( CNN ) -- `` Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence , '' the astronomer Carl Sagan once said . In the case of the extraordinary claim concerning the possible discovery of the wreck of Santa Maria , the flagship of Columbus ' fleet , it 's clear that we are n't there yet . In fact , we seem to be getting further away from proof all the time . The potential discovery of the wreck , which happened on the first of Columbus ' four voyages to the Americas , has become a flashpoint for the difficulties of determining the authenticity of artifacts honored in memory but difficult to locate in the present . The discoverer , underwater explorer Barry Clifford , says he has quite a few reasons to believe he 's found the right ship in the Caribbean Sea . Columbus left details in his diary about the location of the sinking , which happened near Haiti on Christmas Day in 1492 . Clifford maintains that description matches the shipwreck 's whereabouts . 500-year-old mystery solved ? As the author of `` Columbus : The Four Voyages , '' which surveys the explorer 's career , I was naturally drawn to this remarkable find -- if that 's what it is . Love him or hate him , Columbus made a difference . No one doubts that he led some of the most important voyages of discovery ever undertaken , and that 's why the fate of Santa Maria matters today . The story of this wreck is well-known , and documented by Columbus himself . On Christmas Eve 1492 , crew members of all three ships were celebrating , drinking and looking forward to a speedy voyage home to Spain . ( The outward-bound trip had taken just 33 days , a testament , in part , to Columbus ' navigational genius . ) Columbus said he stretched out for a nap at this time . As the fleet traversed the northern coast of what is now Haiti , the ship 's master turned over the tiller to a 14-year-old ship 's boy , and soon after Santa Maria ran into a reef and began to disintegrate . Columbus managed to rescue everyone -- in fact , he never lost anyone at sea in his eight transatlantic crossings -- and to gather valuable items from the ship before it sank into an estimated 15 to 25 feet of water . That 's a summary of what we know , and the wreck should take these factors into consideration to be considered authentic . For starters , Columbus described in his log how the mainmast of the ship was cut away , and , as he wrote , `` she lay on her beam ends . ... The planking opened . '' Any discovery should be consistent with these descriptions , but so far no information about that is forthcoming . And then we also have to account for erosion -- tides and hurricanes -- changing the shoreline and the reef over half a millennium . It 's entirely possible , indeed , likely that reefs encountered by Santa Maria have shifted significantly over time , altering or moving the wreck . Next , there 's the evidence in Columbus ' own hand : his map of the coastline where the ship supposedly sank . Again , it represents how things looked to him 500 years ago rather than in the present . And , most frustrating of all , perhaps , Columbus occasionally fudged his navigational records . Why ? To prevent others from exploiting his discoveries . Finally , it 's unlikely that any of the wooden parts of the ship have survived after all these years . Other ships have sailed through those same waters over the years , and perhaps collided with the reefs . How to tell one ancient wreck from another ? All of these factors make finding Santa Maria difficult . How can a shipwreck hunter make his claims stick ? Clifford has pointed to `` ballast '' in the form of stones from the ship as evidence to identify Santa Maria . But ships in those days probably did n't have stone ballast to steady them ; heavy cargo such as wine casks served the same function . And then there 's the intriguing `` smoking gun , '' as Clifford calls it , the lombard , or cannon , aboard Santa Maria . Just before his presentation at the Explorers Club in New York in 2006 , Clifford discovered that these items were missing from the site , `` looted , '' he explained . That 's frustrating , especially because back in 2003 , he was aware of the wreck and its probable lombards , if that 's what they were , and he was touting a visit to the site as part of an auction held by the Explorers Club . But now the lombards , if that 's what they were , are gone . There 's not much left to go on . Exploration is all about finding something unknown , which often means shaking things up , disproving rather than confirming to arrive at something new . Since 2006 , it seems that little was done to secure or explore the site , and given its potential importance , I wonder why that is . Given its potential historic significance , let 's hope this wreck will finally receive the careful and responsible attention it deserves .
Explorer says he found wreck of Haiti , flagship of the Explorers Club , off Santa Maria . Clifford believes discovery is highly unlikely , given erosion , shifts , tides . Bergreen : The wooden parts of the ship probably have not survived the years . Bergreen : Given potential historic significance , this wreck needs careful examination .