BYU Studies Quarterly
Abstract
Ordinary Kentucky man Todd Walker, self-proclaimed "discoverer," "protector," "guardian," and "witness" of the eponymous Object, and the focus of this fascinating documentary, is convinced that he has found the Urim and Thummim of the Old Testament. Todd and his two brothers-in-law, Dave Jones and Dale Bloomfield, had stopped by the local Goodwill during a particularly trying day at their tiling job. With fifteen dollars in his pocket, Todd was looking for glassware that he could purchase for cheap and then resell. Something else caught his eye, however. It was a black, oblong, cup-shaped object. "And when I picked it up," he said, "lo and behold! It was one of the most beautiful pieces I had ever seen in my life." He bought it for sixty-nine cents.
When he returned home, Todd sat down and examined the Object. He stared at it for hours. "Something kept telling me to look," he said. Eventually, he found that when light hit the Object at just the right angle, "the most ancient, awesome images was [sic] revealed to my eyes, like you've never, ever imagined, man." Todd was not the only one to experience these visions. He wanted to share the gift with others. Dave, Dale, and the rest of Todd's family initially worried that Todd had gone crazy, but now they too have experienced visions while looking into the Object. Todd knows that he has something special but is not quite sure what it is or why it has been given to him. This is the question that takes up the majority of the film: Todd wondering what he has found and, now that he has found it, just what God wants him to do with it.
Recommended Citation
Phelan, Ben; Cornett, Dub; and Young, Jacob
(2014)
"The Object,"
BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 53:
Iss.
1, Article 20.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol53/iss1/20