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Joshua's Long Day

Statement

Joshua stopping the sun A story has been spread in the evangelical community since 1974 that National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) computer scientists confirmed the biblical account of the sun's appearing to stand still at the command of Joshua, miraculously extending the number of hours in one particular day. The story goes that space scientists in Greenbelt, Maryland, were tracing back with an IBM computer all the past positions in time of the planetary system, but could not account for approximately 24 missing hours at Joshua's time in history, unless an apparently stationary sun was assumed for that stretch of time. Hence, a miracle of the Bible was supposedly confirmed by advanced space-age technology.

The only source for this story is Harold Hill, an engineering consultant. He wrote of it in his 1974 book, How to Live Like a King's Kid, and the news services spread it around. But he did not give the names of the computer scientists involved and none has ever been found. He did not produce any punch cards, programming notes, printouts or any other documentation. He did not attempt a repetition of the computer simulation. In fact, the only "evidence" for this "miracle" was Hill's saying that he heard about it during a visit to Greenbelt. He did not say who he heard it from.

Extraordinary claims call for extraordinary evidence, and the burden of proof is on the claimant. With the paucity of evidence in this case, the burden of proof is not met. In the absence of corroborating witnesses, documents, and repeatable computer simulations, this story becomes a mere parable or fable.

Sources

The Lost Day from snopes' Urban Legends Reference Pages
The Missing Day, from Ship of Fools, "The Magazine of Christian Unrest".
Have NASA computers really proven Joshua's 'long day'? - from Answers in Genesis, a creationist organization based in Cincinnati. They obviously believe in the long day, but do debunk the story that NASA scientists have proved it.
Tom McIver, "Ancient Tales and Space-Age Myths of Creationist Evangelism." Skeptical Inquirer 10 (3) 258-264,274-278"