Discovered in the 19 century—experts came across a mysterious artifact, resembling a modern-day ‘Drill Bit’ embedded within a seam of coal that was about 22 inches thick. The item was examined and described in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, where experts concluded that the instrument was of a modern level of advancement. The coal in which the artifact was embedded in was millions of years old.

If there is anything that “describes” the term Forbidden archaeology than it must be this mysterious artifact discovered by researchers in the 19th century.

The artifact—which resembled a modern-day, man-made iron instrument— was discovered embedded in a large chunk of coal, suggesting that it was deposited in the organic matter that formed the coal before it became coal. The problem: The coal formed millions of years ago.

So how is this possible?

Does this mean that the conventional timeline of mankind’s origin is wrong?

Is it possible that this item—together with countless other artifacts—is proof that tens of thousands of years ago—even hundreds of thousands of years ago—ancient Earth was inhabited by advanced civilizations?

If we take a look at the numerous OOPARTS (Out-of-place-artifacts) that have been discovered on Earth, we notice that many of them suggest the history of man’s origin needs to be revised.

There is evidence around the globe that our planet was inhabited by extremely advanced ancient civilizations before written history. The conventional view of history suggests that humans have existed in our modern form for around 200,000 years, but our species history can be traced back millions of years.

This “drill bit” was found in a large chunk of coal that formed hundreds of millions of years ago.

Is it possible that millions of years ago, an extremely advanced civilization—perhaps one resembling our own—existed on Earth?

The curious artifact was presented at the meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland on Dec. 13, 1852 by John Buchanan, Esq who is quoted saying: “I quite agree in the generally received geological view, that the coal was formed long before man was introduced upon this planet; but the puzzle is, how this implement, confessedly of human hands, should have found its way into the coal seam, overlaid as the latter was by a heavy mass of diluvium and boulders.”

Recorded in the Society’s proceedings are fully quoted below.

According to Buchanan, the mystery artifact was discovered within a seam of coal that was about 22 inches thick. The coal was recovered from a stratum of clay mixed with rocks, around 7 feet thick.

Upon examination, the Society agreed that the instrument recovered from the coal was of a modern level of advancement, however, they concluded that “the iron instrument might have been part of a borer broken during some former search for coal,” because no other explanation could have explained its origin.

Basically, they said it’s impossible for the tool to exist because the coal that contained the instrument was millions of years old. Mankind isn’t that old.

Interestingly, Buchanan’s report did not include any signs that the coal surrounding the mystery object was punctured by drilling.

He perfectly described a mysterious instrument that was bewilderingly encapsulated by coal.

Details about the mysterious artifact are recorded in the December 13, 1852, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (Volume 1):

“A communication was then read from John Buchanan, Esq., relative to the discovery of an iron instrument, lately found embedded in a natural seam of coal in the neighborhood of Glasgow. The instrument which was exhibited to the Meeting was considered to be modern. In his communication, Mr. Buchanan remarks: ‘I send herewith, for the inspection of the Society, a very curious iron instrument found last week in this locality. The interest attaching to this singular relic arises from the fact of its having been discovered in the heart of a piece of coal, seven feet under the surface.

To explain particulars, I beg to mention, that a new line of road, called the Great Western Road, was opened a few years ago, leading to the Botanic Gardens, which, you may be aware, are situated about two miles northwest from Glasgow. At a point on this new road are the lands of Burnbank, now in course of being extensively built upon. The person conducting these building operations is Mr. Robert Lindsay, wright and builder, a most respectable individual, well known to me, and on whose veracity implicit confidence may be placed. Now, when Mr. Lindsay came to excavate the foundations along the north side of the road for the range of houses, he cut through a bed of diluvium or clay mixed with boulders, seven feet thick, and then came on a seam of coal about twenty-two inches thick, cropping out almost to the very surface, and resting on freestone. It was necessary to remove this coal and cut into the stone below, which last was very opportune for building purposes.

A quantity of the coal so removed was carted over to Mr. Lindsay’s workshop or yard for use; and while his nephew, Robert Lindsay junior, an apprentice, was breaking up a block of the coal, he was surprised to find the iron instrument now sent in the very heart of it. At first, neither he nor the others about him could make out what it was, but after scraping and cleaning it from the coaly coating, it presented the appearance now before you. I send along with it a portion of the coal. Having been made aware of this discovery, I lost no time in seeing Mr. Lindsay senior; and accompanied him this day to the spot, and had the circumstances detailed to me by his nephew, and several of the respectable operatives who saw the instrument taken from the coal; and all of whom, Mr. Lindsay senior assures me, are persons whose statements may be implicitly relied upon.

The affidavits of five workmen who saw the iron instrument taken from the coal were also sent, and Mr. Buchanan further adds: ‘I quite agree in the generally received geological view, that the coal was formed long before man was introduced upon this planet; but the puzzle is, how this implement, confessedly of human hands, should have found its way into the coal seam, overlaid as the latter was by a heavy mass of diluvium and boulders. If the workmen who saw the relic disinterred are to be depended on (and I have no reason whatever to doubt their perfect veracity), then there may and must be some mode of accounting for the implement finding its way down eight or nine vertical feet from the surface.”

Reference:

Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Volume 1 By Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

YouTube Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/zz6v6OfoQvs?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1

Their main goal was set at 15,000 meters, however, drilling was halted when they reached 12,262 meters. The Kola Superdeep Borehole—aka Door to Hell—reached rocks of the Archaean age (greater than 2.5 billion years old) at the bottom. It is the deepest artificial point on our planet, and what scientists found at the bottom is beyond fascinating. 

We know more about distant alien worlds and moons than we know about the planet we live on. There are many parts of our planet which still remain unexplored, despite the fact that we have spacecrafts—like the voyager—which have already left our solar system.

Just as we still don’t know everything about the surface of our planet, to date we have explored less than five percent of the ocean. Much remains to be learned from exploring the mysteries of the deep. Only about 5% of the world’s seafloor has been mapped in some detail. Since the ocean occupies roughly 70% of the Earth’s surface, this leaves approximately 65% of the Earth (excluding dry land) unexplored. Interestingly, it is believed that around 50-80% of all life on our planet can be found under the ocean surface and the oceans contain 99% of the living space on the planet. Curiously less than 10% of that space has been explored by humans. 85% of the area and 90% of the volume constitute the dark, cold environment we call the deep sea.

So what are we waiting for? Isn’t it time to start exploring our planet before we wonder off to Mars, or return to the moon?

Some efforts to explore what’s beneath us have been made in the past. Referred to by many as the ‘Door to Hell’, at 12,262 meters the Kola Superdeep Borehole is the deepest artificial point on our planet.

What experts found when they drilled over 12 kilometers took them completely by surprise. :O

In 1989 drilling experts reached 12,262 meters (40,230 ft), successfully creating the deepest artificial point on our planet.

Interestingly, the Kola Superdeep Borehole descends further than the deepest point of the ocean, which lies at nearly 6.8 miles (11 kilometers). The borehole is only 23 cm in diameter.

While experts only managed to drill 12,263 meters, their main goal was set at 15,000 meters. However, because of higher-than-expected temperatures at this depth and location, 180 °C (356 °F) instead of expected 100 °C (212 °F), drilling deeper was deemed unfeasible and the drilling was stopped in 1992.

In terms of depth, it is the deepest borehole in the world. For two decades it remained as our planet’s longest borehole, in terms of measured depth along the well bore, until it was surpassed in 2008 by the 12,289-metre-long (40,318 ft) Al Shaheen oil well in Qatar, and in 2011 by 12,345-metre-long (40,502 ft) Sakhalin-I Odoptu OP-11 Well, offshore the Russian island Sakhalin.

The Kola Superdeep Borehole is said to have drilled through a third of the way through the Baltic continental crust, which experts believe is around 35 kilometers deep. Furthermore, the drill reached rocks of the Archaean age (greater than 2.5 billion years old) at the bottom.

So what did experts find?

While experts gathered a great amount of data during the project, they made some staggering discoveries. Cracks of the rock many kilometers below the surface were found to be saturated with water.

However, the most important and unexpected discovery was the detection of biological activity in rocks more than two billion years old.

As noted by Atlas Obscura, the clearest evidence of life came in the form of microscopic fossils: the preserved remains of twenty-four species of single-cell marine plants, otherwise known as plankton.

Microscopic fossils of single-celled organisms 7 kilometers beneath the surface.

At approximately the same depth, scientists found traces of water.

Umm… Our planet has Gas Surprisingly, nitrogen, helium, hydrogen, nitrogen, and even carbon dioxide (originating from microbes) were discovered all along the borehole.

There isn’t basalt down there—which is one of the greatest surprises.  Scientists believed that at 9,000 meters the granite would give way to basalt. However, to their surprise, it doesn’t.

The temperature was shockingly high. At the bottom of the hole, their instruments measured a staggering 180°C, one of the main reasons why drilling was discontinued.

But perhaps what’s even more impressive is the fact that scientists estimate that the distance to the center of our planet is nearly 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers). Turns out, 6,500 kilometers isn’t anywhere close and what scientists managed to drill trough barely scratches the surface.

Featured image? It’s hard to show the importance and size of the Kola Superdeep Borehole. Seen in the featured image is the Mirny Diamond Mine in Siberia.