Mythbusting Episode 1

I've decided that part of what The Bible Answers should address is truth. I have an old friend who believes almost everything he sees on Facebook. Unfortunately, he may not find value in the truth, as he seems to refuse any view except those who set out to deceive. In John 8:44 of the New Testament, Jesus describes the devil as "a liar and the father of lies," emphasizing deception as a core characteristic. There seems to be little to no hope for my friend. However, I do hope this helps others who have not gone down the rabbit hole. Let's tackle them one by one.

Here is a recent multipart link he sent. Watch this first. It is brief.

I will put a summary at the top, and each one detailed below:

• Babylonian Nokia: 2012 clay tablet sculpture by Karl Weingärtner, resembling a 1990s mobile phone with cuneiform. Symbolizes communication evolution. Falsely claimed as 800-year-old artifact by fringe sources, but it’s modern, not ancient technology.
• Baghdad Battery: Artifacts from Parthian/Sasanian Iraq (250 BCE–650 CE), a clay jar with copper and iron. Proposed as a galvanic cell, likely a scroll storage vessel. No evidence supports battery use; looted in 2003.
• Egyptian Aircraft Carvings:
  • Saqqara Bird (200 BCE): Wooden object, possibly a toy or ceremonial item, not a functional glider. No evidence of aviation technology.
  • Abydos Hieroglyphs (1290 BCE): Overlapping inscriptions create illusions of helicopters. Result of recarving, not advanced technology.
• Coso Artifact: 1920s Champion spark plug in iron oxide concretion, found in 1961. Mistaken for 500,000-year-old rock, but concretion formed recently, not ancient.
• London Hammer: 19th-century hammer in limey concretion, found in 1936. Claimed to be in 100–400-million-year-old rock, but concretion formed recently around a modern tool.
• Salamanca Cathedral Astronaut: 1992 carving on a Spanish cathedral, depicting an astronaut. Modern restoration addition, not 16th-century. Reflects 20th-century imagery, not ancient knowledge.

Babylonian Nokia

The "Babylonian Nokia" or "Babylonokia" is a 2012 artwork by German sculptor Karl Weingärtner, not an ancient artifact. It’s a clay tablet shaped like a mobile phone, with cuneiform script on its keys and screen, resembling a 1990s Nokia or Sony Ericsson phone. Weingärtner created it to symbolize the evolution of communication from ancient Mesopotamia to modern times, inspired by a Berlin exhibition, "From Cuneiform to SMS."

Misinformation spread when fringe websites and a YouTube channel, Paranormal Crucible, falsely claimed it was an 800-year-old archaeological find, suggesting alien or time-travel origins. This led to viral stories, but Weingärtner clarified it’s a modern sculpture, not evidence of ancient technology. The piece is unique, weighs 91 grams, and measures about 13.5 x 6.5 x 0.8 cm.

2,000 year old battery found in Iraq

The "Baghdad Battery" is a set of artifacts found in 1936 near Khujut Rabu, Iraq, dating to the Parthian (250 BCE–224 CE) or Sasanian (224–650 CE) periods. It consists of a clay jar, a copper cylinder, and an iron rod, sealed with asphalt. Wilhelm König, a German archaeologist, proposed in 1938 that it was a galvanic cell, possibly used for electroplating or electrotherapy, producing about 1.1–2 volts when filled with an electrolyte like vinegar or grape juice.

However, mainstream archaeologists, like Elizabeth Stone in 2012, widely reject the battery theory, citing no evidence of electroplated objects or electrical connections from the period. Similar jars found in Seleucia and Ctesiphon, often containing papyrus remnants, suggest they were likely storage vessels for scrolls. The artifact’s purpose remains unclear, with alternative theories including ritual or medical uses, such as acupuncture or ceremonial "magic" effects.

The original artifact was looted from the National Museum of Iraq during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and remains missing, hindering further study. Replicas have demonstrated it could generate a small current, but no definitive evidence supports its use as a battery.

Advanced aircraft carved by the Egyptians

Claims about advanced aircraft carvings in ancient Egyptian art often center on two artifacts: the Saqqara Bird and the so-called "helicopter hieroglyphs" at the Temple of Seti I in Abydos. Neither provides credible evidence of ancient Egyptian knowledge of advanced aviation.

The Saqqara Bird, found in 1898 in a tomb at Saqqara, is a sycamore wood object dated to around 200 BCE. It measures 14 cm long with an 18 cm wingspan and weighs 39 grams. Some, like Khalil Messiha, speculated it was a model glider, citing its aerodynamic shape. Tests, like those by aerodynamics expert Simon Sanderson, showed a replica could glide with a tail stabilizer added, but mainstream scholars, including Richard Hallion, dismiss it as a non-functional model due to its instability and weight. Egyptologists suggest it’s likely a ceremonial object, toy, or weather vane, possibly representing a falcon, symbolic of the god Horus. No evidence of actual aircraft or supporting technology (e.g., engines, fuel) exists from ancient Egypt.

The Abydos "helicopter hieroglyphs", found in the Temple of Seti I (c. 1290 BCE), appear to depict modern vehicles like helicopters and planes. This is a result of pareidolia, where overlapping inscriptions from Seti I and Ramesses II create misleading shapes. The original carving, from Seti I’s reign, reads, "He who repulses the nine [enemies of Egypt]," and was later plastered over and recarved by Ramesses II as, "He who protects Egypt and overthrows the foreign countries." Erosion of the plaster revealed both, forming the illusion of modern machines. Egyptologists universally attribute this to a common practice of recarving, not evidence of advanced technology or time travel. No other Egyptian records mention aircraft, which is inconsistent with their detailed documentation of other achievements.

Both cases are often sensationalized by pseudoarchaeologists claiming alien or lost technology, but they lack supporting archaeological evidence. The Egyptians were advanced in many areas, but no credible data suggests they mastered flight or depicted advanced aircraft.

Spark plug found in a 500,000-year-old stone

The Coso Artifact, found in 1961 near Olancha, California, by Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey, and Mike Mikesell, is often cited as a spark plug encased in a 500,000-year-old rock. The trio was hunting for geodes when they discovered a hard, clay-like nodule. Cutting it open, Mikesell found a porcelain cylinder with a 2mm magnetic metal shaft, resembling a spark plug, encased in what they initially thought was a geode. The object also contained a copper ring, a nail, and a washer, with X-rays revealing a possible spring or helix. A claim, attributed to an unnamed geologist by Maxey, suggested the encasing material was 500,000 years old, sparking theories of ancient advanced civilizations, aliens, or time travel.

However, investigations debunked these claims. In 1999, Pierre Stromberg and Paul Heinrich, with input from the Spark Plug Collectors of America, identified it as a 1920s Champion spark plug, commonly used in Ford Model T and Model A engines. The “geode” was not a geode but a concretion of iron oxide, formed rapidly from the rusting spark plug in clay or mud, possibly over decades, not millennia. Geodes have distinct silica shells and quartz interiors, which the Coso nodule lacked, having a Mohs hardness of only 3, consistent with hardened clay. No evidence supported the 500,000-year dating, and the geologist’s identity and methods were never verified. A 2018 inspection by a University of Washington geologist confirmed the spark plug was encased in iron oxide, not ancient rock.

The artifact’s fame stems from pseudoarchaeological speculation, amplified by figures like Ron Calais and appearances on shows like In Search Of…. Despite claims on platforms like X, the consensus is that it’s a modern object mistaken for an ancient anomaly due to natural concretion processes. The artifact is reportedly displayed at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, though its exact whereabouts have been unclear since the 1960s.

100 million-year-old hammer encased in rock

The London Hammer, also known as the "London Artifact," is an iron hammer with a wooden handle found in 1936 near London, Texas, by Max and Emma Hahn. It was partially embedded in a limey rock concretion, leading to claims that it was encased in rock dated to 100–400 million years old, suggesting an out-of-place artifact (OOPart) that challenges conventional history. Some, notably Young Earth creationist Carl Baugh, who acquired it in the 1980s, claimed it was evidence of advanced ancient technology or a young Earth, citing the rock as Ordovician (400–500 million years) or Cretaceous (110–115 million years).

However, the hammer is widely debunked as a modern object. It stylistically matches 19th-century American mining hammers, likely used for small-scale work or soft metals. The encasing "rock" is a concretion, formed when mineral-laden water hardens around an object, a process that can occur in decades or centuries, not millions of years. Geologist Glen Kuban and researcher John Cole argue that soluble minerals from nearby Lower Cretaceous Hensel Sand Formation (110–115 million years old) likely formed the concretion around the hammer after it was discarded, possibly in the 1800s. The nodule was found loose, not in situ, and lacks stratigraphic evidence tying it to ancient strata. An unfossilized mollusk shell in the concretion further suggests recent formation.

Claims of the hammer’s age rely on unverified tests, with Baugh citing private metallurgical analysis (e.g., 96.6% iron, no rust) and rejecting carbon-14 dating, which could confirm the wooden handle’s age but has not been publicly conducted. Critics note that the handle’s partial carbonization is consistent with short-term exposure, not millions of years, as wood would fully fossilize over such timescales. Sensationalized reports on X and fringe websites inflate the artifact’s mystery, but no peer-reviewed study supports its antiquity.

The hammer is displayed at Baugh’s Creation Evidence Museum in Glen Rose, Texas, where it’s promoted as a pre-Flood relic. Mainstream science concludes it’s a 19th-century tool encased in a recent concretion, not evidence of ancient advanced civilizations or time travel.

An ancient sculpture that looks like an astronaut

The Salamanca Cathedral Astronaut is a stone carving on the façade of the New Cathedral (Catedral Nueva) in Salamanca, Spain, often cited for its resemblance to a modern astronaut. The cathedral was constructed between 1513 and 1733, but this carving was added in 1992 during restoration work by stonemason Jeronimo Garcia. It depicts a figure in a spacesuit with a helmet, breathing tubes, and boots, holding a branch or vine.

Claims and Misinformation: Social media, including posts on X, and some websites have falsely claimed the carving dates to the 16th century, suggesting ancient knowledge of astronauts, time travel, or prophecy. These claims fuel speculation about extraterrestrial influence or anachronistic technology.

Reality: The carving is a modern addition, a tradition among cathedral restorers to include contemporary motifs as a "signature." The Salamanca diocese and Spanish media (e.g., RTVE, El Mundo) confirm its 1992 origin. Other modern carvings nearby include a dragon eating ice cream and a stork with a telephone, underscoring the playful, anachronistic intent. The astronaut likely reflects 20th-century space exploration imagery, not ancient foresight.

Context: No evidence suggests the cathedral’s original builders depicted astronauts. The carving’s prominence on the Puerta de Ramos (Ramos Gate) has amplified misinformation, but it’s a documented product of late 20th-century craftsmanship, not an ancient sculpture.