The Coso Artefact - `Out of Place Artefact’

The Coso artefact discovered by Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey and Mike Mikesell on February 13, 1961 is claimed to be a spark plug object found encased in a lump of hard clay or rock while they were prospecting for geodes near the town of Olancha in California. It was claimed as an example of a unique artefact.

The Coso artefact is considered an item known as an `out of place artefact’, because modern objects found in places where they do not belong could hint at the possibility of modern technology being around long before modern man developed it. The Coso artefact was found in a stone or lump of hardened clay.

Thinking it to be geode, the nodule was cut but unlike the geodes, there was no cavity but perfectly circular section of very hard, white material which appeared like porcelain while in the centre of the porcelain cylinder, there was a 2 millimetre shaft of bright metal which responded to a magnet. Besides this, the outer layer of the object was encrusted with fossil shells along with fragment. 

Besides the shells, the discoverers also noticed two non-magnetic metallic metal objects in the crust which resembles a nail and a washer and amazingly, the inner layer was hexagonal which seemed to form a casing around the hard porcelain cylinder. A layer of decomposing copper in the interior of the inner layer surrounded the porcelain cylinder.

Various Theories on the Artefact

Geodes comprises of thin outer shell made of dense chalcedonic silica which are filled with a layer of quartz crystals and the Cose artefact does not have any of these features.According to Virginia Maxey, who consulted a geologist and examined the fossil shells encrusting the artefact, informed that the nodule had taken at least 500,000 years to attain its present form.

If a spark plug in enclosed in a 500,000 year old geode, it would represent a scientific and historical anomaly since spark plugs were invented in the 19th century and critics have been debating that the concretion and not geode which contains the Coso artefact can be explained or understood by known natural process and sufficient proof of it being 500,000 years old is completely absent.

Another research was conducted by creationist Ron Calais who was the other person who had physically inspected the artefact and had taken photographs of the nodule in natural light as well as x-ray and his x-ray brought about added interest in the artefact.

An offer of $25,000 made for the Artefact

His x-ray of the upper end of the artefact revealed some tiny spring or helix and according to Ronald J. Willis, INFO Journal Publisher, he speculated that it could be the remains of a corroded piece of metal with threads while the other half revealed a sheath of metal probably copper covering the porcelain cylinder.

The last known person to have the Coso artefact was one of the original discoverers, Wallace Lane. As per the Spring 1969 issue of INFO Journal, Lane was the last person to be in possession of the artefact which was at display in his home though he refused to let anyone examine it. He was also offered $25,000 for the same.

A national search was made in September 1999 to locate any of the original discoverers but turned out to be unsuccessful. It is presumed that Lane is dead and the location of the artefact is unknown or it could probably be destroyed, while Virginia Maxey seems to be alive but avoids any interaction and whereabouts of Mike Mikesell is unknown.