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Shrouded Science — Part 1
By Jeff Messenger, Barkhamsted
In 1978, forty American scientists had direct access to the enigmatic relic known as "the Shroud of Turin." Most of these scientists were not Christian. They were simply a group of investigators who were challenged to solve a mystery. According to their accounts, they were sure that they would quickly solve the mystery of how the image of a crucified man, front and back, was imprinted upon the linen cloth.
The shroud's image is a subtle, almost invisible straw yellow discoloration. It is a photographic negative. It has a "distance-related intensity" that is so accurate that it becomes a three-dimensional relief when analyzed by NASA's VP-8 image analyzer. The body image is made of a uniformly colored (with the same yellowing) series of linen fibrils that, in essence, act as "pixels"—the number of fibrils discolored determines the "intensity" (like a dark nose as opposed to lighter cheek) of the image's features. The image has compelling forensic information, such as the curled-in thumbs invisible on the image, the natural result of nerve damage caused by the wrist wounds; the placement of the spike wounds in the more stable wrists, rather than the fragile tissue in the center of the hand; the distended abdomen, which suggests the expected death by asphyxiation; the depressions on each side of the nose, suggesting a crushed cartilage; a swollen left cheek; a two-tiered blood stream on the left forearm that corresponds with the two positions assumed on the cross (the resting position, and the arched upward position that allowed the victim to alleviate the muscular stress on his diaphragm and breathe more easily); blood stains that indicate both venous blood flow and arterial blood flow; bloodstains that have a "halo effect," indicating a post mortem separation of blood cells and serum; bloodstains that have been identified as human, type "AB" (a rare blood type among Europeans, but much more common in the Middle East); dumbbell-shaped scourging wounds, indicating the shape of the pellets at the end of the Roman flagrums used; scourging wounds that indicate the positioning of two soldiers at either side of the victim, one taller than the other; and lastly, atypical Jesus characteristics such as a tied ponytail down his back and "cap of thorns" wounds rather than the traditional "wreath."
Such a compelling image and mystery! The Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP) went to work. They collected linen fibers, pollen samples, dust samples, blood samples. They subjected the Shroud to multispectral analysis, low-energy x-radiography, x-ray fluorescence, reflective spectroscopy, biostereometry, laser microprobe ramen spectroscopy, and on and on. After all was studied (even including years of studies after they had direct access to the Shroud), they had some definitive conclusions. The Shroud image was not a painting, a bas relief rubbing, a powder illustration or a scorch. It was not created by the use of chemicals, dyes or bleaches. What it was proven to be is a highly superficial dehydration of the very top linen fibrils. There was no penetration of the image beyond the very surface of the top fibrils, of the top linen threads. The blood stains did penetrate into the cloth, however—and under the bloodstains, no dehydrated body image fibrils are found. The blood was on the shroud before the body image! The image’s tonal intensity was defined by the number of fibrils affected by the dehydration process. It was such a subtle, fragile and delicate image, it left these men of science scratching their heads. How was this thing created—and as far back as the Middle Ages?
Of course, the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) and its magazine, the Skeptical Inquirer, had a cow! How could science, which is naturally opposed to all things paranormal and religious, have let them down? Obviously STURP was not to be believed. These "scientists" had to be wrong! (Regardless of the fact that these scientists had no theological bias to promote, and had well documented photos, videos and other records that verified their work and conclusions.)
Prominent CSICOP member and magician Joe Nickell came up with a rough "duplicate" of the Shroud's face. He molded a wet linen cloth on a statue’s face, and let it dry. He then rubbed various aloes and myrrh into the cloth. When this cloth was "aged" by heating it in a oven, sure enough a negative imprint of a face was formed! The trouble with the Nickell image was that it shared none of the Shroud's superficiality, subtlety, pixelation or distance-related dimensionality. It was not an oxidation or dehydration of the top linen fibrils. But this was of little concern to the Skeptical Inquirer, since again, STURP—with all their photos, videos and charts—were not to be believed. Ethical scientists do not ignore empirical evidence simply because they don't like where the evidence may lead!
To be continued …
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