A perplexing discovery has been reported: a fossilized shoe print, estimated to be approximately 500 million years old, has elicited significant intrigue and debate among scientists regarding the timeline of human existence.
This enigmatic print was uncovered within a slate formation, generating considerable astonishment among both local residents and experts in the field. The discovery occurred in 1968 when William J. Meister, a collector of trilobites, identified the print while examining a slate block containing trilobite fossils in Utah. The shoe print is thought to be ᴀssociated with an extinct marine arthropod.
The print features a heel mark that is embedded more deeply than the other parts, suggesting that it originated from a right foot, as indicated by the wear pattern observed on the right side of the heel. In 1969, Dr. Clarence Combs and geologist Maurice Carlisle ᴀssessed the site, where Carlisle noted a muck layer at the same stratigraphic level, implying that the print was previously located on the surface.
Despite the intriguing nature of the find, many scientists categorized the print as a product of natural phenomena, attributing its formation to erosion and questioning its authenticity. This skepticism is consistent with the treatment of similar discoveries, such as the “”Petrified Shoe Sole,”” which was discovered by John T. Reid in Nevada in 1922. Reid’s evidence, reminiscent of a shoe print and located in sediment dated to the Triᴀssic period, was also initially dismissed as man-made. Reid pursued more extensive tests
