Pyramid Field Notes / Short films
The clip. The context.
A compelling moment is a starting point. Watch the claim, follow the sources, and see what remains open.
Titanic: the insurance claim
AJ tells the switch theory, then checks it. These films keep both stages of his episode visible.
The Why Files9 October 2026
Choose a question.
Three paired programmes. Each pair follows one thread.
About Part 2. It is a later excerpt from the same episode, in which AJ corrects the switch theory set out in Part 1. Watch both parts before drawing a conclusion.
Evidence graphic / 1912 records
Titanic and Olympic: cost and insurance figures recorded in 1912, in £ million
US Senate report, 28 May 1912 · printed p. 3
Lloyd’s placement slip · arranged 9–11 January 1912
Units. Pounds sterling as recorded in 1912; not adjusted for inflation. Each bar is one figure from one record.
Do not add the two Titanic £1m figures. They come from two different records and are shown separately; they are not evidence of two separate covers.
Limit. These values do not show profit, the company’s final loss or the wreck’s identity. The sources here do not give Olympic’s cost, so none is shown.
Sources: US Senate Titanic report, printed p. 3 ↗ · Lloyd’s: the original placement slip ↗
Show this graphic as a table
| Record | Item | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| US Senate report, 28 May 1912, printed p. 3 | Titanic cost | £1,500,000 |
| US Senate report, 28 May 1912, printed p. 3 | Titanic outside insurance | £1,000,000 |
| Lloyd’s placement slip, 9–11 January 1912 | Titanic hull and machinery cover | £1,000,000 |
| Lloyd’s placement slip, 9–11 January 1912 | Olympic hull and machinery cover | £1,000,000 |
Evidence panel / claim and finding
The GLI3 study: what was claimed, and what the paper reports
The claim in the clip
The study is presented as showing that this variant increased extra digits (polydactyly).
What the study reports
Agata and colleagues tested an archaic-type GLI3 variant in genome-edited mice. They reported altered skeletal morphology, but no limb or digit abnormalities in those variant mice.
Limits
The authors distinguish this variant from loss of GLI3 function, which can cause extra digits. Mouse results do not establish any family’s ancestry or identify DNA in skulls. One spoken gene-name fragment in the clip remains unclear in the captions.
No numeric chart is drawn: the study reports a qualitative finding on this question. Source: Agata et al., 2023 ↗
Evidence panel / what was tested
Launching from the Moon: the design record and the Apollo 5 test
The question in the clip
Dusty Slay, a comedian, questions how a crew could launch from the Moon, then qualifies his view. The edit keeps his uncertainty, laughter and joke.
What the records describe
Grumman’s Apollo News Reference explains that the descent stage remained as the launch platform for the ascent stage. NASA documents lunar-module engine tests in Earth orbit during Apollo 5, January 1968.
Limits
Apollo 5 was an Earth-orbit test, not an earlier launch from the lunar surface. A design document alone does not prove a landing.
Sources: Grumman, printed p. LV-2 ↗ · NASA: the first lunar-module test flight ↗
The Senate report puts Titanic’s cost at £1.5 million and outside insurance at £1 million. Lloyd’s original placement slip records £1 million of cover for each ship, including Olympic. This challenges the uninsured-ship premise and the suggestion that Titanic’s cover exceeded its cost.
These financial records do not independently establish the wreck’s identity or a complete profit calculation. AJ later rejects the switch theory; his part-number and porthole statements are distinct from our financial-record check.
Read the sources.
- US Senate: original Titanic report
28 May 1912 · printed page 3. Cost, outside insurance and the company’s retained risk.
- Lloyd’s: the original placement slip
Hull and machinery cover of £1 million for each ship; arranged 9–11 January 1912.
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