleontology and magnetostratigraphy, a technique to date rock layers of the Cenozoic era and its use to date the climate ...

. Schoch is best known for his fringe argument that the

Great Sphinx of Giza The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. Facing east, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The original sh ...

is much older than conventionally thought and that some kind of catastrophe was responsible for wiping out evidence of a significantly older, unknown civilization. In 1991, Schoch redated the monument to 10,000–5,000 BC, based on water erosion marks he identified on the Sphinx enclosure walls, and also based on findings from seismic studies around the base of the Sphinx and elsewhere on the plateau. The Sphinx water erosion hypothesis is rejected by the archaeological community because of evidence contradicting his conclusions.

Mark Lehner Mark Lehner (born 1950 in Dakota) is an American archaeology, archaeologist with more than 30 years of experience excavating in Egypt. He is the director of Ancient Egypt Research Associates (AERA) and has appeared in numerous television documenta ...

looked at that the way several structures in the area incorporate elements from older structures, and based on the order in which they were constructed concludes that the archaeological sequencing does not allow for a date older than the reign of Khafra. Archaeologists and geologists have also challenged his geological claims. Schoch's arguments were featured in the 1993 documentary '' The Mystery of the Sphinx'', which was aired by NBC and presented by

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Cinema of the United States, Hollywood films including biblical epics, science-fiction f ...

. Schoch stars in the film alongside author John Anthony West. Schoch also claims that possibly all pyramids — in Egypt,

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

and elsewhere were the result of the destruction of an ancient protocivilization in

Sundaland Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of Southeast Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It inc ...

between 8000 and 6000 years ago by rising sea levels caused by repeated collisions with comets. In ''Voyages of the Pyramids Builders'' he suggests that when its inhabitants were forced out of Sundaland: "That movement, and its cultural legacies over the following millennia, provides the best explanation for the spread of pyramids across the globe." In 2006, at the invitation of locals, he investigated the so-called

Bosnian pyramid The Bosnian pyramid claims are pseudoarchaeological theories put forward to explain the formation of a cluster of natural hills in the area of Visoko in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 2005, Semir Osmanagić, a Bosnian-American businessman ...

excavations north of Sarajevo, but he concluded that the site held "absolutely no evidence of pyramids ''per se'' or of a great ancient civilization in the Visoko region". He is also known for his writing on the Yonaguni underwater monuments, where he has dived on several occasions, beginning in 1997. His conclusion from analyzing the formations is that this is a natural site possibly modified by humans to suit their needs: "We should also consider the possibility that the Yonaguni Monument is fundamentally a natural structure that was utilized, enhanced, and modified by humans in ancient times." Schoch contributed an essay to ''Lost Secrets of the Gods'', a

pseudoarchaeology Pseudoarchaeology (sometimes called fringe or alternative archaeology) consists of attempts to study, interpret, or teach about the subject-matter of archaeology while rejecting, ignoring, or misunderstanding the accepted Scientific method, data ...

book which argues for the existence of

ancient astronauts Ancient astronauts (or ancient aliens) refers to a Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific set of beliefs that hold that Extraterrestrial intelligence, intelligent Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial beings (alien astronauts) visited Earth and m ...

. He has appeared on

Coast to Coast AM ''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 198 ...

. Another of his interests is the study of

parapsychology Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, teleportation, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry (paranormal), psychometry) and other paranormal cla ...

. He has stated that

psychokinesis Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...

and

telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

are potentially real.

Response from other academics

, an American archaeologist and egyptologist, has disputed Schoch's analysis, stating, "You don't overthrow Egyptian history based on one phenomenon like a weathering profile... that is how pseudoscience is done, not real science." Historian Ronald H. Fritze has described Schoch as a "pseudohistorical and pseudoscientific writer".

Published works

*''Phylogeny Reconstruction in Paleontology'', 1986. . *
Systematics, Functional Morphology and Macroevolution of the Extinct Mammalian Order Taeniodonta
'', 1986. *''Stratigraphy: Principles and Methods'', 1989. . *''Case Studies in Environmental Science'', 1996. . *''Voices of the Rocks: A Scientist Looks at Catastrophes and Ancient Civilizations'', 1999. . *''Horns, Tusks, and Flippers: The Evolution of Hoofed Mammals'', with

Donald R. Prothero Donald Ross Prothero (February 21, 1954) is an American geologist, paleontologist, and author who specializes in mammalian paleontology and magnetostratigraphy, a technique to date rock layers of the Cenozoic era and its use to date the climate ...

, 2003. . *''Voyages of the Pyramid Builders: The True Origins of the Pyramids from Lost Egypt to Ancient America'', 2003. . *''Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions'', with Michael L. McKinney, 2003. . *''Pyramid Quest: Secrets of the Great Pyramid and the Dawn of Civilization'',

TarcherPerigee TarcherPerigee is a book publisher and imprint of Penguin Group focused primarily on mind, body and spiritualism titles, founded in 1973 by Jeremy P. Tarcher in Los Angeles. (Tarcher was married to ventriloquist Shari Lewis, and his sister was n ...

, 2005. . *''Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions'', with Michael L. McKinney, Logan Yonavjak, 2007. . *''Environmental Science'', with Andrew H. Lapinski, Anne Tweed, 2007. . *''The Parapsychology Revolution: A Concise Anthology of Paranormal and Psychical Research'', 2008. . *''Forgotten Civilization, The Role of Solar Outbursts in Our Past and Future'', 2012. . *''Forgotten Civilization, The Role of Solar Outbursts in Our Past and Future'', Revised and expanded edition, 2021. . *
Origins of the Sphinx: Celestial Guardian of Pre-Pharaonic Civilization
', with Robert Bauval, 2017

References

External links

Schoch's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoch, Robert M. 1949 births American geophysicists American paleontologists American pseudoarchaeologists Living people American parapsychologists Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni Yale University alumni Boston University faculty Atlantis proponents