It’s been 15 years since National Treasure: Book of Secrets, but many fans still wonder about Page 47. And now that National Treasure: Edge of History has landed on Disney+, there’s a reignited hope that the page’s secret contents will finally be revealed. Here’s what to know about the Book of Secrets and Page 47, including theories about what’s on it — and whether there’s a chance we’ll ever learn the truth.
What is the Book of Secrets?
First, here’s a refresher on the Book of Secrets itself. It’s introduced in the second National Treasure film; Nicolas Cage’s Benjamin Gates needs to find it in order to clear his ancestor’s name of involvement in the Abraham Lincoln assassination.
Essentially, the Book of Secrets is a journal shared by all Presidents of the United States. It details many controversial topics and conspiracies, including Area 51, the JFK assassination, the Watergate tapes, and more. In National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the current president hides the journal in the Library of Congress.
But is the Book of Secrets real? Unfortunately, no. In a 2014 blog post, the Library of Congress confirmed that Disney created the concept for the film:
“As depicted in the film National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the book is a fictional invention for the plot of the movie. Obviously, there are real secrets that Presidents are made aware of during their terms of office, mostly relating to military matters and national security. The National Archives and Records Administration keeps extensive records of investigations such as that regarding the Kennedy assassination (allegedly contained in the Book of Secrets). Many of these records are ‘classified’ and not open to the public, at least for a certain period of time, but records of that sort usually involve thousands of pages of documents and would be managed by archivists with security clearances, not neatly contained in a single volume that could be passed from one President to another.”
What is Page 47 in ‘National Treasure: Book of Secrets’?
Now, what about Page 47, specifically? In National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the president asks Ben to look at Page 47. He later follows up with Ben to ask if he did look at it, and Ben says, “It’s life-altering, sir.” Unfortunately, viewers never get to see what’s on the page. Of course, that hasn’t stopped anyone from theorizing in the last 15 years.
Theories about what was on Page 47 in ‘National Treasure: Book of Secrets’
In a Reddit thread about Page 47, fans shared their thoughts on what “life-altering” secrets it could contain. One person suggested it could cover the Illuminati and their “ultimate plan for humanity.”
“Over the millennia, they’ve worked behind the scenes to subtly manipulate world events in order to steer humanity in a particular direction, that of ultimately becoming a powerful and peaceful one-world technocracy. … Organizations like the Freemasons are pawns of the Illuminati, easily maneuvered,” the fan wrote.
Another popular theory that someone shared in the thread is that Page 47 covers the Roswell incident in 1947. United States Army Air Forces officers recovered debris that they claimed to be from a crashed weather balloon. However, many people believe it was a cover-up and they actually found remnants of a UFO.
Could the secret be revealed in ‘National Treasure: Edge of History’?
Disney+’s new sequel series, National Treasure: Edge of History, follows a young woman named Jess (Lisette Olivera) as she searches for a Pan-American treasure with connections to her family. It seems to be a standalone story from the films, so it’s unlikely that Edge of History will dive into Page 47.
However, Page 47 does get a cheeky shout-out in Edge of History. Fans who caught National Treasure: Book of Secrets on FX on Dec. 13 were treated to an exclusive clip from Edge of History, in which Jess and her friends meet Justin Bartha’s Riley Poole. He reveals that he and Ben have been working on a “super important thing for the last 15 years.” Riley doesn’t share what it is, but he teases, “Let’s just say there’s 47 reasons to be interested.”
Could this be a setup for National Treasure 3?
The National Treasure movies and National Treasure: Edge of History are now streaming on Disney+. New episodes of Edge of History drop every Wednesday until Feb. 8.
