[Vision2020] Shroud to Remain a Mystery

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (March 26, 2005) Spokesman Review's Letters section with a
special thanks to Frank Cheng.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Shroud to remain a mystery

Nathan Wilson's attempt at reproducing the Shroud of Turin is very
interesting. However, there are several reasons as to why the shroud will
remain an enigma. 

Wilson's method is dependent on a pigment that undergoes photo-bleaching.
Chemical analyses published in scientific peer-reviewed journals indicate
the shroud contains no added pigments. The hues appear to be caused by a
chemical reaction directly on the fibers themselves, probably by an
oxidation process.

The 2004 discovery of a mirror image on the backside of the shroud also
brings in question as to how the shroud image was produced. The fibers
between the two images were unblemished, indicating that image did not soak
through the cloth itself. 

Several hypotheses have appeared in the scientific literature regarding as
to how the image may have been formed. They range from reactive chemicals
emanating from a decaying body to a corona discharge. 

Another consideration is that optically flat glass capable of producing
distortion-free images wasn't available until 1688. Recent chemical dating
methods have placed the date of the Shroud between 1,300-3,000 years old,
much older than the radiocarbon results of 1988.

Frank Cheng
Moscow, Idaho
Moscow, ID

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Take care, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Hog Haven, Idaho

"What is objectionable, what is dangerous, about extremists is not that they
are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say
about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."

-- Robert F. Kennedy