Mr. Semir Osmanagic, born in 1960 in Bosnia, and living in the United States (Houston, Texas), presented as an archaeologist (en) in the first news, is in fact a businessman. According to the article about him in Wikipedia (en), he is the owner of the Met Company (en) in Houston.
In Sarajevo he studied political and economic science (see this "profile" of Mr. Osmanagic (en) on the website bosnianpyramid.com). He readily introduces himself as "searcher" (see this interview (en)), expert in the study of pyramids and "enigmas of the past".
He is the author of a "thesis" (called "doctoral dissertation" on his website "Alternative History" (bs)) about the Maya civilization, which, as far as I know, was never officially defended. An English text (en) about the Mayas is present on his website, and has been published by Gorgias Press (en) (Gorgias Press seems to be a serious publisher, specialized in history, archaeology et litterature from Near and Middle-East, but they also have a series of books called Euphrates Books (en), in which was Mr. Osmanagic’s book published. This "Euphrates Imprint is described like this: "Gorgias Press is now accepting manuscript submissions for its Euphrates Imprint. This imprint consists of popular works of fiction and non-fiction. Appealing to the intellectually curious, Euphrates presents creative and thought-provoking writing from contemporary authors.").
The other books by Mr. Osmanagic have been published in Bosnian only: http://www.alternativnahistorija.com/Editions.htm (bs),
but all the texts are on line on alternativnahistorija (bs),
and a mere glimpse at the content of these books is enlightening. One can find on this website:
– Od masona do mentalnih projekcija (bs): "From Free Masons to mental projections"; the introduction gives some precisions about the author’s "alternative history": it’s about the truths hidden by the "elites" who control the world, and who manipulate the people with false or incomplete history books (“Alternativna historija” je upravo ono sto i naslov sugerira: alternativa “istinama“ koje se serviraju javnosti od strane medija i elita koje, iza scene ili otvoreno, vladaju svijetom od pamtivjeka. Na takvim, netacnim ili nepotpunim informacijama, zasnovane su historijske knjige kojima su elite/oligarhije manipulirale vecinom.). Going from the Chinese pyramids to the New Age belief of Robert Monroe (en), from the "face" on Mars to the "masonic symbols" of the airport in Denver, one can learn that the Masons control the Earth, that the Nazis were not defeated in 1945 but have progressed by infiltration to the highest levels of power in the United States, while Adolf Hitler took refuge in a military base on the South Pole, and that the NASA is trying to hide the fact that there is extraterrestrial life on Jupiter satellite Europe...
– Svi nasi “kontakti” (bs) ("All our ’contacts’") contains a list of all the "enigmas" which can only be explained by the intervention of ETs, from the crop-circles to Bermuda Triangle, and to the cosmology of the Dogons, not forgetting of course Atlantis and Lemuria.
– Piramida moći na Planeti (bs) ("The powers of the pyramid on Earth") where we have again the Masons, the Illuminati, with a number of references to David Icke.
– Tragovima Atlantide (bs) ("On the traces of Atlantis"), where one can learn everything about the Atlantidian civilization, its colonies in Egypt, Mexico and Peru, its heirs (Basque, Guanche and Berber people), about the building of Stonehenge by the Atlantideans 12,000 years ago as an "energetic center"...
– Kosmička misija Maja (bs) ("The cosmic mission of the Mayas"), where one learns that the transformation of the world, predicted by the Mayas, will take place in 2012 Decembre 21th.
– Misterija Anasazija (bs) ("Mysteries of the Anasazis (en)"), if you want to know everything about the links between the mysterious disparition of the Ancient Pueblo People and the more-than-secret organisation ACIO (Advanced Contact Intelligence Organization) founded par the NASA.
– Civilizacije prije početka "zvanične" historije (bs) ("Civilizations before the beginning of the ’official’ history"), where we see again the traces of Atlantis, extending to China, Japon, Taiwan, Costa Rica and Bosnia (with the first hints about the "kamene kugle", the stone spheres that Atlantideans disseminated like big peas).
– Bosanska piramida Sunca (bs) ("The Bosnian pyramid of the Sun"), for which you will find more details in another article. It can be noted that this book dates from 2005, that is before the beginning of the excavations in Visoko.
– PUTEVI DUŠE (bs) ("The travels of the soul"): hypnotic regressions, out-of-body experiments and meetings.
– 25 Piramida - feljton (bs) ("25 pyramids - Feuilleton"): a trip around the world pyramids, culminating with the "pyramid of the Sun" in Bosnia, "the most important historical monument in Europe", with a five years research program which will force "UNESCO to proclaim the Archaeological Park [of the Bosnian pyramid] a World Heritage Site".
– The World of the Maya (en) (english version): the book is introduced by his author as "a galactic telescope by means of which cosmic harmony may be achieved". It consists for the most part (like his other books) of travel notes, mixed with historic anecdotes on the visited cities, and with a few "revelations" of alternative history. Extracts:
It is my theory that the Maya should be considered watchmakers of the cosmos whose mission it is to adjust the Earthly frequency and bring it into accordance with the vibrations of our Sun. Once the Earth begins to vibrate in harmony with the Sun, information will be able to travel in both directions without limitation. And then we will be able to understand why all ancient peoples worshipped the Sun and dedicated their rituals to this. The Sun is the source of all life on this planet and the source of all information and knowledge.
And with a frequency in harmony, the Earth will, via the Sun, be connected with the center of our Galaxy. These facts become exceptionally important when we realize that we are rapidly approaching December 2012, a date which the Maya have marked as the time of arrival of the Galactic Energy Cluster which will enlighten us.
– and last, Civilizacija Maja - doktorska disertacija (bs) ("The civilization of the Mayas - doctoral dissertation" at the Faculty of Political Science in Sarajevo): this work claims to be a "comparative analysis of the Maya non-technological civilization and the occidental technological civilization". The author’s aim is to establish that the "level of civilization" of the Mayas was higher than that of our present occidental civilization, and therefore he has to redefine the "civilization criteria". The author tries to produce a more scientific and academic discourse than in his other texts (references, explanation of the methods...), but the "New Age" ideas regularly come back (allusions to Atlantis and Mu, to the possibility of a "higher (terrestrial or extra-terrestrial)" civilization which could have transmitted its knowledge to the Mayas, pyramids placed on "energetic nodes"...). The bibliography is... interesting for a "doctoral thesis": along with a few serious works, one can find books published by the Reader’s Digest, touristic guides, and some "pseudo-archaeological" and New Age references (Richard Garvin, "The Crystal Skull", or Jose Arguelles, "The Mayan Factor").
To make it short, Mr. Osmanagic is not an archaeologist; he is not even, as he is sometimes called, an amateur archaeologist (as far as I know he never participated in archaeological excavations, and obviously he ignores or despises every bit of what he calls "official" archaeology). He is more an "amateur of archaeology", or, better, an "amateur of pseudo-archaeology" [1], a tourist who had the opportunity to travel in all Central America and to visit there a number of archaeological sites. He is also a real lover of pseudo-scientific and conspirationist books; his texts, far from being original, are a mixing of facts and ideas gathered in these books [2] and reorganized around his main obsession, the pyramids; and his thesis about these (origin, supposed use of, age...) are quite common among those the sceptics like to call "pyramidiots" (en).
However, Mr. Osmanagic could, despite his academical and scientific lacks, have discovered a real pyramid; what is more, his admirers and supporters claim that he does nothing more than presiding the Foundation "Pyramid of the Sun", and that the scientific work on the excavations is made by a team, even an international team, of professional archaeologists and geologists. It is therefore necessary to look closer at this team and their qualifications, as well as at the circonstances of the "discovery" made by Mr. Osmanagic.