Coso Geode

In February 1961, three rock hunters, Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey and Mike Mikesell found what appeared to be a fossil-encrusted geode near Olancha, California. It reportedly sat around for a while, and when it was finally cut open it severely damaged a new diamond saw blade. Unlike a normal geode, the exterior was primarily of hardened clay with a mixture of organic matter. Within the crust were also found objects that appear to be a washer and a nail. In fact, the object was not like a real geode, it was of a different composition, and it did not have a hollow center like most common geodes. Instead there was a nearly perfect cylindrical core of a hard white ceramic that had a 2-mm shiny metal shaft running down the center. In addition, when the core was removed it left a partial hexagonal cavity in the shell of the rock.

Image credit: Enigmatic Mysteries and Anomalous Artifacts of North America by Tedd St. Rain page 53

A fragment of copper still remaining between the ceramic material and the petrified wood indicates that possibly the two may have been separated by a copper sleeve. X-rays of the objects were taken and examined by Paul Willis show that it has many features of the copper and porcelain spark plugs used in early gasoline engine, then editor of INFO Journal who noticed a startling similarity between it and a modern spark plug. However, testing has revealed that some of the fossils in the outer crust may be as much as 500,000 years old. There are a number of what appear to be abandoned mines in the area, though none that are known to have been worked since the white man arrived in the area.

The origin of the artifact has been the cause of much speculation. Pseudoscientific suggestions for the artifact's origin have included:

• An ancient advanced civilization (such as Atlantis);
• Prehistoric extraterrestrial visitors to Earth;
• Human time-travellers from the future leaving or losing the artifact during a visit to the past.

However recent analysis of this interesting artifact seems to indicate it may have been a hoax, though it is uncertain how the hoaxers profited from it.

Sources:

Enigmatic Mysteries and Anomalous Artifacts of North America by Tedd St. Rain;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coso_artifact;

https://www.forbiddenhistory.info/?q=node/33;