There are all kinds of people in the world. Those who are optimists, pessimists, realists and the lists go on and on. When I ran across this e-mail I was excited to say the least that proof was found to substantiate the Book of Mormon. [E-Mail Hoax at the Bottom of this posting] When looking deeper into the evidence I found this to be a HOAX.
Why would anyone do such a thing? It is my belief that certain types of people that may be against the LDS Church are all too happy to distribute this kind of material to show how gullible the LDS membership can be. It is important that one seek the answers for themselves before distributing the material.
Please read the following links:
Steel Knife Found inside of Tree (This is a hoax: see notes at bottom)
http://www.shields-research.org/Hoaxes/Steel_Knife_in_Tree.htm
How to Debunk a Fake News Story - Fairlds.org
http://www.fairlds.org/Misc/How_to_Debunk_a_Fake_News_Story.html
The "How to Debunk a Fake News Story" article is pretty good. We need to be careful what we start spreading the word on. I know I have personally made mistakes on false information and posted it and was embarassed when I found out. I now try to check my sources and find at least two sources before I publish a new find.
Subject: Book of Mormon Evidence Discovered in CaliforniaDate: Thursday, August 05, 2004What is everyone's take on this? Is there a Mormon version of truth or fiction . com where faith promoting rumors are researched? Subject: Book of Mormon Evidence Discovered in CaliforniaThis is really cool. The "learned" people who made this discovery don't know what they really found, but we do.UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS PUZZLED OVER ANCIENT KNIFE FRESNO, Calif., July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at California State University, Fresno are puzzled over an ancient, man-made artifact discovered by forestry students on a recent field trip in the nearby Sierra Nevada mountains. The artifact in question is a steel knife that was apparently buried deep inside a Giant Sequoia tree and was found between growth rings in the tree indicating that it had been left there around 350-450 AD. The tree in question is located in the Atwell Grove inside Sequoia National Park. The tree fell in February of this year after several years of erosion had weakened its root structure. National Park Service and CSU Fresno Department of Forestry officials estimate that the tree had lived over 2,000 years at the time it fell. The Park Service gave the university permission to dissect and study the tree, and students stumbled upon the knife while using a metal detector to measure mineral content. The CSU Forestry Department speculates that the knife was left between two trees that later grew together and buried it under centuries of further growth. The knife was removed and taken to the CSU Fresno campus, where several experts from the Archeology and Anthropology Departments have examined it. All of the experts agree that the knife doesn’t match any other artifacts from indigenous peoples in that area. To date, there had been no evidence of Native Americans using steel tools and weapons at that time. The strangest aspect of the story, however, is that the knife does seem to match artifacts from about a thousand years earlier from the other side of the world. The knife looks like weapons that were common in the Middle East around 500 BC, and has faded engravings on the blade that appear to be Egyptian symbols. Researchers can’t find any meaning in the engravings, but say that the still visible symbols roughly correspond to the phonetic sounds of MO-RO. Ironically, one of Sequoia National Park’s most famous landmarks is a granite dome called Morro Rock. Since Morro Rock wasn’t named until the last 1800’s, however, the similarity is pure coincidence. "It’s the damndest thing I’ve seen in my career," said CSU Fresno Associate Professor of Archeology Curtis Johnson, Ph.D. "I’m sure we’ll find an explanation that makes sense sometime. I really don’t think anyone is going to believe that someone from the Old World wandered all the way to California a thousand years before Columbus
Why would anyone do such a thing? It is my belief that certain types of people that may be against the LDS Church are all too happy to distribute this kind of material to show how gullible the LDS membership can be. It is important that one seek the answers for themselves before distributing the material.
Please read the following links:
Steel Knife Found inside of Tree (This is a hoax: see notes at bottom)
http://www.shields-research.org/Hoaxes/Steel_Knife_in_Tree.htm
How to Debunk a Fake News Story - Fairlds.org
http://www.fairlds.org/Misc/How_to_Debunk_a_Fake_News_Story.html
The "How to Debunk a Fake News Story" article is pretty good. We need to be careful what we start spreading the word on. I know I have personally made mistakes on false information and posted it and was embarassed when I found out. I now try to check my sources and find at least two sources before I publish a new find.
Subject: Book of Mormon Evidence Discovered in CaliforniaDate: Thursday, August 05, 2004What is everyone's take on this? Is there a Mormon version of truth or fiction . com where faith promoting rumors are researched? Subject: Book of Mormon Evidence Discovered in CaliforniaThis is really cool. The "learned" people who made this discovery don't know what they really found, but we do.UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS PUZZLED OVER ANCIENT KNIFE FRESNO, Calif., July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at California State University, Fresno are puzzled over an ancient, man-made artifact discovered by forestry students on a recent field trip in the nearby Sierra Nevada mountains. The artifact in question is a steel knife that was apparently buried deep inside a Giant Sequoia tree and was found between growth rings in the tree indicating that it had been left there around 350-450 AD. The tree in question is located in the Atwell Grove inside Sequoia National Park. The tree fell in February of this year after several years of erosion had weakened its root structure. National Park Service and CSU Fresno Department of Forestry officials estimate that the tree had lived over 2,000 years at the time it fell. The Park Service gave the university permission to dissect and study the tree, and students stumbled upon the knife while using a metal detector to measure mineral content. The CSU Forestry Department speculates that the knife was left between two trees that later grew together and buried it under centuries of further growth. The knife was removed and taken to the CSU Fresno campus, where several experts from the Archeology and Anthropology Departments have examined it. All of the experts agree that the knife doesn’t match any other artifacts from indigenous peoples in that area. To date, there had been no evidence of Native Americans using steel tools and weapons at that time. The strangest aspect of the story, however, is that the knife does seem to match artifacts from about a thousand years earlier from the other side of the world. The knife looks like weapons that were common in the Middle East around 500 BC, and has faded engravings on the blade that appear to be Egyptian symbols. Researchers can’t find any meaning in the engravings, but say that the still visible symbols roughly correspond to the phonetic sounds of MO-RO. Ironically, one of Sequoia National Park’s most famous landmarks is a granite dome called Morro Rock. Since Morro Rock wasn’t named until the last 1800’s, however, the similarity is pure coincidence. "It’s the damndest thing I’ve seen in my career," said CSU Fresno Associate Professor of Archeology Curtis Johnson, Ph.D. "I’m sure we’ll find an explanation that makes sense sometime. I really don’t think anyone is going to believe that someone from the Old World wandered all the way to California a thousand years before Columbus
