One of the more exciting topics in the world of paranormal research is out-of-place objects. One such object is the “Aiud Artifact,” a wedge-shaped metallic object that is now commonly referred to as such.
While excavating on the banks of the Mures River in Aiud, Romania, in 1974, a group of laborers discovered three artifacts buried in the sand in a trench. Mastodon bones were later recognized as two of the artifacts. A mastodon was a big tusked mammal that lived 11,000 years ago and was related to modern elephants. A metallic wedge-shaped object was the third item.
The artifacts were submitted to the Cluj-Napoca Institute of Archaeology and Art History for study. The fact that this strange metal thing was 89 percent aluminum and was discovered with very ancient bone (mastodon) in a trench 10 meters deep sparked a controversy in the scientific world, indicating that the metallic object could be at least 11,000 years old.
The issue revolves around how to explain the existence of an aluminum alloy in the same strata as the mastodon bones, which indicates a minimum age of 11,000 years. Aluminum wasn’t discovered until 1808, and it wasn’t mass-produced until 1885.
Many people believe this is proof of alien abduction. The wedge, according to engineers, resembles the foot of spacecraft landing gear. Others refer to the alloy’s complexity.
The Aiud Artifact is dismissed by debunkers as little more than a tooth from a piece of excavation equipment. This explanation is flawed in two ways.
To begin with, the teeth of backhoes, dredgers, and augers are composed of steel alloys rather than aluminum.
Second, because Aiud Artifact appears to be in relatively good condition, finding a match for it should be simple. There have been no matches found so far.
Debunkers have also used the trump card of the hoax by proclaiming it a fake. Declaring something a hoax without supporting evidence is a dangerous position to take. When evidence of Viking settlements in North America began to emerge, for example, the findings were criticized as misinterpretations or outright hoaxes.
The debunkers didn’t back down until 1960, when indisputable proof was shown at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada.
We have more questions than answers after learning about the Aiud Artifact. Is it a piece of a long-dead alien spacecraft? Is it a relic from an earlier human civilization akin to our own?
A yes answer to either of the previous questions would undoubtedly throw our understanding of history into disarray, just as it did when Vikings in North America were accepted and the idea that Columbus discovered America had to be rethought.
