Non-Literal Gold Plates

Following is a list of evidence from the historical record that suggests there was likely something non-literal about the gold plates.

• The eight witnesses are always used as a proof that the plates were literally what Joseph described, but Stephen Burnett wrote that Martin Harris, speaking of the eight witnesses and the plates, stated, " the eight witnesses never saw them & hesitated to sign that instrument for that reason, but were persuaded to do it." Warren Parrish's also heard Harris speak. He described part of Harris explanation, "Martin Harris, one of the subscribing witnesses, has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision; and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted." Later Martin Harris said he regretting saying these things, but only did it because it had been "picked out of him." In other words, he regretted letting the cat out of the bag, but it was true. While these are disaffected sources, they, at the very least, represent one vein of serious thought about the eight witnesses that originated within early Mormonism.
• Lucy Mack Smith says that JS first gave the plates to an "ancient Nephite," who then brought the plates for the 8 to view who were gathered in the family's favorite secluded prayer spot in the nearby woods. An ancient Nephite (aka resurrected being or otherwise preserved) adds a heavy spiritual element absent from their witness statement. 
• John Whitmer, on of the 8 witnesses, at one point said "the plates were shown to me by a supernatural power," though at another time he described the viewing rather mundanely.
• The plates behaved strangely. They alluded JS' earliest attempts to remove them. 
• The plates weren't allowed to be commonly viewed. Contrast that with the Egyptian scrolls, which were put on display with JS pointing out the original writing by Abraham and Moses to visitors. The other artifacts with the plates were also under a strict no viewing policy, including the breastplate and interpreter stones. Strangely the plates and the Interpreters were handled under a cloth by various individuals. The can-touch but can't-view approach should be a red flag. Again, contrast all of this with the Egyptian artifacts which were all put in display, including scrolls and mummies. The inconsistency is odd. 
• Josiah Stowell sees the corner of the plates accidentally as they are passed in through the window and says it looked like a "stone of greenish caste." This statement by Stowell should raise an eyebrow since the witnesses consistently described the plates as pure gold. 
• A verse from D&C, 17:5, suggests that even Joseph had to be enabled by the power of God to see the plates: "And ye shall testify that you have seen them, even as my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., has seen them; for it is by my power that he has seen them, and it is because he had faith."
• Accounts of the translation process most often have the plates either covered or missing from the scene entirely, with JS using his seer stone to access the translation.

The above opens up the possibility that those who saw the plates as an ancient artifact of pure gold, only did so in vision.