According to the Mormon version of postbiblical events, Joseph Smith, guided by an angel in 1823, found sacred golden plates buried in Manchester, New York, outside Rochester. The plates are claimed to have been buried around the year 400, having been brought from Central America by a man named Mormon. Smith wouldn't show anyone the plates until he had translated the "reformed Egyptian" — a language unknown to linguists — using a "seer stone." Only after this miraculous translation did he reveal the plates to just 11 Mormon "witnesses."

While linguists would call that implausible, archaeologists also have a bone to pick with the Mormon canon, which claims Native American tribes descended from the 12 tribes of Israel. After descending from heaven after his crucifixion, Jesus himself is said to have made the journey to upstate New York, where he performed miracles such as healing the sick.

While American comedian Bill Maher has quipped that Mormonism is "even weird by the standards of other religions," this historical account is the foundation for Mormonism's second holy book, The Book of Mormon (the first being the Bible). And while most of the world turns a skeptical — even scornful — eye towards many aspects of the church's stories, Mormons seem to have dispelled their own doubts. "We believe in a literal interpretation of scripture," Nagoya area church President Scott Baird said.