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a reader stated that a trained geologist had dated the nodule as at least 500,000 years old. The identity of the geologist and the means of dating were never clarified, nor were the findings ever published in any known periodical. Furthermore, there was no method for dating the concretion at the time
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It had been claimed to have fossil shells on the surfaces "that dated back 500,000 years", but the
University of Washington geologist could find no evidence of this claim. This raises the question of "the qualifications and competency of the original alleged geologist ... in 1961". The reason the
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Following its collection, Mikesell destroyed a diamond-edged blade by cutting through the matrix and discovered the item. The item was described as a porcelain cylinder with a two milimeter shaft of bright metal, and later tests revealed the shaft to be magnetic. In a letter to
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On April 12, 2018, Pierre
Stromberg was contacted by the family of one of the co-discoverers of the artifact. Offered an opportunity to inspect the artifact physically, Stromberg accepted and also arranged for the artifact to be inspected by a geologist from the
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An investigation by Pierre
Stromberg and Paul Heinrich, using x-rays taken of the object, with the help of members of the Spark Plug Collectors of America, identified the artifact as a 1920s-era
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Earth and Space
Science department. The inspections confirmed the previous conclusion that the artifact was a 1920s-era Champion spark plug.
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70:, as spark plugs were invented in the 19th century. The stone matrix containing the artifact is not a geode but a
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artifact gained the fame that it did was because of the shell claim. As of 2019, the artifact resides at the
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A spark plug encased in a 500,000-year-old "geode" would represent a substantial scientific and historical
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39:. Discovered on February 13, 1961, by Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey, and Mike Mikesell while they were
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that can be explained by natural processes that can take place over decades or years, not millennia.
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in
Letters...From Our Readers. Desert Magazine of Outdoor Southwest. v. 25, no. 5, p. 4. (May 1961).
233:, Reports of the National Center for Science Education, v. 24, no. 2, pp. 26–30 (March/April 2004).
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engines. SPCA President Chad
Windham and other collectors concurred with his assessment.
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of the artifact's reported discovery. There are examples of accretions surrounding
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Stromberg and
Heinrich's report indicates that the spark plug became encased in a
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from the future leaving or losing the artifact during a visit to the past.
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in
Seattle, where it is shown in an exhibition called "What Is Reality?"
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348:"Coso Artifact Decisively Identified – and it's Hardly Ancient"
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266:"The Coso Artifact | National Center for Science Education"
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Spark plug supposedly encased in a 500,000-year-old geode
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is an object falsely claimed by its discoverers to be a
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96:artifacts, some of them discussed by J. M. Cronyn.
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250:The Coso Artifact Mystery from the Depths of Time?
230:The Coso Artifact Mystery from the Depths of Time?
169:spark plug. Iron and steel artifacts rapidly form
55:. The artifact has been identified as a 1920s-era
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108:theories for the artifact's origin, among them:
51:, it has long been claimed as an example of an
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327:The Elements of Archaeological Conservation
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112:An ancient advanced civilization (such as
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173:concretions as they rust in the ground.
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392:"Skeptoid #403: Out of Place Artifacts"
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85:Desert Magazine of Outdoor Southwest,
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435:History of Inyo County, California
374:Andrew O'Hehir (August 31, 2005).
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165:composed of iron derived from the
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376:"Archaeology from the dark side"
150:spark plug, widely used in the
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329:Routledge, New York. 326 pp.
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43:for geodes near the town of
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430:History of the automobile
305:Wiley, New York. 304 pp.
303:Quaternary Dating methods
179:University of Washington
59:spark plug encased in a
187:Pacific Science Center
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138:An example of a 1920s
100:Criticism and analysis
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390:(February 25, 2014).
325:Cronyn, J. M. (1990)
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53:out-of-place artifact
23:Coso artifact in 2018
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415:1920s in technology
425:1961 in California
353:Skeptical Inquirer
301:Walker, M. (2005)
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121:ancient astronauts
104:There are several
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440:Pseudoarchaeology
360:(2): 10–11. 2019.
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273:. Retrieved
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152:Ford Model T
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119:Prehistoric
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41:prospecting
409:Categories
275:2024-02-13
205:References
171:iron-oxide
163:concretion
142:spark plug
72:concretion
61:concretion
49:California
33:spark plug
78:Discovery
397:Skeptoid
270:ncse.ngo
193:See also
148:Champion
140:Champion
114:Atlantis
57:Champion
167:rusting
156:Model A
68:anomaly
45:Olancha
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126:Human
380:Salon
94:steel
37:geode
331:ISBN
307:ISBN
154:and
90:iron
27:The
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