The Coso Artifact
"The Coso artifact is an object claimed by its discoverers to be a spark plug found encased in a lump of hard clay or rock on February 13, 1961 by Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey, and Mike Mikesell while they were prospecting for geodes near the town of Olancha, California, and long claimed as an example of an out-of-place artifact.
If a spark plug is encased in a 500,000-year-old "geode," this finding would represent a substantial scientific and historical anomaly, as spark plugs were invented in the 19th century. Critics have argued, however, that the concretion, not geode, containing the Coso artifact can be explained by known natural processes and credible evidence for it being 500,000 years old is completely lacking."
If a spark plug is encased in a 500,000-year-old "geode," this finding would represent a substantial scientific and historical anomaly, as spark plugs were invented in the 19th century. Critics have argued, however, that the concretion, not geode, containing the Coso artifact can be explained by known natural processes and credible evidence for it being 500,000 years old is completely lacking."
- Text from Wikipedia entry for "Coso artifact" (accessed 10/12/2015)
- Image source
Blog Posts and Articles
- "Out of Place Artifacts" (Brian Dunning, 2/25/2014)
- "The 10 Most Not-So-Puzzling Ancient Artifacts: The Coso Artifact" (ArchyFantasies, 7/9/2012)
- "The "Coso Artifact'" (Kieth Fitzpatrick-Matthews, 6/25/2007)
- "The Coso Artifact" (Pierre Stromberg, 5/8/2003)
Other Online Media
- "The Coso Artifact" (ArchyFantasies podcast, Episode 9, 4/27/2015)
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