For several years GME had done an extraordinary job of executing the permitted exploration of a number of areas along Cape Canaveral. In fact, Florida's Secretary of State, Ken Detzner, applauded GME for their exemplary work. According to Bobby Pritchett, Detzner told him that:
"...they (GME) had done some of the best work done in the last 25 years, and GME had managed to do what the state could not do."
The permits had been issued consecutively from south to north... until this amazing discovery of the monument and French cannon was made. Then, according to Bobby Pritchett, all communication between the Florida bureaucrats and GME went dead. GME had applied for additional permits moving north around False Cape, but the company's applications remained unanswered. Now comes forward the explicit argument made by the French to the Department of State: the French had no desire to let the wreck be "explored commercially". France, being a signatory of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, claims that shipwrecks are to be preserved for "all humanity". It's no secret that the majority of professional archaeologists in the United States support the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, and wish that the United States was a signatory as well. The United States is not a signatory of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, ergo any expectation by the Republic of France that we should act as if the state of Florida, or the United States is governed by that convention is merely pretense. So, in fact, the French are not only asserting ownership rights, they now intend to dictate policy to the United States where our own laws are concerned as if we should apply those laws regarding our sovereign waters according to French mandates and UN conventions that we do not agree to.
It remains to be seen if France intends to salvage the contested artifacts themselves, or if they intend to let American interests, either federal, state, or both, pay for all the heavy lifting, and then, as with the La Belle, claim ownership. While it is a fact that some arrangement was made between the United States and France wherein France permits Texas to maintain control of the La Belle artifacts for 99 years, there is no such guarantee for a similar arrangement in the instance of what I will now refer to as "Site 2", the designator assigned by GME to the shipwreck debris scatter containing the stone monument and bronze cannon.
Furthermore, this is not a situation where a coffer dam could be used, and the LAMP methods used 20 miles north at the High Cuts of Canaveral National Seashore were a complete bust. Unless the American public raises hell, all of this historic wreckage will simply continue to decay at sea. I think the worst part of this story is the disregard government agencies have for our fellow citizens who act according to law, in good faith, and with commendable aptitude. Conceding morality on these issues is NOT a matter of our law.
A new Signum Ops edition of "A Hundred Giants - New Discoveries" is due out this spring covering all of these developments. It will be in B/W so I can distribute it at a reasonable price.
