Which of these conspiracy theories sounds the least implausible to you?

1. The moon landings were faked.

2. An alien incident happened at Roswell in 1947 and was covered up the US military.

3. The US military industrial complex in collusion with the US government was responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001.

4. There is a book that sits in the US president’s library, which is for presidents’ eyes only and is full of state secrets - including the truth about Apollo 11, the Roswell incident and what is contained in the missing 18 minutes on the Watergate tapes . It has been handed down from one president to the next since George Washington was in power.

If you chose number four, then you’ll be excited by the National Treasure sequel that sets that urban legend at the heart of its story. Indeed, with the end of the film suggesting that an issue of national importance is outlined on page 47 of said book, a third movie has been neatly set up although no-one will tell quite what the contents of page 47 are. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has said only the writers of the movie know and they’re not talking because they’re on strike at the moment. Nicolas Cage who plays the treasure hunter/archaeolgist Ben Gates has said it’s “life changing” and the witty director Jon Turteltaub told t5M: “You know what’s on page 47? Page 46.” Which is right, when you think about it.

National Treasure Book of Secrets builds on the historical facts that made the first movie compelling and suggests enough conspiracy theories to keep a susceptible and not-so-susceptible audience guessing. And the role of the Masons, the secret benevolent society, that played such a major part in the first film, re-emerge here too.

While there is little evidence that a real book of secrets exists in the White House, the Masonic influence in American history is well documented. George Washington was a Mason as was one of the men who had a hand in writing the US declaration of independence, Benjamin Franklin. Some claim that Masonic symbols are hidden on US dollar bills and that Masonry was what united the US with France in its struggle for liberty, equality and brotherhood.

But who are we at t5m to uncover Masonic truths? All we can say is that we’re curious to ask whether the makers of National Treasure are Masons too. You be the judge. Check out their suspicious replies in our video feature above.

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