Forensic images: New research provides fresh evidence this really is a photo of Mormon founder Joseph Smith

“I always believed it was him,” says the owner of the hotly debated daguerreotype. Adds an LDS historian: “The mere possibility of its veracity reminds us that Smith was a historical figure of flesh and bones.”

(Daguerreotype photo by Jim Mathis, via Daniel Larsen) This recently discovered daguerreotype purportedly shows church founder Joseph Smith.