Man claims to have found Christopher Columbus' original ship

An underwater explorer says he may have found the long-sought wreckage of the Santa Maria, one of Christopher Columbus' original ships.

In his attempt to open up the New World to European colonization, Columbus ran the Santa Maria aground in the Caribbean in 1492.

Barry Clifford says circumstantial evidence is overwhelming that a wreck he and his son first explored back in 2003 off the north coast of Haiti.

Clifford says the evidence includes what appears to be a 15th century cannon and ballast stones that appear to come from Spain or Portugal.

The director of the Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation at Texas A&

M University says it would be a major find, but cautions skepticism. Kevin Crisman says many Spanish ships wrecked off Haiti and it will be difficult to confirm this is the Santa Maria.

(ABC News and the Associated Press contributed to this story)