Yeah the disclaimer is right on their site. They do make the stories seem more realistic, than say, the Onion. But even then, the Onion seems to be approaching reality more and more these days.
Anyway, I think someone should seed this story into TBM forums, so they start shouting about swords from 800AD being found in the Americas. Wouldn't that be fun, especially when presented with the site disclaimer.
Yes, it is a fake story. Everybody knows that is actually Nephi's ship. And eventually, Nephi's descendants abandoned steel swords in favor of tomahawks and other stone weapons.
Brethren,adieu Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes, it is a fake story. Everybody knows that is > actually Nephi's ship. And eventually, Nephi's > descendants abandoned steel swords in favor of > tomahawks and other stone weapons.
Okay, so this isn't going to be all that profound, but here goes. Something like this could happen someday. Lots of people, and lots of watercraft, found their way to the Americas over the years. I have two thoughts: (1) none of them were Nephites. (2) The significance of Columbus is not that he was the first to "discover" Amercia; his historical significance is that he was the last.
And it isn't accurate. Those oceans are huge critters, and while a one-way voyage drifting on ocean currents isn't totally outside the bounds of credibility, the need for fresh water--and navigational aids which didn't exist until around the 11th century--make such an event outside the likely realms of probability.
Pre-Columbian Old World/New World contacts and trade are strictly the pipe dreams of the "hyper-diffusionist" crowd, as a good look at a world globe and a study of maritime history will demonstrate. The Vikings were magnificent sailors, but their route to Newfoundland relied on sailing along the edges of the Northern ice floes.
On the larger Pacific Ocean, the Polynesians, also a seafaring people, relied on island hopping and colonization over a period of around 1,500 years, beginning in Taiwan. They made it as far as Easter Island and may have made landfall on the coast of California or South America, but there's no conclusive evidence.
So far the DNA evidence indicates nobody else made it. I'm thinking the way some folks could gain an appreciation of just how large the oceans are is to take the wife (or husband) on an ocean cruise, say from Rio to the Bay of Biscay. A person would have a lot of time to think and have a good time as well.
The worst "showman" who was hyping the idea of ancient mariners was none other than Thor Heyerdahl (a Norwegian doubtless upset that Columbus had a better publicist than Leif Ericson).
His vessel, the Ra II, managed a trans-oceanic crossing, but the papyrus reeds it was built with came from Lake Titicaca in the Andes (allegedly because Egyptian papyrus was unavailable). And that voyage was his second try; an ancient pre-Columbian sailor wouldn't have had that opportunity.
Heyerdahl managed to reach Barbados, but the vessel was water-logged and wasn't going any further.
The first discoverers of North America were a group of Siberians who crossed the Bering land bridge on foot, of course, circa 15,000 years ago, no small feat.
The DNA evidence shows they subsequently populated both continents in a fairly short time period.