Alan,

I want to thank you for responding to my e-mail. I appreciate very much the time you spent to read my letter and send your reply. I would like to go over a couple of points that you made in your reply and then next week, if we get everything worked out to your satisfaction, I will send you a sample and a report I am writing that summarizes everything I "know" about this rock.

I want you to know that I have tried all my life to be a good scientist and since the first moment I found this thing, I have had doubt. Doubt is integral to the process we call science. I am being "contrary" over this issue only because I think the objective evidence is in my favor and because I think that this rock represents something very special that science needs to investigate. So I have thought over and over about what the "experts" have said, but my own experiences and my own observations as a scientist tell me that this thing did fall from the sky the night before I found it and that is why I want evidence to prove or disprove my hypothesis. After all, the opinion of an expert is still only an opinion and is not evidence and no expert has actually seen the rock itself, only samples. All I want is to find the truth and I can not hide the truth that resides within the rock itself.

I do understand that if the rock went through the atmosphere, that process would leave evidence. I say the evidence is there. I clearly see the fusion crust you talk about, although I must use a microscope to see it. Every object that is heated by the atmosphere will show that heating. But all objects are not created equal and the fusion crust that results will be a combination of several factors. First of all the speed and angle of entry are a factor. Recently a fuel tank fell from orbit and made it back to Earth almost unscathed. Lucky fall. The point is that there are a million different angles of attack and each would generate a different trajectory and therefore different heating. The other night I was camping out and watching the stars (and the comet) and within about 5 minutes time, I saw two shooting stars. One went all the way across the sky and was so slow that I had time to point and show it to my son before it was gone. The second was coming almost straight down and was over so quick, I wondered if I really saw it. All I am saying is that each object that falls is going to have a unique path. I will be the first to admit that if this rock does turn out to be from Mars, the set of "miracles" required to get it from Mars to me will stagger ones imagination.

The next point about fusion crust revolves around the possibility that some objects will tumble when they come through, but some will keep a single orientation. If a rock does keep a single orientation, like the space shuttle, then parts will get hotter than other parts. The next factor is the composition of the rock. Different materials handle heat in different ways. As I have said before, the structure and composition of my rock seem to be such that it handles heat easily and in a manner similar to the space shuttle tiles. I am trying to get a melting point analysis for the report I mentioned earlier. So I believe this rock has a fusion crust (maybe it was cold fusion : )). Also, I am attempting to photograph the crust, but my microscope came from Toys R us and maybe isn’t the best made. The fusion crust is new and shinny. The rock has never been in Earthly weather and so the crust has not been degraded since it was formed.

My rock is very delicate in many ways. But it is filled with this sandy material and I believed this helped the structural integrity as it was ejected from Mars(?), traveled through space, and then through the atmosphere. The rock is now falling apart. Much of the sand is held in place by the vesicles of the rock and so can’t fall out. I worked with it today to take a sample and pieces are falling from it in every direction, once the interior vesicles of sand are exposed. This is further evidence to me that this rock hasn’t spent any time on the surface of our planet. I don’t think it could remain intact if it was ever in a single rain storm. And if it had ever gone through a freeze thaw cycle, it would be torn apart.

I think some of the sand did fall out during entry, because all of the outside surface is covered with this sand. The sand seems to be melted into the volcanic material, which makes sense to me. If the outside was hot and air currents were pulling sand from the vesicles, the sand would coat the outer surface and would be hot glued so to speak.

I love the last few lines of your note to me. You are the first to call me on my "bet" and to ask what tests I actually want performed to prove or disprove my hypothesis. At this point I can’t tell you exactly. However, per your request, I will make that decision and let you know before sending you a sample. I think that you stated a very fair and scientific opinion by asking me to "set the standards" so to speak. Part of the problem comes from the fact that even the rocks we accept as Martian, we accept on a series of tests because we really can’t say for sure many facts about the Martian surface because we haven’t been there and collected samples. Also, I don’t know how complicated and how expensive the different tests may be. If there was a two dollar test that was specific for Martian material, that would be the one, but somehow I suspect that test doesn’t exist. If you have any suggestions I will be glad to think about them.

Again I want to thank you. It has been hard for me to find anyone willing to talk about this thing. I understand where the "experts" are coming from and have no hard feelings toward anyone. I have been a computer "expert" for over 20 years. (by the way, an ex is a has-been and a spert is a drip under pressure) But I have been an observer of all kinds of physical systems all my life. I still spend one day a week out in nature looking at things alive and dead. One of the things I do very often is to stop and look at different things and try to determine their essence. I try to see what the thing can tell me about its existence and what it has been through. As I look at my rock, it screams to me that it has passed through the atmosphere and that it is unEarthly in nature. If you look carefully, you can see where the "fire" burned and even see which way it was going. If it did fall from the sky and represents something from another world, then human beings have a lot to learn from this rock. If it came from Earth, I would like to know that too. I believe that I see the "truth" in the rock, but I am a scientist and I just want to know for sure.

Thanks again,

.