by Bill Nugent
Article #271
On July 15, 1942 six P-38 fighters and two B-17 bombers took off from a base in Greenland headed for England to join the war against Hitler. It was early in the war and they were desperately needed. They were scheduled to make a refueling stop in Iceland but a blizzard socked in that base and they had to turn around.
As it happened, the base in Greenland was also socked in by this massive blizzard. Low on fuel, they were forced to belly land their planes on the snowy ice pack of eastern Greenland. All crew members survived and they were rescued by dogsled nine days later.
Decades later, in 1980, two Americans, Patrick Epps and Richard Taylor, embarked on what they thought would be a simple recovery effort to dig the planes out and bring them back to the US. Epps and Taylor were probably influenced by old-earth chronology that claims that the ice caps form very slowly in the frozen wastes of the polar regions. They expected to find the planes intact under a few feet of snow.
It took several expensive expeditions and the aid of an Icelandic geophysicist to finally locate the site of the planes in 1988. To their amazement they ultimately found the planes over 250 feet deep under ice and snow and three miles from the original landing place because of glacial movement. They dug out one of the P-38s in 1992 with special equipment that melted a shaft in the ice down to the plane. They also melted a cavern around the plane using a hot water hose. They lifted it out, took it home and restored it using about 80% of its original parts. They got it flying again. They named it “Glacier Girl” and it’s flown in air shows around the world to this day.
Coincidentally around the same time, the joint European Greenland Icecore Project (GRIP) drilled down 3,000 meters (9,000+ feet) and obtained drill core samples during 1990 – 1992. The researchers observed bands of layers containing varying isotope ratios which they mistakenly regarded as representing years or seasons like rings of a tree. They assigned ages in the tens of thousands of years to the lower reaches of the ice sheet, likely because they interpreted the data with old earth preconceptions.
However, Epps and Taylor’s experience with the planes showed that the ice pack builds up much more rapidly than anyone would have expected. The over 250 feet of ice that built up over the planes was not due to unusually high rates of snowfall during the period from 1942 to 1988. Normal snowfall gave that massive build up of snow and ice. At that rate, the 9,000 feet of depth probed by the GRIP team could have built up in far less time than 4,000 years, which is to say, well within the biblical timeframe.
The experience of those who dug up the lost squadron is just one of many indicators that undermine old earth chronology. I would not be so bold as to claim that the build up of over 250 feet of ice in less than fifty years is proof positive of young earth. It is, however, consistent with young earth chronology and lends support to young earth.
There are many other geological clocks that are used by geologists and paleontologists to determine the age of the earth. The rate of growth of coral reefs, the rate of growth of stalactites in caves, the amount of carbon 14 in coal, the amount of salt in the oceans, the rate of decay of earth’s magnetic field, the presence of blood, soft tissue and DNA strands in dinosaur bones are examples of natural clocks. On close examination of these and other natural clocks we see an inferred age that is consistent with an age of earth that is within the biblical timeframe of less than 7,000 years. The scientists at Creation Ministries International and the Institute for Creation Research have done much research on natural clocks and find that they strongly confirm the young earth position.
Seven thousand years seems absurdly low as an age of earth but that’s because most of us went through a school system that taught us that the earth is billions of years old. One reason why old earth chronology is taught is that it allows sufficient time for Darwinian evolution to take place. Darwinian evolution is the secular origins myth.
In my DTF articles I’ve visited much of the evidence that points to a young age of earth. I’ve written about how the steady decay rate of the earth’s magnetic field indicates that if the earth was just 20,000 years old, it would have had a magnetic field in its early days as strong as that of a magnetic star and life would have been impossible. (See DTF #208 archived on my website at www.bnugent.org.) The magnetic field of Mars has already decayed to almost zero and that’s why Mars can’t hold an atmosphere.
Stalactites up to five feet long, hanging from the ceiling of the foundation under the Lincoln memorial, were photographed in 1968. The memorial was built in 1923. In just 45 years stalactites grew five feet. Yet some cave guides, influenced by old earth timeframe assumptions, insist that stalactites in caves take tens of thousands of years to form. When I was a boy, my family and I toured Howe cavern in upstate New York and were told that stalactites and stalagmites take eons to form!
The rate of salinization of the oceans has been calculated. If the oceans were anywhere near as old as old-earthers claim, the oceans would have far more salt and minerals than the Dead Sea! Mainstream old earth researchers can’t account for the ocean’s missing salt.
I’ve written about blood, soft tissue remnants and even DNA strands that have been found by mainstream paleontologists in dinosaur bones. One experiment has shown that DNA under ideal conditions would have a half life of less than 600 years. At that rate no DNA should be detectable in dinosaur bones after just 12,000 years, yet we find DNA strands in dinosaur bones today! (See DTF #265 on my website.)
A 600 foot thick, layered sedimentary rock formation was formed from the outflow of the Mount Saint Helen’s eruption which occurred in Oregon in the early 1980s. The layers of loose sediment hardened into stone in just 30 years! (See DTF #95.)
I could mention other evidences such as the consistent finding of carbon 14 in coal and diamonds. Since carbon 14 has a half life of just over 5,000 years it should be not be detectable in coal that is supposed to be millions of years old. Carbon 14 should be not be detectable in anything older than 100,000 years, yet every sample of coal shows carbon 14. (See DTF #228.)
I’m aware that many sincere Christians don’t believe in a literal six day creation or young age of earth. I would ask them: when should we start taking the Bible literally? Do you believe that Adam and Eve were a literal, physical couple and not some kind of allegory? What about Noah and the flood? What about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Were they real? Do you believe in the historical veracity of Moses and the Exodus and other historical events and people recorded in the Bible? The Bible is inspired by God and God’s signature on the Bible consists of the many hundreds of Bible prophecies and their fulfillments. The accuracy of the Bible as a historical book is confirmed by archaeology and geology. You can trust what the Bible says about sin and redemption and you can trust the Bible as history.
The earth was created and the Creator has given us His own eyewitness account of how and when it was created. That eyewitness account is recorded in the Bible in the book of Genesis. The Bible gives a timeframe for the age of the earth that is less than 7,000 years. I would rather believe God’s eyewitness account than the claims of Darwinian influenced scientists with old earth assumptions. God was there at the beginning of the creation of earth and He has let us know how and when it happened.
God has made a way for us to have access to Him. God sent Jesus, the promised Messiah, of whom the ancient Hebrew prophets wrote. Jesus of Nazareth came in fulfillment of over three hundred Old Testament prophecies. No other figure in all of history can make this claim. The prophets foretold how Christ would suffer and die taking upon Himself the punishment we deserved for our sins. The prophets foretold that He would rise from the dead. Christ offers forgiveness and eternal life to all who call upon Him. Turn to Christ today to receive forgiveness of sins!
Steps to salvation: Jesus said “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).
Prayer to receive salvation:
“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).
To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:
“Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner. I repent of my sins and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen.”
If you prayed this prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!