The Coso Artifact: A Mysterious Relic from the Past?
The Coso Artifact is what is referred to as an "out-of-place artifact" and its finders assert that it is a spark plug encased in a geode.
Contemporary things discovered in unexpected locations are known as out-of-place artifacts, which raises the likelihood that contemporary technology existed long before modern man invented it.
In this instance, this artifact was discovered inside of a rock or clump of dried clay.
The Coso Artifact and The "500,000 Years" Theory
The Coso Artifact could be as old as 500,000 years, hundreds of thousands of years before advanced civilizations populated the Earth, at least according to conventional theories.
As you might expect, given that spark plugs were created in the 19th century, finding a spark plug inside of a 500,000-year-old "geode" would be a significant scientific and historical aberration.
Some detractors claim that the artifact's stone matrix is not a geode but rather a concretion that can be explained by natural processes that can take decades or years to complete.
The Discovery of The Coso Artifact
Over the years, the Coso Artifact narrative has been embellished, but practically every report of the finding itself is essentially the same.
On February 13, 1961, Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey, and Mike Mikesell were looking for intriguing mineral specimens for their LM&V Rockhounds Gem and Gift Shop in Olancha, California.
They were especially interested in geodes.
The group was located on the top of a peak that was 4,300 feet in elevation and 340 feet above the dry bed of Owens Lake, about 6 miles northeast of Olancha.
At lunchtime, after spending the majority of the morning gathering rocks, all three of them put their specimens in the rock sack Mikesell was carrying.
The following day, Mikesell mishandled a nearly-new diamond saw blade in the gift shop's workshop while attempting to cut what he believed to be a geode.
Mikesell discovered a perfectly circular piece of an extremely hard, white substance that resembled porcelain inside the cut nodule instead of the traditional geode hollow.
The porcelain cylinder has a 2-millimeter shaft of shining metal in the middle of it. A magnet caused the metal shaft to respond, according to National Center for Science Education.
The Coso Artifact has further peculiar characteristics. The item's exterior was covered in bits of fossilized shells.
The discoverers also found two nonmagnetic metallic objects like a washer and a nail in the crust in addition to shells.
Even stranger, the inner layer was hexagonal and appeared to surround the cylinder of hard porcelain. The porcelain cylinder was encircled by a layer of rotting copper inside the inner layer.
Criticism and Analysis
The Coso Artifact was the subject of considerable alt-archaeology and pseudoscience discussion until the late '90s, and all kinds of truthers came snooping about to see what it was all about.
As you might expect, given that spark plugs were created in the 19th century, finding a spark plug inside of a 500,000-year-old "geode" would be a significant scientific and historical aberration.
Some detractors claim that the artifact's stone matrix is not a geode but rather a concretion that can be explained by natural processes that can take decades or years to complete.
The Discovery of The Coso Artifact
Over the years, the Coso Artifact narrative has been embellished, but practically every report of the finding itself is essentially the same.
On February 13, 1961, Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey, and Mike Mikesell were looking for intriguing mineral specimens for their LM&V Rockhounds Gem and Gift Shop in Olancha, California.
They were especially interested in geodes.
The group was located on the top of a peak that was 4,300 feet in elevation and 340 feet above the dry bed of Owens Lake, about 6 miles northeast of Olancha.
At lunchtime, after spending the majority of the morning gathering rocks, all three of them put their specimens in the rock sack Mikesell was carrying.
The following day, Mikesell mishandled a nearly-new diamond saw blade in the gift shop's workshop while attempting to cut what he believed to be a geode.
Mikesell discovered a perfectly circular piece of an extremely hard, white substance that resembled porcelain inside the cut nodule instead of the traditional geode hollow.
The porcelain cylinder has a 2-millimeter shaft of shining metal in the middle of it. A magnet caused the metal shaft to respond, according to National Center for Science Education.
The Coso Artifact has further peculiar characteristics. The item's exterior was covered in bits of fossilized shells.
The discoverers also found two nonmagnetic metallic objects like a washer and a nail in the crust in addition to shells.
Even stranger, the inner layer was hexagonal and appeared to surround the cylinder of hard porcelain. The porcelain cylinder was encircled by a layer of rotting copper inside the inner layer.
Criticism and Analysis
The Coso Artifact was the subject of considerable alt-archaeology and pseudoscience discussion until the late '90s, and all kinds of truthers came snooping about to see what it was all about.
Virginia Maxey said that at the time of the artifact's discovery, a geologist examined the fossils around the device and concluded that it was at least 500,000 years old, if not older.
This claim has been questioned in particular by Pierre Stromberg and Paul V. Heinrich, who have tried to prove that the plug was made in the 1920s and was encased in a fast-forming concretion, not a geode.
The only people who have physically examined the Coso Artifact are the three who found it and Ron Calais, who believes the conventional understanding of human history is incorrect.
For years, the Coso Artifact was displayed in the home of Wallace Lane, the last of the three discoverers, even though he did not let others examine it, Heinrich and Stromberg say.
The actual location of the artifact is unknown.
The geologist who claimed the Coso Artifact was 500,000 years old was never named, raising doubts about the veracity of the study. Heinrich and Stromberg note, however, that "there is little evidence the original discoverers meant to deceive anyone."
Without having the Coso Artifact in hand, they argue that the material covering it was probably not a geode, which would attest to the device being ancient.
Using X-ray images of the object published by Calais and an artist's sketches, Heinrich and Stromberg enlisted the help of Spark Plug Collectors of America President Chad Windham. He said the artifact is a Champion spark plug from the 1920s.
Those who claim the spark plug could be an antique point to a rib at the top of the object, which is not part of modern spark plugs.
Based on Windham's description, Heinrich and Stromberg stated that in the 1920s the Champion spark plug was made with a "brass hat" corresponding to the rib, although this part was not included in later designs.
There are, however, some differences in their appearance. Windham wrote: "The sketches (of the artifact) clearly show one rib on the top end of the porcelain part, whereas Champion used two ribs - probably just the error of the artist (who drew the sketches)".
Pseudoscientific Theories about the Coso Artifact
According to Wikipedia, the artifact's origins have given rise to a number of pseudoscientific ideas, including the following:
- An ancient advanced civilization (like Atlantis);
- Prehistoric ancient astronauts;
- Human time travelers from the future leaving or losing the artifact during a journey to the past.
The UFO Arena
There are a ton of additional viewpoints on the matter available online.
While the majority of authors just relate the mystery of the Coso Artifact as it was previously described, others have started to hypothesize on the function and history of such a device.
If Coso Artifact isn't just a spark plug, "My guess would be some sort of antenna," said Brian Wood, who identified himself as Co-Producer, ParaNet UFO Continuum [and] International Director of MICAP [Multinational Investigations Cooperative on Aerial Phenomena]. "The design makes me think of contemporary experiments with superconductors".
The Coso Artifact, according to Joe Held of "Joe's UFOs and Space Mysteries," "looks like a small capacitor with several different materials".
It is about the size of an automobile spark plug. This was a really unusual discovery because geodes can take millions of years to create.
Some people view the Coso Artifact as conclusive evidence that the conventional wisdom of human history has to be disproved. However, this and numerous other similar discoveries have been disregarded by mainstream science and archaeology.
- Prehistoric ancient astronauts;
- Human time travelers from the future leaving or losing the artifact during a journey to the past.
The UFO Arena
There are a ton of additional viewpoints on the matter available online.
While the majority of authors just relate the mystery of the Coso Artifact as it was previously described, others have started to hypothesize on the function and history of such a device.
If Coso Artifact isn't just a spark plug, "My guess would be some sort of antenna," said Brian Wood, who identified himself as Co-Producer, ParaNet UFO Continuum [and] International Director of MICAP [Multinational Investigations Cooperative on Aerial Phenomena]. "The design makes me think of contemporary experiments with superconductors".
The Coso Artifact, according to Joe Held of "Joe's UFOs and Space Mysteries," "looks like a small capacitor with several different materials".
It is about the size of an automobile spark plug. This was a really unusual discovery because geodes can take millions of years to create.
Some people view the Coso Artifact as conclusive evidence that the conventional wisdom of human history has to be disproved. However, this and numerous other similar discoveries have been disregarded by mainstream science and archaeology.
