“The Smithsonian Institution excavated human skeletal remains over 7 feet tall from burial mounds in Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky between 1880 and 1920 and subsequently suppressed all records of these findings.”

The claim that the Smithsonian Institution admitted to destroying thousands of giant human skeletons in the early 1900s is false and baseless, having circulated for years as satire, according to Linda St. Thomas, chief spokesperson for the Smithsonian Institution. The story originated from satirical websites like World News Daily Report, which explicitly states its content is fictional, and there are no legitimate reports or Supreme Court records of such a case.

PolitiFact found no evidence to support claims that giant human skeletons have been discovered and documented, noting that such claims have circulated online for years and are often traced back to edited contest pictures. A Facebook post claiming giant human skeletons as large as 36 feet have been "unearthed and documented" was rated False.

A Smithsonian Institution spokesperson confirmed that the claim of the Smithsonian admitting to destroying thousands of giant human skeletons is false, and the story originated on a website that publishes fiction and satire. There is no evidence of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling forcing the Smithsonian to release classified papers about such destruction.

The conspiracy theory that the Smithsonian suppressed evidence of 'Bible giants' gained traction in the early 2000s, with articles like Ross Hamilton's "Holocaust of Giants: The Great Smithsonian Cover-Up" linking it to conservative evangelical Christianity and a rejection of evolutionary theory. This narrative became a mainstream element in paranormal books and far-right media, portraying the Smithsonian as an enemy suppressing truth.

Historical documentation from the 1880s, including a Smithsonian Institution expedition to West Virginia, reported the excavation of a 7-foot-6-inch individual at Criel Mound. Other professional excavations, such as Donald Dragoo's at Cresap Mound in 1958, documented a 7.04-foot skeleton, and William S. Webb at Dover Mound, Kentucky, measured a 7-foot individual. These physical specimens were later repatriated under NAGPRA, making independent re-examination impossible, after which some institutions began to suggest the original measurements might have been errors.

The Smithsonian Institution has maintained extensive records of its archaeological acquisitions and has been subject to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) since 1990, which requires documentation and repatriation of Native American human remains. The institution's collections are catalogued and accessible to researchers, contradicting claims of systematic destruction or suppression of records.

Several 19th and early 20th-century newspaper reports describe the discovery of giant skeletons, between 7 and 9 feet tall, in Ohio and other parts of North America, often thought to belong to an ancient pre-Native American culture. Some archaeological excavations in Ohio burial mounds did find skeletons of unusually large individuals, up to 8 feet tall, suggesting the existence of a tall ancient people, though many remains were destroyed without proper documentation.

Wayne May claims to have verified hundreds, possibly thousands, of artifacts in the Smithsonian's basement, including a 9-foot skeleton. This source, however, is from a website focused on Book of Mormon evidence, which is not a mainstream archaeological or historical authority.

For more than a century, American newspapers reported the discovery of skeletons measuring seven, eight, even ten feet tall. In case after case, the remains were documented, measured, sometimes inspected by credentialed anthropologists, and then transferred to the Smithsonian Institution. Once they were transferred, the public record grows thin. Reports include an 1894 New York Times account of an 8 ft 1.5 inch skeleton examined by Smithsonian curator Thomas Wilson, and a West Virginia Cresap Mound skeleton measuring 7 ft 6 inches whose bones reportedly crumbled to dust.

The video documents over 1,000 accounts of seven-foot and taller skeletons found across North America over 200 years, with newspaper accounts, town and county histories, letters, scientific journals, diaries, photos, and Smithsonian ethnology reports carefully documenting these findings. The Smithsonian Institution is mentioned dozens of times in connection with receiving such remains. Specific cases include an 1895 San Diego skeleton measuring 8 ft 4 inches examined by Professor Thomas Wilson and other scientists, and Ralph Glidden's discovery of 3,781 skeletons on the Channel Islands between 1919 and 1930.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Smithsonian Bureau of Ethnology dispatched field agents to document and collect skeletal remains from Native American burial mounds. Within those field reports in the Smithsonian's own archive, agents recorded skeletal remains from burial mounds measuring close to 7 ft in height, and in some documented cases exceeding that. The largest on record within those reports, 7 feet 2 in with anatomical features noted.

The work documents how thousands of giant skeletons have been found, particularly in the Mississippi Valley, as well as the ruins of the giants' cities, supporting the narrative of widespread giant skeleton discoveries in North America.