Newsgroup: it.discussioni.misteri
Titolo: [Burrows Cave] Una precisazione che rettifica (per tutti)

 
bur...@greeleynet.com

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Concerning Burrows
Russell Burrows (formerly of Olney, Illinois, and now residing in Ft.
Collins, Colorado), a truck-driver and retired Illinois State Prison
corrections guard, has been selling curious 'inscribed' stones since early
1983.  The claimed source for the stones (by most estimates, between 1500 to
4000) has been a fantastic "cave," alleged to be somewhere in southern
Illinois (or nearby), which is said to contain more 'inscribed' stones, gold,
skeletons, and an ever-changing amount of paraphernalia (depending upon
whether Burrows believes his audience is interested in North American
archaeology, spiritualism, flying saucers, etc.).  No one, except for his
brother-in-law (Sam Eyer, also of Olney, IL, who has never confirmed the
assertion) is said to have seen the "cave," though during the late 1980s and
into the early 1990s, Burrows was leading gullible individuals into a Mt.
Vernon, IL ravine and claiming the "cave" was nearby.  When the ravine area
was investigated a couple of years ago, Burrows amended his story, now
claiming the "cave" was located elsewhere and the ravine was merely a "decoy
cave."	To lend verisimilitude to his claims, mostinvestigators believe
Burrows utilized elements from such divers sources as Howard Carter's account
of his discovery of King Tut's tomb to Edgar Rice Burroughs' description of a
mysterious cave in his science fiction series, John Carter of Mars.
The 'inscribed' stones sold by Burrows depict a variety and impossible
combination of historical alphabets, with many accompanied by crude,
cartoon-ish portraits.	Burrows claims his now-deceased partner, Jack Ward
(of Vincennes, Indiana), "cleaned" the stones and applied a wax polish,
unfortunately removing any potential patina, possible stray bit of pollen, or
other clue which could identify when and where the 'inscriptions' were
engraved on the stones. Suggestions that the 'inscriptions' were made with
jewelers' or fine wood-working tools are intriguing, but have not been
sufficiently demonstrated.  Burrows' admission of earning "some" income by
custom wood-working is of minor help, but only in speculation, and not as far
as supporting any plausible theory as to the origin of the 'inscribed'
stones.
Beginning on a small and local scale in late 1982, Burrows began to market
his 'inscribed' stones to local stores and weekend "arrowhead" conventions. 
As early as 1983, after the involvement of Jack Ward, Burrows was encouraging
some to lie and claim they'd seen the "cave," so Burrows could make a sale.
[Note: one incident was recently denied by Burrows, but the person who was
requested to lie seems credible enough, as he's a professional photographer
and journalist in Indiana.]  Burrows has continued to regularly market to the
"arrowhead" collectors, with a large, open auction occurring a year and a
half ago with supportive advertising on the Internet.  Along the way, Burrows
has also attempted to market to the professional and amateur archaeological
communities, various Native American nations (or "tribes"), UFO enthusiasts,
and Mormons.  It is not known if Burrows has paid any state or federal taxes
on these sales.
The office of the Illinois State Archaeologist rejects the 'inscribed' stones
of Russell Burrows as antiques, and believe them to be modern productions.
Regards,
Richard Flavin
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