NEW YORK (AP) — Ask folks what yow will discover buried within the mud on the backside of the earth. new York They are saying “mafia boss” earlier than they give thought to Metropolis’s East River and presumably mammoth bones.

However a number of teams of treasure hunters have hit the waterway in latest weeks after listening to a visitor on comic Joe Rogan’s podcast declare {that a} boxcar’s price of doubtless helpful prehistoric mammoth bones had been dumped into the river within the Forties.

Regardless of the dearth of proof to assist the story, treasure-seekers utilizing know-how like boats, diving equipment, and remote-controlled cameras went out in search, hoping the turbid waters had been hiding woolly mammoth tusks.

“I believe the luck is pretty much as good because the lottery. “Folks purchase these tickets on daily basis,” mentioned Don Gann, 35, of North Arlington. New Jerseya business diver who has been at sea along with his brother and two employees for the reason that starting of final week.

It began with John Reeves. AlaskaA gold miner with a ardour for fossils got here to “The Joe Rogan Expertise” for a December 30 episode and spoke personally about his soil, the place he uncovered numerous centuries-old bones and enamel. Within the first half of the twentieth century, a treasure trove of prehistoric mammal stays was unearthed throughout excavations for gold below earlier possession.

A few of this materials was dropped at New York many years in the past for supply to the American Museum of Pure Historical past. Reeves referred to a draft report ready by three folks, together with one working on the museum, which referred to the dumping of sure fossils and bones into the river that had been deemed unsuitable for the museum.

“I’ll hit a bone,” Reeves informed Rogan earlier than studying the manuscript and giving it a seat: East River Drive is round sixty fifth Avenue, now referred to as FDR Drive.

“We’ll see if anybody on the market has a way of journey,” he mentioned, and later added, “Let me let you know one thing about mammoth bones, mammoth tusks—they’re extraordinarily helpful.”

After the episode aired, the American Museum of Pure Historical past threw water as chilly because the East River on the story.

“Now we have no file of those fossils being thrown into the East River, and we’ve not discovered any file of this report within the archives of the museum or in different scientific sources,” the assertion mentioned.

When contacted by the Related Press by telephone, Reeves refused to talk and as a substitute informed a reporter to learn the pages of the draft he posted on social media earlier than hanging up. He didn’t reply to different calls and emails.

Pages posted on social media determine three folks as authors: anthropologist Richard Osborne; Robert Evander, who beforehand labored within the paleontology division of the American Museum of Pure Historical past; and Robert Sattler, an archaeologist with a consortium of Alaska Native tribes.

Sattler, reached by the Related Press, mentioned the story in regards to the discarded bones got here from Osborne, who died in 2005.

The doc Reeves referred to was real and was written within the mid-Nineteen Nineties. Nevertheless it was not one thing designed for a tutorial journal. It was a place to begin for one thing—maybe a guide—primarily based on Osborne’s information of a interval when plentiful mammoth stays had been found in Alaska. Osborne’s father labored for a corporation concerned within the excavation enterprise.

Sattler mentioned Osborne hung out within the operation as a younger man and certain heard the story in regards to the extra bones being dumped into the river secondhand. Sattler mentioned he would not have any particulars past Osborne’s reminiscences.

“He should have gotten some info from somebody who mentioned they dumped some extra materials into the East River,” he mentioned.

Mammoth stays found in Alaska have arrived on the American Museum of Pure Historical past. It is still on display today.

The part of Manhattan waterfront that Reeves claims had been dumped underwent main modifications within the Thirties and Forties as East River Drive was constructed on embankment and piles, which was later renamed President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The freeway was opened totally to drivers in 1942, elevating questions on how one might dump an enormous bone treasure with out disrupting visitors.

Gann mentioned he noticed about two dozen different teams of fossil hunters throughout his time within the East River trying to find mammoth stays.

He mentioned visibility on the East River was extraordinarily poor. On a very good day, perhaps you’ll be able to see one step forward. The present on the backside is powerful.

However there’s one thing in regards to the enthusiastic diver on Discovery’s “Sewer Divers” who likes to discover uncommon finds—mammoth bones should be admitted to be on a unique scale than discovering a Paul Revere spoon at an property sale.

“I’ve hunted for unusual works all my life, so this matches my repertoire completely,” mentioned Gann.

He and his crew discovered nothing that he admitted was disappointing, however this inspired him to discover among the historical past himself. He turned his eyes to a location south of Brooklyn, and mentioned it might be extra of a dump than the East River off Manhattan.

“If I am unable to discover something, I am unable to discover something. I truthfully gave it a shot,” mentioned Gann.

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