[edit on 15-12-2008 by Japanese Gecko]
As for it being hoax, it might be if the original report itself is a hoax and there is no such team of scientists who found a watch ring in a tomb. If, however, the report is accurate, it could mean that the scientists have been tricked. In that case, the story isn't a hoax but a report of an event that may turn out to be a hoax.
On the other hand, it just might be one of those odd things that will remain unexplained, either temporarily or permanently.
Vizzini: But it's so simple. All I have to do is divine from what I know of you: are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me...
...You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? You've beaten my giant, which means you're exceptionally strong, so you could've put the poison in your own goblet, trusting on your strength to save you, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But, you've also bested my Spaniard, which means you must have studied, and in studying you must have learned that man is mortal, so you would have put the poison as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me...
Yes, in simple terms, all our suppositions are
just that...So we can only go around in circles and no definitive answer is possible.