# Ed Conrad and the Man as Old as Coal

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-conrad-and-the-man-as-old-as-coal/185487>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [July 1, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-conrad-and-the-man-as-old-as-coal/185487 "2003-07-01T02:19:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-conrad-and-the-man-as-old-as-coal/185487/1 "2003-07-01T02:19:23Z")

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Just now, I found a message on the Harry Potter newsgroup, of all places, by a guy named Ed Conrad. Has anyone else heard of this guy? He wrote a lengthy rant about how the Evil Scientific Establishment™ is wrong about evolution because Ed has **proof** that humans were around when coal seams were forming. He claims to have found numerous human fossils in coal, but, of course, the Evil Scientists™ suppressed his discoveries. Now, apparently, he thinks he’s “winning” the “battle.”

> [@](#):
>
> No question, members of the scientific establishment academia – professors, students and alumni – have long been fearful of me and my discoveries because of the dire consequences they realized what truth would bring.
> 
> And well they should have been because now that time has come. They’re finally being put in their place and recognized for the total disgrace to science that they have been.
> 
> NOW they’re not just _afraid_ of Ed Conrad. They’re terrified.

He has a Web site at [http://www.edconrad.com](http://www.edconrad.com).

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**Author:** ![IcicleFuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ba8739/32.png) [@IcicleFuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IcicleFuzz)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-conrad-and-the-man-as-old-as-coal/185487/2 "2003-07-01T04:14:39Z")

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He’s also on the talk.origins newsgroup. The general concensus seems to be that the “bones” he has found are rocks, and even if they were bones there’s no evidence that they are _human_ bones. He’s just a common or garden nutter.

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**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-conrad-and-the-man-as-old-as-coal/185487/3 "2003-07-01T04:28:09Z")

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I’ve heard about and Ed Conrad and read some of the articles that refute his “findings.”

Ed’s a crackpot, no doubt. His “human remains” have not been examined in context nor has he shown where he found them (from what I’ve read). What appears to him to be human bones are interesting but easily explained geological phenomena.

Lastly, professionals have examined his “fossilized human bones” and thoroughly debunked them. I’ve seen the comparisions done between real fossilized human bones and his specimens. The similarities are, at best, superficial.