Tonight's guest Glenn Kimball has been associated with the publication Ancient American, which examines archaeological evidence that may indicate there were non-indigenous visitors here before the time of Columbus. For instance, in the article Christ in North America (1) writer Wayne May takes a look at the controversial "Michigan Plates," relics which were first reported in a newspaper in 1879. The objects "feature portrayals of familiar scenes mostly of the Old Testament and three or more, undeciphered written scripts, together with depictions of what appear to be persons from Europe or the Near East in hostile interaction with Native Americans," May writes.
Although dismissed by most archaeologists as being fraudulent, some antiquarians believe the artifacts were made by an "Old World" religious community who lived in the Michigan area during the fourth century A.D. or before. May reports that thousands of related tablets were unearthed by locals clearing forests and roads over a seventy year period in a large swath of the Midwest, which to him makes forgery or fraud a less likely possibility.
Today, many of these relics are housed by the Church of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City, who believe they may be connected to their Book of Mormon, in which founder Joseph Smith translated "divine revelations." For more on the connection between the Book of Mormon and the Michigan artifacts, check out Salt Lake City Weekly's article: Burden of Proof(2).
--L.L.(3)
1. http://www.ancientamerican.com/article26p1.htm
2. http://www.weeklywire.com/ww/10-06-97/slc_story.html
3. http://archive.coasttocoastam.com/info/about_lex.html