Can anyone (dis)confirm a possible urban ledgend?

Question

My father-in-law described an article he found in which scientists found a tin can embedded in rock that was determined by radioactive dating to be eons of years old. He is suspicious of radioactive dating of any kind as a result. It sounds like an urban ledgend to me. Has anyone heard of this, and more importantly, does anyone have a source confirming this as true or as a ledgend?

Thanks.

Sorry, I should have mentioned that I've tried sites like snopes.com.

I should also have mentioned that the rock was determined to be eons of years old, not the can embedded in the rock.

Answer 1

I do not know about this particular "find" but the world is full of these idiotic myths. A recent one that comes to mind was when a weired looking metallic object war recovered from rock in an abandoned quarry and was identified by Ufologists as part of ancient visiting space craft. An X-ray picture however revealed that it was in fact a 1930's car spark plug. I think that says it all.

Answer 2

I've never heard this specific story, but I've heard other examples of myths and urban legends about modern things being found in old rocks, that, if verifiable, would challenge radioactive dating methods. Most of these fantasies are put forth by people who have religious issues with the scientific determination of Earth's age.

First of all, eons of years old, isn't very specific.
Second, if your father-in-law is suspicious of radioactive dating, why does he tell you about this story of a tin can in rock "that was determined by radioactive dating to be eons of years old?" Does he believe that radioactive date, but not other radioactive dates?

You have to ask yourself, "Which is more likely:
1) that your father-in-law is aware of a little-known scientific study that challenges everything we know about radioactive dating and the age of rocks,
or
2) that your father-in-law's story about an article from an unknown source about this tin can in some very old rock is just a myth or a hoax?

Answer 3

I cannot confirm this specific urban legend, but the website www.snopes.com is the place where I have found almost all other urban legends that I have heard. They do a great job of explaining the urban legend, and then confirm or deny the truth of the legend.

Here is an example of their "Top 25" Hottest Urban Legends, http://www.snopes.com/info/top25uls.asp

Answer 4

The thing is, is that the tin could have indeed been eons of years old, but the actual can not so much.

Answer 5

You might try www.snopes.com or www.didyouknow.org