Those of us who occasionally find ourselves watching provocative videos about Bigfoot, alien abductions, and lost World War treasures have undoubtedly heard something about the mystical and mysterious Crystal Skulls.

The 13 skulls (12 of which have been discovered, but believers insist there's another one out there) are said to possess mystical powers, and the most famous of them — the Mitchell-Hedges skull, found by Frederick Mitchell-Hedges and his daughter Anna — is perhaps the most powerful. Ostensibly discovered in 1924 under a collapsed altar in the ruins of the Mayan city of Lubaantun, it's said that it has the power to kill from a distance.

Mitchell-Hedges, a pipe smoker and adventurer, wrote in the first edition of his autobiography, Danger My Ally, "It is the embodiment of evil ... it is at least 3,600 years old and according to legend it was used by the High Priest of the Maya when he was performing esoteric rites. It is said that when he willed death with the help of the skull, death invariably followed."

It's also said that the skull can heal the sick, read minds, predict the future, and maintain a constant internal temperature of 70°F. Anna Mitchell-Hedges claimed it gave her a premonition of President Kennedy's assassination in 1963. So powerful are these objects, according to legend, that when all 13 are one day brought together, they will complete a supposed Native American prophecy and reveal universal knowledge pertaining to the survival of the human race.

"It is the embodiment of evil ... it is at least 3,600 years old ..."

It should be noted that there are more than 13 crystal skulls, but many are smaller than life-size or are in museums and are inaccessible. The criteria for qualifying a skull as "official" have not been revealed, but 13 skulls were recently brought together. However, they must not have been of sufficient quality and heritage, as they did not reveal any universal truths.

The Skull of Doom, however, is a stunning example, though fraught with controversy regarding its discovery and origin. Frederick Mitchell-Hedges was an Indiana Jones-level adventurer described as always having a pipe in his teeth, but some think he may have exaggerated the mystical aspects of his Crystal Skull. His claim of its age as 3,600 years, for example, was made only in the first edition of his autobiography and was missing from subsequent printings, in which the skull is not mentioned at all. Perhaps there were mystical reasons for its removal.

There has been much speculation about his character, with various sources claiming he was a mercenary, a British spy, and a philanderer who convinced wealthy female socialites to finance his expeditions. He had a business understanding of some sort with the British Museum, which received many of the artifacts he unearthed during his travels.

However, there are contradictions in Mitchell-Hedges' account of the Skull of Doom, and he also made some wild claims about discovering lost tribes and cities that had already been documented, as well as suggesting that the Bay of Honduras held archaeological evidence of the lost city of Atlantis. Some say he stretched the truth in pursuit of sensationalism.

Born in London in 1882, Mitchell-Hedges took a three-week excursion to the wilds of Norway following his 16th birthday. He was so impressed by the experience that he immediately decided to become an explorer. Contrary to his father's wishes and advice, he quit school and started traveling.

In Canada, he married Lillian Clarke, and they adopted a daughter, Anna, who would later become part of the legend of the Crystal Skulls. He traveled through Central America, exploring ruins and meeting native people far from civilization. He hosted a Sunday-night radio show in New York City in the '30s, telling tales of his adventures, his near-death experiences with wild animals and savage lost tribes, and his narrow escapes from certain death. It may have been here, in the pursuit of pleasing audiences, that he learned to embellish his exploits. Or maybe it was all true; we'll never know for sure.

... he also made some wild claims about discovering lost tribes and cities

Mitchell-Hedges claimed that he discovered the Skull of Doom in the 1920s, when Anna found it under a Mayan altar on her 17th birthday. Strangely, he published nothing about it until the 1940s, and it was not mentioned in any of the documentation of that expedition. He later insisted that "several people who have cynically laughed at it have died; others have been stricken and become seriously ill ... how it came into my possession I have reason for not revealing" (Silverman).

Coincidentally, a Crystal Skull with identical dimensions was auctioned by Sotheby's in 1943, after which Mitchell-Hedges first mentioned it, and some non-believers have speculated that the skulls are the same. Contributing to that conclusion is a letter that Mitchell-Hedges wrote his brother, in which he states that he purchased the skull at auction in December of 1943, so we can see why some would have doubts.

Anna found it under a Mayan altar on her 17th birthday

We support pipe smokers here at Smokingpipes, so we'll assume that Mitchell-Hedges' public claims about the 1923 discovery are correct, and subsequent contradictions were manufactured to discredit him. It seems obvious that aliens manufactured both the auction records and the letter to his brother to deflect investigation into the skull's mystical alien powers. Aliens like a surprise, and they had a vested interest in diverting rumors of the skull's power so they could later spring the meaning of life on humanity in an interplanetary reveal party.

Mitchell-Hedges died in 1959, and Anna was left as the proprietor of the skull. She allowed it to be scientifically examined in 1963, and though it had been claimed that absolutely no modern tool marks existed, modern tooling was indeed indicated under high magnification. Anna permitted no further examination after that and toured with the skull so that people could see its miraculousness for themselves, if they paid the admission price.

She stopped touring in 1990 but continued to grant interviews about it. When she died in 2007, her husband, Bill Homann, took the skull to the Smithsonian for examination, where it was determined to have been made in the 1930s with modern tools.

... modern tooling was indeed indicated under high magnification

Despite the controversy surrounding the origin of the Skull of Doom, Mitchell-Hedges was a legitimate explorer and adventurer. Although little is revealed about his pipe smoking in his writings, we do know that he was rarely without a pipe in his mouth. He was "a tall, gaunt man whose pipe was invariably clenched between thin, tight lips" (Garvin, p. 34).

Some of his adventures revolved around fishing, and he published about that, too, such as Battles with Giant Fish (1923), which mentions fishing while smoking:

Before that, when he was bouncing around Mexico, he was captured by the famous revolutionary, Pancho Villa. Mitchell-Hedges sang himself out of execution by singing "God Save the Queen" and proving himself British. He joined the outlaws. He spent some time raiding towns and robbing trains until 1914, when Pancho Villa allowed him to return to England so he could enlist in the Army and serve in WWI. Sadly, the Army rejected him because of the two bullet wounds in his thigh, so he went back to exploring.

Photos show that Mitchell-Hedges preferred Billiards, and both bent and straight versions are seen, but beyond that, no mention of his tobacco or favored pipe brands exist in the literature. Whenever he writes about tobacco, it's in terms of its value for trading and gaining the goodwill of indigenous people.

... he was captured by the famous revolutionary, Pancho Villa

It is speculated that this larger-than-life world explorer was the inspiration for Indiana Jones, but he has not been officially recognized as such. He certainly painted vivid word pictures of his adventurous life. Whether or not he stretched the truth seems inconsequential; he was building a brand, and keeping expeditions funded required dramatic stories. What is sure, though, is that he was always a pipe smoker, and pipe smokers thrive in some of the most bizarre circumstances.

Bibliography

• Garvin, Richard M. The Crystal Skull (1973).
• "The Stare of Death" (2018), theunredacted.
• Trusohamn, Fredrik. "Unmasking the Myths of Crystal Skulls: Fact vs. Fiction" (2024). Digginupancientaliens.
• Silverman, Leah. "These Infamous Crystal Skulls Aren't From Aztecs Or Aliens, But Just Victorian Hoax Artists" (2024), Allthatsinteresting.