World affairs

If this wasn’t true, you would assume a draft new Indiana Jones script had been leaked.

Last month an ancient statue of Buddha made some news because of its rather unique back story. Reportedly carved from a meteorite, the swastika emblazoned Buddha had, we were told, been crafted in Tibet in the 11^th Century, before being looted by the SS in the 1930s.

It eventually passed through a number of hands before it ended up at the University of Stuttgart where it was studied properly.

Now the Guardian have an update on the story and the little statue has lost some, but not all, of its mystique.

First the good news, it is from space, in fact, it is from a meteorite that landed in China 15,000 years ago. But that is where the juicy stuff ends.

The latest bunch of experts to have a look believe it was carved in the 20^th Century to look like an ancient Tibetan Buddha.

And as for the Nazi link, the records for all the stuff they laid their hands on in Tibet is extensive and the little statue doesn’t appear anywhere.

The mystery continues but if Steven Spielberg is looking to get the Indiana Jones franchise going again, he could do worse than take some of this story as a good start.

Picture credit: Elmar Buchner