He claimed to have experienced a number of visions, including one in which he was directed by an angel to a buried book of golden plates. (premierchristianity.com)
Their prophet read golden plates by putting them in a hat with some rocks and then sticking his face in the hat. (religion.blogs.cnn.com)
Nevertheless, in the midst of his reshaping still lies the central story at the heart of the (original) Book of Mormon — that a 19th century treasure hunter called Joseph Smith claimed to have discovered a new revelation of Jesus appearing to South American tribes inscribed on golden plates which only he could translate, and became the self - appointed prophet of a new religious movement (and yes, that whole story comes in for a lot of ridicule along the way). (premierchristianity.com)