The Reactions to Dr. McCrone's Shroud Research

PROS

Dr. Ernst Martin, retired Director of the Basel, Switzerland Police Crime Lab: “You were the first to conclude (1980) that the Turin Shroud is a fake. The carbon datings of 1988 show how right you were.”

Marigene Butler, Head, Art Conservation, Philadelphia Museum of Art: “I have always felt that your microscopical analyses of the organic and inorganic image materials are absolutely convincing….All of us here agree with your 14th century date for the ‘Shroud’ of Turin,”

The Shroud of Turin showing locations of sticky tape samples. From McCrone, Walter C. “The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) supplemented by the Polarized Light Microscope (PLM), and Vice Versa,” Scanning Microscopy, 7(1): 1-4, Fig. 3. 1993.

Dr. Mary Virginia Orna, Chemistry, University of New Rochelle, N.Y.: “I am convinced it [the Shroud of Turin] is a medieval forgery…. Your evidence is conclusive.”

Linus Pauling: “I must say that I think you should not worry about the Catholic Church in relation to the Turin Shroud. I had thought, in fact, that the matter had finally been settled. The objections to accepting the results of scientific studies are just ludicrous.”

CONS

STURP: “Your data is [sic] misrepresented, your observations are highly questionable, and your conclusions are pontifications rather than scientific logic.”

The Church: “You are the one person to challenge the enduring mystery of the Shroud. The Turin Center of Sindonology [a.k.a. Catholic Church] accepts the challenge from you…. We are all in a challenging mood in Turin, having fought and won many a battle.”

Heller and Adler: “…demonstrated that McCrone’s claims for the presence of red paint were prematurely and erroneously made with insufficient data….After hurried and superficial evaluation, he rushed into print to charge that the Shroud is a painted fake.”

Kersten and Gruber in “The Jesus Conspiracy”: “McCrone claimed that iron in the marks [Shroud image] was a clear indication of an iron oxide pigment. This theory from a man who had never seen the cloth itself [Not true. Dr. McCrone did see the Shroud in Turin in 1978] was decisively refuted by further tests.”