To me, one of the
most intriguing mysteries to ponder are things called 'ooparts', or Out Of Place ARTifacts. There are hundreds of them that we know of, and who knows how many that are hidden or forgotten. They include everything from nails to jewelery to finely crafted vases that date conclusively to times when dinosaurs were the (supposedly) dominant lifeforms on Earth.
There have been entire catalogs produced of these objects. They are often found in mines embedded in coal or sandstone or solid rock. The ones that have been carefully documented show no signs of the geology being disturbed, thus no evidence that they were buried at some recent point in history. The materials surrounding these objects was formed in place and was not disturbed for millions of years.
These ooparts are not like the Babylon Battery or the Greek Computer that simply challenge our ideas on when certain things were invented. These objects completely blow our entire pre-historic record out of the water. That's exciting stuff!
After all, these objects had to have been created either by humans at a time when science tells us our race was little more than field mice, or they are the products another intelligent species that once roamed the Earth.
The only other alternative is that our entire understanding of geological processes is completely wrong, and that is even more terrible to contemplate.
Is modern humanity actually millions of years older than the official narrative would have us believe? If so, the implications are astounding. How many great civilizations have risen and crumbled in the last 300 million years? Wouldn't this strongly imply that the ancient myths and legends of highly advanced societies are true?
And if that answer is false, then was there another intelligent species here before us? And if not, then was there an extraterrestrial species that spent a considerable amount of time hanging out on Earth?
One thing is certain, ooparts represent evidence that is so frightening to the scientific establishment that they are never discussed in polite company. To do so invites speculation of a kind that would expose the calcification of academia. Instead, the very existence of these objects is denied, or at best, snickered at as being fodder for fundamentalists and the unwashed masses.
Ooparts would not be such a problem if it could be easily shown that they were buried or otherwise placed where they were found. The problem is that the geology is irrefutable without throwing out hundreds of years worth of study. Also, the carbon-14 dating is conclusive, showing dates in the millions of years. To refute this data is to throw out our entire understanding of radioactive decay.
Given the Catch-22 of denying solid evidence or entire bodies of knowledge, ooparts are instead squirreled away in a bin in the basement of a museum or university. Only the Forteans give any attention to these humble academic atom bombs.
The problem with ooparts is that they are everywhere. There's the iron pillar at Delhi that dates to a time when supposedly humans did not have the technology to smelt iron, much less work it. There are small, perfect spheres with a divot in one hemisphere and an equatorial band that look remarkably like recent photos of the Saturnian moon Japetus, yet they were found deep in a South African diamond mine. There are carvings and paintings from India and Egypt that resemble delta-winged aircraft and helicopters in many details.
Even without the ooparts, Mankind's history is constantly being pushed back beyond academia's hardened timelines. Discoveries such as Gobekli Tepe in Turkey has hundreds of finely carved columns arrange over a large area that has only been partially excavated. This alone is not remarkable, but that it dates conclusively back 12,000 years and was purposely buried with sand from a great distance away is remarkable. Despite all the evidence of advanced technology, all that the calcified academics can say is that it is a religious site erected by a bunch of hunter-gatherers. A rather pat answer for anything they can't fit into their world views.
Just as interesting is the way in which academia only supports their own knowledge when data fits the party line. One fine example is the work of Robert Schock, whose studies of the Great Sphinx show weathering that could only have occurred some 12,000 years ago using sound geological reasoning. Of course, that evidence is dismissed because everyone knows the Giza plateau is only 4,000 years old. If not, then a lot of grant money is left dangling in the wind and entire careers are at risk.
It's almost a new form of entertainment to watch grown men and women, degreed professionals, theorticians, intellectuals, and academicians frightened out of their wits by such seemingly mundane objects. Such is the power of denial.
I say "almost" because of the vicious way in which these people attack serious researchers who dare to open Pandora's Box. The researchers are shunned, castigated and ridiculed simply because they ask questions, and the results of their research are soundly ignored simply because it doesn't fit the official party line, no matter how well documented. In fact, the more sound and unassailable the conclusions of the avant garde, the greater the attacks.
The thing about science,
real science, is that if observation finds
any exception to the hypothesis, then the hypothesis is falsified and one must start from scratch. Modern science, though, is so tightly bound to it's fairy tales of Big Bangs, evolution and the methodical development of human civilization that it will do almost anything to protect its sacred writ.
Hardly different than religion, though the burning stakes and pillories are more metaphorical for the most part.
Advances can only be made when we stare directly at the evidence and try to honestly reconstruct our history and that of our Universe with the sum total of data at hand. Turning a blind eye to reality does not make it go away, but rather holds us back from achieving that of which we are truly capable.
The possibilities are really exciting, and the truth is liable to be far more stunning than anything we are currently willing to entertain. One thing is certain, the truth will out. It cannot be hidden forever, despite all efforts to the contrary.
Imagine is humanity really is millions of years old and we are just now emerging from a millennia-long Dark Ages to rediscover our true heritage. And even if the ooparts are traces of a past intelligent species that has long since vanished, what can we learn from them that will help us avoid the same mistakes?
One thing is certain: refusing to consider ooparts serves only the entrenched powers and cushy grants of the select few, while denying Humanity of its real legacy.
