The Coso artifact is an object claimed by its discoverers to be a

spark plug A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/air ...

encased in a geode. Discovered on February 13, 1961, by Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey and Mike Mikesell while they were

prospecting Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. Traditionally prospecting reli ...

for

geode A geode (; ) is a geological secondary formation within sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Geodes are hollow, vaguely spherical rocks, in which masses of mineral matter (which may include crystals) are secluded. The crystals are formed by the fill ...

s near the town of

Olancha, California Olancha (Timbisha: ''Pakwa' si'') is a census designated place in Inyo County of the U.S. state of California. Olancha is located on U.S. Route 395 in California, south-southeast of Independence, at an elevation of 3658 feet (1115 m). As of the ...

, it has long been claimed as an example of an

out-of-place artifact An out-of-place artifact (OOPArt or oopart) is an artifact of historical, archaeological, or paleontological interest found in an unusual context, which challenges conventional historical chronology by its presence in that context. Such artifact ...

.Stromberg, P., and P. V. Heinrich, 2004
''The Coso Artifact Mystery from the Depths of Time?''
Reports of the National Center for Science Education, v. 24, no. 2, pp. 26–30 (March/April 2004). The artifact has been identified as a 1920s-era

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...

spark plug.Stromberg, P., and P. V. Heinrich, 2018
Coso Artifact Mystery from the Depths of Time?''
/ref> A spark plug encased in a 500,000-year-old "geode" would represent a substantial scientific and historical anomaly, as spark plugs were invented in the 19th century. Critics say that the stone matrix containing the artifact is not a geode, but a

concretion A concretion is a hard, compact mass of matter formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles, and is found in sedimentary rock or soil. Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular ...

that can be explained by natural processes that can take place over decades or years.

Discovery

Following its collection, Mikesell destroyed a diamond-edged blade by cutting through the matrix and discovered the item. In a letter written to ''Desert Magazine of Outdoor Southwest'' a reader stated that a trained geologist had dated the nodule as at least 500,000 years old.Maxey, V., 1961, ''The Coso Geode...'' in Letters...From Our Readers. Desert Magazine of Outdoor Southwest. v. 25, no. 5, p. 4. (May 1961). The identity of the geologist and the means of dating were never clarified, nor were the findings ever published in any known periodical. Furthermore, at the time of the artifact's reported discovery there was no method for dating the concretion.Walker, M. (2005) ''Quaternary Dating methods'' Wiley, New York. 304 pp. . There are examples of accretions surrounding

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

artifacts, some of them discussed by J. M. Cronyn.Cronyn, J. M. (1990) ''The Elements of Archaeological Conservation'' Routledge, New York. 326 pp. .

Criticism and analysis

There are several

pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...

theories for the artifact's origin, among them: * An ancient advanced civilization (such as

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...

); * Prehistoric ancient astronauts; * Human

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

ers from the future leaving or losing the artifact during a visit to the past. Champion Spark Plug 4

An investigation by Pierre Stromberg and Paul Heinrich, with the help of members of the Spark Plug Collectors of America, identified the artifact as a 1920s-era

spark plug, widely used in the

Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

and Model A engines. SPCA President Chad Windham and other collectors concurred with his assessment. Stromberg and Heinrich's report indicates that the spark plug became encased in a

composed of iron derived from the

rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH ...

ing spark plug. Iron and steel artifacts rapidly form

iron-oxide Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. All are black magnetic solids. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of whic ...

concretions as they rust in the ground. On April 12, 2018, Pierre Stromberg was contacted by the family of one of the co-discoverers of the artifact. Offered an opportunity to physically inspect the artifact, Stromberg accepted and also arranged for the artifact to be inspected by a geologist from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

Earth and Space Science department. The inspections confirmed the previous conclusion that the artifact was a 1920s-era Champion spark plug. 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 artifact gained the fame that it did was because of the shell claim. , the artifact resides at the

Pacific Science Center Pacific Science Center is an independent, non-profit science center in Seattle with a mission to ignite curiosity and fuel a passion for discovery, experimentation, and critical thinking. Pacific Science Center serves more than 1 million people e ...

in Seattle, where it is shown in an exhibition called "What Is Reality?"

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coso artifact Out-of-place artifacts Pseudoarchaeology 1920s in technology 1920s works 1961 archaeological discoveries 1961 in California History of the automobile History of Inyo County, California Spark plugs

Discovery

Criticism and analysis

See also

References

External links