The story of the Coso Artifact

The story of the Coso Artifact has been embellished over the years, but nearly all accounts of the actual discovery are basically unchanged.

On February 13, 1961, Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey, and Mike Mikesell were seeking interesting mineral specimens, particularly geodes, for their "LM & V Rockhounds Gem and Gift Shop" in Olancha, California. On this particular day, the trio were about six miles northeast of Olancha, near the top of a peak about 4,300 feet in elevation and about 340 feet above the dry bed of Owens Lake. According to Maxey, "We hiked about three miles north, after we had parked some five miles east of State Highway 395, south of Olancha, California." At lunchtime, after collecting rocks most of the morning, all three placed their specimens in the rock sack Mikesell was carrying.

The next day in the gift shop's workroom, Mikesell ruined a nearly new diamond saw blade while cutting what he thought was a geode. Inside the nodule that was cut, Mikesell did not find a cavity as so many geodes have, but a perfectly circular section of very hard, white material that appeared to be porcelain. In the center of the porcelain cylinder, was a 2-millimeter shaft of bright metal. The metal shaft responded to a magnet.

There were still other odd qualities about the specimen. The outer layer of the specimen was encrusted with fossil shells and their fragments. In addition to shells, the discoverers noticed two nonmagnetic metallic metal objects in the crust, resembling a nail and a washer. Stranger still, the inner layer was hexagonal and seemed to form a casing around the hard porcelain cylinder. Within the inner layer, a layer of decomposing copper surrounded the porcelain cylinder.





The Initial Investigations
Very little is known about the initial physical inspections of the artifact. According to discoverer Virginia Maxey, a geologist she spoke with who examined the fossil shells encrusting the specimen said the nodule had taken at least 500,000 years to attain its present form. However, the identity of the first geologist is still a mystery, and his findings were never officially published.

Another investigation was conducted by creationist Ron Calais. Calais is the only other individual known to have physically inspected the artifact, and was allowed to take photographs of the nodule in both X ray and natural light. Calais's X rays brought interest in the artifact to a new level. The X ray of the upper end of the object seemed to reveal some sort of tiny spring or helix. INFO Journal Publisher Ronald J. Willis speculated that it could actually be "the remains of a corroded piece of metal with threads." The other half of the artifact revealed a sheath of metal, presumably copper, covering the porcelain cylinder.



The Artifact: Where Is It Now?
The last known individual to possess the Coso Artifact was one of the original discoverers, Wallace Lane. According to the Spring 1969 issue of INFO Journal, Lane was the last known person to possess the object. It was on display in his home, but he adamantly refused to allow anyone to examine it. However, he had a standing offer to sell it for $25,000. In September 1999, a national search was attempted to locate any of the original discoverers, but the attempt was fruitless. The authors of this article suspect that Wallace Lane is dead, and the location of the artifact is unknown, possibly destroyed. Virginia Maxey is alive, but is avoiding any public comment. The whereabouts of Mike Mikesell are still unknown.


www.eskimo.com...

I don't really see how they could have damaged a diamond saw blade on something that seemed similar to porcelin, or much of anything. And usually when objects "disappear" they are just hoaxes

Sincerely,
no signature

UPDATE.


Quote from conclusion of the same page:

"The Coso Artifact was indeed a remarkable device. It was a 1920s-era Champion spark plug that likely powered a Ford Model T or Model A engine, modified to possibly serve mining operations in the Coso mountain range of California. To suggest that it was a device belonging to an advanced ancient civilization of the past could be interpreted as true, but is an exaggeration of several thousand years. "

I have the "In Search Of..." episode on VHS that featured this artifact

This could be a mixup but what about the numerous other such unexplainable findings around the world over the years?

Like the very fine tungsten filaments found in Siberia in the middle of nowhere?

Other diggings in what is undisturbed soils for many millenia and finding other manufactured items.

Would be good to link to some here, has been awhile since I have seen one of these stories hit the news.