The Mystery Behind The Aluminum Wedge Of Aiud

Along the banks of the Mures River in Aiud, Romania, some 47 years ago, a crew of workers came across an object so strange, some claim it is literally out of this world (via Facts Legend). It is unclear exactly what these workers were searching for when they accidentally unearthed two mastodon bones deep in the sandy shoreline. What we do know is that more than 35 feet beneath this location sat something even more peculiar. An object that appeared to have no date, no purpose, and no explanation, which came to be known as the "aluminum wedge of Aiud" or simply "the object," if you will.

In an interview with History that was later published on YouTube, museum curator Anna Gruia admitted that even by museum standards, the object is strange." As historians, we do not consider it a historical object that we're used to. We don't know what it was used for, and we acknowledge these uncertainties about its dating, and its composition as well," she explained.

What makes the wedge of Aiud so perplexing is the fact that it appears to have no age or function. The likelihood that a modern-day object would be found beside the bones of a beast that went extinct more than 11,700 years ago (via Britannica) is slim. Adding to this is the fact that the object is covered in patina, a coating that takes hundreds or even thousands of years to develop. Yet, it presents itself as modern aluminum (via YouTube), which is not believed to have been around at that time.

The dates and times simply do not add up. The object, a clunky aluminum wedge, hence its name, lacks purpose. Theories regarding its origins range from alien invasions to complex preservation, but no firm explanation exists. In fact, museum curator Anna Gruia claims that part of the reason this object is not on display is the fact that historians don't know how to explain it to the public.

If you're hoping to catch a glimpse of the aluminum wedge of Aiud, you might as well scratch that wish from your bucket list. For whatever reason, the object is so precious to historians that it has been locked away in a safe box for almost half a century, never to see the light of day.