In October 1922, the New York Sunday magazine published a sensational article by Dr. Ballou under the heading "Events of the Week in America" under the heading: "The sole of a shoe is 5,000,000 years old."
The author wrote: “Some time ago, the prominent mining engineer and geologist John Reid, while exploring for fossils in the state of Nevada, suddenly stumbled upon a piece of stone that left the researcher in indescribable amazement. And it was from what: on the stone lying at Reid's feet, the imprint of a human sole was clearly visible!
As it turned out upon closer examination, it was not just a bare footprint, but, most likely, the sole of a shoe, which time turned into stone. And although the front part of the sole was absent, at least two-thirds of its area was preserved, and clearly distinguishable thread stitches ran along its perimeter, apparently fastening the welt to the sole.
Then another row of stitches followed, and in the center, where the foot should be located, if it were really about the sole of the shoe, there was a depression, completely corresponding to what the human heel bone usually forms in the heel of the sole of the shoe when it is worn for a long time. This find, in all likelihood, represents the greatest scientific enigma, for the age of the fossil is at least 5 million years.
Reid brought the find to New York and tried to draw the attention of other scientists to it. Here's what he wrote:
“Upon arriving in New York, I showed the fossil to Columbia University geologist Dr. James Kemp and Professors Osborne, Matthew and Howie of the American Museum of Natural History.
All of them noted that "they have never seen such a magnificent natural imitation of an object of artificial origin."
All the named experts agreed, however, on the age of the stone, referring it to the Triassic period.
Promotional video:
On the other hand, the shoe consultants noted that the “sole” welt was undoubtedly hand made. Dr. Matthew summarized the find, pointing out that despite the presence of all the shoe's distinctive features, including the thread stitches typical of the shoe, it could only be an excellent imitation, a kind of lusus naturae ("play of nature").
However, Reid did not calm down on this.
“I approached the Rockefeller Foundation microphotography and chemical analysts, who privately photographed and analyzed the find, the results of which confirmed [crossed out] any doubt about the sole of a shoe fossilized during Triassic period …
Micrographs taken with a twenty-fold magnification clearly show the smallest details of twisted stitch threads, their deformations and distortions, thereby convincingly confirming that this is precisely human manual work, and not its natural imitation. All the features of the threads can be easily seen even with the naked eye, and the sole contours themselves are definitely symmetrical.
Inside them, strictly parallel, there is a line consisting of small holes made, obviously, to skip the stitches. To this I can add that at least two prominent geologists, whose names have not yet come to the public, have identified the find as the sole of a shoe that underwent a natural process of petrification in the Triassic period."
For our part, we add that, as is now believed, the age of the Triassic rocks is much more than 5 million years. The Triassic period ranges from 248 to 213 million years ago.