Computer-enhanced ultraviolet image of the Turin Shroud,
processed (1976) by Dr Donald Lynn & Dr Jean Lorre,
Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, California USA.
A history of this computer-imaging project
on the Shroud.
A complete review of the ongoing Shroud investigations
is online at www.shroud.com
(maintained by Barrie Schwortz).
Full frontal image in negative (wmv file).
The Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP):
summary of conclusions from the 1978 testing
(After years of exhaustive study and evaluation of the data, STURP
issued its Final Report in 1981.
The following official conclusions are reproduced verbatim from
that report, from www.shroud.com/78conclu.htm.)
No pigments, paints, dyes or
stains have been found on the fibrils. X-ray, fluorescence and microchemistry
on the fibrils preclude the possibility of paint being used as a method
for creating the image. Ultraviolet and infrared evaluation confirm these
studies. Computer image enhancement and analysis by a device known as a
VP-8 image analyzer show that the image has unique, three-dimensional information
encoded in it. Microchemical evaluation has indicated no evidence of any
spices, oils, or any biochemicals known to be produced by the body in life
or in death. It is clear that there has been a direct contact of the Shroud
with a body, which explains certain features such as scourge marks, as
well as the blood. However, while this type of contact might explain some
of the features of the torso, it is totally incapable of explaining the
image of the face with the high resolution that has been amply demonstrated
by photography. The basic problem from a scientific point of view is that
some explanations which might be tenable from a chemical point of view,
are precluded by physics. Contrariwise, certain physical explanations which
may be attractive are completely precluded by the chemistry. For an adequate
explanation for the image of the Shroud, one must have an explanation which
is scientifically sound, from a physical, chemical, biological and medical
viewpoint. At the present, this type of solution does not appear to be
obtainable by the best efforts of the members of the Shroud Team. Furthermore,
experiments in physics and chemistry with old linen have failed to reproduce
adequately the phenomenon presented by the Shroud of Turin. The scientific
consensus is that the image was produced by something which resulted in
oxidation, dehydration and conjugation of the polysaccharide structure
of the microfibrils of the linen itself. Such changes can be duplicated
in the laboratory by certain chemical and physical processes. A similar
type of change in linen can be obtained by sulfuric acid or heat. However,
there are no chemical or physical methods known which can account for the
totality of the image, nor can any combination of physical, chemical, biological
or medical circumstances explain the image adequately.
Thus, the answer to the question
of how the image was produced or what produced the image remains, now,
as it has in the past, a mystery.
We can conclude for now that
the Shroud image is that of a real human form of a scourged, crucified
man. It is not the product of an artist. The bloodstains are composed of
hemoglobin and also give a positive test for serum albumin. The image is
an ongoing mystery and until further chemical studies are made, perhaps
by this group of scientists, or perhaps by some scientists in the future,
the problem remains unsolved.
¨ 1988 Carbon-14 tests invalidated, by Dr Ray Rogers of the STURP team (106kb) ¨
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