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The Gemstone File
Since 1975, a privately circulated document has been the subject of much discussion and debate among researchers into the dark realms of political conspiracy. Purporting to reveal the identity of the conspirators in the John F. Kennedy assassination, The Gemstone File interprets pivotal historical events in a new light. Includes commentaries by Robert Anton Wilson, Jonathan Vankin, Kerry Thornley and more.
214 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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131 people want to read
About the author
Jim Keith
24 books32 followersJames Patrick Keith 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 around the death of reporter Danny Casolaro. After starting his career with writing and editing the zines Dharma Combat and Notes from the Hangar, as well as contributing articles to Fate Magazine, Keith became an editor at Steamshovel Press. He also authored 12 books covering topics such as mind control, the New World Order, black helicopters, the Oklahoma City bombing, Illuminati and Men in Black. Keith died at Washoe Medical Center in Reno at age 49, following a fall at the Burning Man festival.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 30, 2015
This is a re-issue of a 1992 controversial book aimed at airing a complex series of conspiracies surrounding known events by an author known for such exposes. Mafia involvement with politics, big business, and the drug trade are included in this piece which covers evil doings from prohibition to 1990. The material is presented in a clear, concise manner and includes testimonies from a number of close observers. Worth a read regardless of your position on the fence.
Narrator Jack provides voice rendition of the material in a clearly nonjudgemental manner and with clear diction without putting the reader to sleep.
This book was a gift.
Narrator Jack provides voice rendition of the material in a clearly nonjudgemental manner and with clear diction without putting the reader to sleep.
This book was a gift.
July 15, 2016
Jack Chekijian narrates this book nicely.It is a book on a bunch of conspiracy theories and thoughts from before JFKs killing to more current events.It is very interesting to listen to.
I was given this book free for an honest review
I was given this book free for an honest review
January 12, 2016
If you like conspiracies that range from Howard Hughes to The JFK conspiracy to UFO or how Aristotle Onassis controlled the U.S. Government from '68 till his death this is for you!!! Enjoy!!
June 21, 2025
"Frankly, I [Michael Collins Piper] don't believe that the Gemstone Files are worthy of discussion, but since so many people have brought up the subject, I feel compelled to comment. The history of the Gemstone Files is convoluted and although evidently the files themselves have been seen by a few folks… the story of the files is a tangled one. Despite this there have been several books written devoted to the Gemstone Files, all written in an attempt to analyze these materials. I must point out that these writings, however, are devoted to an analysis of what is called "The Skeleton Key" to the Gemstone Files—not the files themselves. It is "The Skeleton Key" most people have seen and which most talk about—not the files themselves. That's important to remember.
The so-called "Skeleton Key" is a fanciful compendium of a wide variety of inter-related conspiracy theories centered around the JFK assassination and rife with things that are either so obviously in error or so outlandish that they are not worth commenting upon. There may be grains of truth in "The Skeleton Key’ but they are nothing so highly significant that they even deserve the attention I am giving them here.
What is interesting about the Skeleton Key is that one version I obtained actually made mention of a Mossad connection to the JFK assassination. Who put it there—or laundered other to delete the Mossad references is a good question. However, some panty-waist "conspiracy theorists" who dreaded mentioning the Mossad for fear of accusations of anti-Semitism may have been responsible for deleting the reference.
I first became aware of "The Skeleton Key" when I saw a xerox of a xerox of a xerox of it when it appeared in my office many years ago. It's a single-spaced typewritten document of about twenty pages, a narrative that suggests that the real head of the world-wide crime syndicate was Aristotle Onassis and that the Kennedy family worked with the crime syndicate...
As I mentioned, "The Skeleton Key" has been subsequently reprinted in a number of editions containing extensive "documentation," supplementary newspaper articles making reference to material in the Skelton Key, assorted analyses and commentary, etc. One such volume which appeared several years ago (to much fanfare in some circles) takes the Skeleton Key apart line by line and provides reprints of magazine and newspaper articles that refer to the material in the Key. For example if there is a reference to one of Aristotle Onassis’ business dealings, there may be an article relating to that subject. The entire volume is of that nature. And it proves absolutely nothing other than to reprint a raft of old news articles…
The much-touted Grande Dame of Conspiracy Theorists, [Jew] Mae Brussell, helped popularize the Skeleton Key and she had a type of cult following. Mrs. Brussell seemed to find a Nazi under every rock and that has an appeal in some circles…
One of the recent elaborations on the Gemstone Files included the patently ridiculous allegation that Mark Lane is, in reality, a CIA operative who was attempting to thwart an honest investigation into the murder of JFK, even though, of course, it was Lane who first brought widespread public attention to the fact that the Warren Commission Report was a fraud and therefore publicly dismantled the CIA-assisted cover-up.
This false claim about Lane (since withdrawn and repudiated by the publisher) was based on disinformation (much of it generated by the CIA itself) that has been deliberately circulated over the years to muddy the waters into JFK assassination research further. In any case, if this is the kind of "research" involved around the Gemstone Files, I have reservations about giving them any credence as should any serious student… In short, it's a big waste of time. Don't waste your time on the subject."
Final Judgment by Michael Collins Piper p.576-7 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
The so-called "Skeleton Key" is a fanciful compendium of a wide variety of inter-related conspiracy theories centered around the JFK assassination and rife with things that are either so obviously in error or so outlandish that they are not worth commenting upon. There may be grains of truth in "The Skeleton Key’ but they are nothing so highly significant that they even deserve the attention I am giving them here.
What is interesting about the Skeleton Key is that one version I obtained actually made mention of a Mossad connection to the JFK assassination. Who put it there—or laundered other to delete the Mossad references is a good question. However, some panty-waist "conspiracy theorists" who dreaded mentioning the Mossad for fear of accusations of anti-Semitism may have been responsible for deleting the reference.
I first became aware of "The Skeleton Key" when I saw a xerox of a xerox of a xerox of it when it appeared in my office many years ago. It's a single-spaced typewritten document of about twenty pages, a narrative that suggests that the real head of the world-wide crime syndicate was Aristotle Onassis and that the Kennedy family worked with the crime syndicate...
As I mentioned, "The Skeleton Key" has been subsequently reprinted in a number of editions containing extensive "documentation," supplementary newspaper articles making reference to material in the Skelton Key, assorted analyses and commentary, etc. One such volume which appeared several years ago (to much fanfare in some circles) takes the Skeleton Key apart line by line and provides reprints of magazine and newspaper articles that refer to the material in the Key. For example if there is a reference to one of Aristotle Onassis’ business dealings, there may be an article relating to that subject. The entire volume is of that nature. And it proves absolutely nothing other than to reprint a raft of old news articles…
The much-touted Grande Dame of Conspiracy Theorists, [Jew] Mae Brussell, helped popularize the Skeleton Key and she had a type of cult following. Mrs. Brussell seemed to find a Nazi under every rock and that has an appeal in some circles…
One of the recent elaborations on the Gemstone Files included the patently ridiculous allegation that Mark Lane is, in reality, a CIA operative who was attempting to thwart an honest investigation into the murder of JFK, even though, of course, it was Lane who first brought widespread public attention to the fact that the Warren Commission Report was a fraud and therefore publicly dismantled the CIA-assisted cover-up.
This false claim about Lane (since withdrawn and repudiated by the publisher) was based on disinformation (much of it generated by the CIA itself) that has been deliberately circulated over the years to muddy the waters into JFK assassination research further. In any case, if this is the kind of "research" involved around the Gemstone Files, I have reservations about giving them any credence as should any serious student… In short, it's a big waste of time. Don't waste your time on the subject."
Final Judgment by Michael Collins Piper p.576-7 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
September 2, 2022
An interesting example of the sort of games of "telephone" which give rise to a lot of crank theories.
The original "Gemstone File" was a labyrinthine morass of writing written by Bruce Roberts. At the time this book was published, almost nobody had read Roberts' actual text - it's now easier to find if you dig around, but unfortunately turns out to be the sort of account of persecutory delusions, grudges, and fixations which are the product of some types of mental illness, rather than a credibly-sourced investigation with a rigorous evidentiary basis.
The thing which was widely circulated from the 1970s onwards was not the Gemstone File itself - it was the "Skeleton Key to the Gemstone File", a document prepared by Stephanie Caruana, a researcher for Mae Brussell who had read Bruce Roberts' material. This was an attempt to construct a clear, logical timeline of Roberts' narrative - and inevitably ended up looking much more organised and coherent than Roberts' original material. This created the impression of being a guide to a treasure trove of investigative work which, alas, was locked away bar for the Skeleton Key.
As such, what the writers here are commenting on is not the original Gemstone File - but someone else's commentary on it. As such, they're only working with a filtered version of it; I suspect several of them, had they access to the original texts, would have recognised them for the product of a disorganised mind and not lent such credence to them.
The end result is a book which is really a jumping-off point for the different authors to present the Gemstone File as supporting their own pet causes (or, in some cases, to pooh-pooh the entire thing). What you end up getting is an interesting cross section of one of the less toxic (but not wholly un-toxic) ends of 1990s conspiracy subculture, but nothing genuinely informative. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/201...
The original "Gemstone File" was a labyrinthine morass of writing written by Bruce Roberts. At the time this book was published, almost nobody had read Roberts' actual text - it's now easier to find if you dig around, but unfortunately turns out to be the sort of account of persecutory delusions, grudges, and fixations which are the product of some types of mental illness, rather than a credibly-sourced investigation with a rigorous evidentiary basis.
The thing which was widely circulated from the 1970s onwards was not the Gemstone File itself - it was the "Skeleton Key to the Gemstone File", a document prepared by Stephanie Caruana, a researcher for Mae Brussell who had read Bruce Roberts' material. This was an attempt to construct a clear, logical timeline of Roberts' narrative - and inevitably ended up looking much more organised and coherent than Roberts' original material. This created the impression of being a guide to a treasure trove of investigative work which, alas, was locked away bar for the Skeleton Key.
As such, what the writers here are commenting on is not the original Gemstone File - but someone else's commentary on it. As such, they're only working with a filtered version of it; I suspect several of them, had they access to the original texts, would have recognised them for the product of a disorganised mind and not lent such credence to them.
The end result is a book which is really a jumping-off point for the different authors to present the Gemstone File as supporting their own pet causes (or, in some cases, to pooh-pooh the entire thing). What you end up getting is an interesting cross section of one of the less toxic (but not wholly un-toxic) ends of 1990s conspiracy subculture, but nothing genuinely informative. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/201...
December 12, 2018
The mother of all recent conpiracy theories. UBC's student newspaper,The Ubyssey, ran a two page centrespread reprinting "the skeleton key to..." in the mid 1970s, so it was certainly floating around then. Probably at least around Canadian student newspapers...
July 17, 2015
I received this audio book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. The Gemstone File is about political conspiracy and cover ups. This book has many valid points, opinions and facts. One point I totally agree with is all drugs should be made legal as junkies will get them no matter what and at least they will be cheaper, so we all don't get robbed for them. This book covers many other times and events that also are questionable as to how they were handled.
The author, Jim Keith did a really good job on keeping my interest in this book. Quite often after hearing how something went down, I just had to shake my head. Hopefully, as a country, we have learned from past mistakes. The narrator, Jack Chekijian did a great job delivering this book to us, once again flawlessly with that voice that I swear is or should be on the history channel. I find this voice always easy on the ears and entertaining too. Good job guys!
The author, Jim Keith did a really good job on keeping my interest in this book. Quite often after hearing how something went down, I just had to shake my head. Hopefully, as a country, we have learned from past mistakes. The narrator, Jack Chekijian did a great job delivering this book to us, once again flawlessly with that voice that I swear is or should be on the history channel. I find this voice always easy on the ears and entertaining too. Good job guys!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews