hmm
I will take a little dip into this topic Indeed the tree does fall. If you would think outside the box you would look for evidence supporting that it fell there's broken branches that were broken off when the tree fell. There's also dirt that could even help us date and conclude that the tree or situation may have concurred. Not only that it has been proved to be able to date dirt to help determine age and what may have happened in that time.
~Proof paragraph~
"How do geologists know how old different rocks are, or how old the earth is? Until recently, they had to guess, basing their guesses on physical and biological evidence. Geologists know roughly how long it takes for layers of sediments to be laid down. Remains of animals and plants are found at many levels, and study of these fossils can be correlated with the evidence of the rocks themselves. Such dating, however, only establishes the sequence of events; it does not tell how old the earth's rocks actually are.
In the present century a fairly reliable method of age determination has been developed. This method depends on measurements of radioactive minerals in rocks. The atoms which compose uranium, thorium, and other radioactive minerals decay or break up into smaller atoms at a regular rate, and gradually end up as atoms of lead. As the years go by, a rock that contains uranium will have less uranium and more lead in it. By comparing the amounts of lead and uranium, scientists can tell how old the rock is. Use of the radioactive method of dating has shown that the earth is more than 3 billion years old."
~Fin~
now of course we can't with the current knowledge date things by second or date the birth of earth down to milliseconds but look at as more as a estimate. But still can help piece the puzzle together evidence to make a good conclusion "evidence" is used alot in judging the accused.
Ask yourself if person A was suspected and good evidence was found that he murdered person B (hair samples,DNA,blood) or something such as skin of person A under the nails of person B while trying to
defend oneself from person A. But if nobody was around to see person A murder person B does that mean he didn't do it? person B can't testify since he's not alive.
But I can see that you may ask "But then how can it meant he did do it" thats where the evidence comes in. Think as it as a puzzle.
for more info on how to date layers of dirt(lack of a better word)
Google keyword: "how can you tell how old layers in dirt are"