How do we account for the other witnesses of the Book of Mormon?

As well as the three witnesses and the eight witnesses, there were others who saw or handled the plates in some way:

Katherine Smith Salisbury – lifted and held the plates
William B. Smith – handled the plates
Josiah Stowell – testified under oath that he saw the plates
Mary Musselman Whitmer – was shown the plates by an angel while she was out in the family barn.
Lucy Mack Smith – was allowed to touch the plates and related objects through thin cloths. She also heard the metallic sound that the plates made when they scraped together.
Emma Hale Smith – would occasionally move the plates around
Michael Bartlett Morse (never a member of the church) – was a witness to the translation of multiple occasions
Lucy Harris and her daughter– initially having a dream in which an angel showed the plates to her. Later she and her daughter were permitted to hold the wooden box in which the plates were kept, and both were impressed by how heavy they were.

What were these witnesses experiencing if there were no gold plates?

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