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One of the greatest unsolved mysteries of this world that emanated out of archaeology is The Aluminum Wedge of Aiud. No one has been able to trace the origins of this object that looks like a wedge.
This article is not going to provide an explanation of its origins (because there is no explanation available). Rather, this article on 14 interesting Aluminum Wedge of Aiud facts will make an attempt to provide an explanation of how and where it was found, what is it made of and the different theories that have been put forward to explain the existence of this object.
So, are you ready?
Interesting Aluminum Wedge of Aiud Facts: 1-7
1. Sometimes referred to as the ‘Object of Aiud’, The Aluminum Wedge of Aiud was found in 1974 in a place 2 kilometers east of Aiud in Romania.
2. The exact place where it was found was the Mures river bank. It was discovered by a group of Romanian workers.
3. This Object of Aiud was not the only object to be found. There were two more objects along with the wedge but the other two were actually Mastodon bones, dating back to a period somewhere between the Miocene and Pleistocene periods. All three objects were actually buried 32 feet deep in sand.
4. Unable to figure out what it was, the workers sent the object to Cluj-Napoca archaeological institute for inspection and that is where the object’s dimensions were measured to be 20.2 cm in length, 12.5 cm in width and 7 cm in height.
5. A study conducted under Dr. Niederkorn of Institute for the Study of Metals and of Non-metallic Minerals of Magurele, Romania confirmed that The Aluminum Wedge of Aiud was made of alloy of extremely complex metal.
6. Florin Gheorghita (a famed ufologist in Romania) studied the reports and concluded that the alloy was made up of 12 different elements of which 89% was aluminum.
7. The rest of the elements present in the object were gallium in trace amounts, 0.0002% silver, 0.0003% bismuth, 0.0023% cobalt, 0.0024% nickel, 0.11% cadmium, 0.2% zirconium, 0.33% pond, 0.41% lead, 1.81% zinc, 2.84% silicon and 6.2% copper.
Interesting Aluminum Wedge of Aiud Facts: 8-14
8. While modern science is pretty much capable of creating a complex alloy like that of the object, the only roadblock to a proper explanation of the object’s origin was that it was found along with ancient bones.
9. Further study of the object revealed aluminum oxide that was at least 300 years old. This created even further problems because Aluminum, which is the major component of the Object of Aiud was discovered only in 1808 and its mass production began as late as 1885.
10. If at all the mastodon bones are to be attached with the object, things become even more critical because they existed some 11,000 years ago and hence, the object could be 11,000 years old!
11. Are you guessing something? You got it right! Out of some heated debate around the object, it was suggested by some people that the object was related to aliens.
12. An unknown aeronautical engineer suddenly made things a little more complicated and somewhat in favor of the alien-theory by stating that the object actually resembles the foot of the landing gear of a space vehicle.
13. The engineer further says that the object resembled the foot of smaller space vehicles of today such as the Viking probe or the lunar module.
14. Some other researchers however say that the object was actually made on earth and was a part of some tool. It is just that the purpose of the tool remains unknown.
Is Aluminum Wedge of Aiud Really Mysterious?
Not really! It is only a tooth of a modern-day excavator bucket. Metallurgical tests were conducted on the wedge only to find that results were consistent with want is found by testing modern 2000 series duralumin. It is known to oxidize fairly quickly and hence, the wedge go its aged look.