Buck,

I guess if it weren't for Microsoft, I wouldn't get any e-mail at all. I am currently working on a new theory that says the Internet is connected at one end to a giant black hole. That would explain why I get so few letters from my colleagues in the scientific community. : --))

I am almost finished with my computer system upgrade. It is kinda fun working with new computers when someone else is paying for all the new parts. I merely need to solve a couple more problems and finish the system documentation and I will be ready to go anywhere anytime to make sure that mankind understands the significance of this meteorite.

As to the fusion crust, I can understand why there has been so much confusion. Michael Zolensky was the first one I sent a sample to. He asked for a piece that showed the fusion crust. This was long before I knew there was a problem with the fusion crust. I had viewed the rock a lot and had learned to distinguish the parts that were melted from the parts that were not. So for his sample, I just got a sample that showed the melting, but was about mid way in the extremes of melting I had seen. It was just an easy place to get a sample. While in college, I discovered that I was very good at micrographs and recognizing patterns in what I see. I loved those labs where they would put a 100 or 200 photos and slides out and you would have to figure out what was there. I was always very good and would be disappointed with a grade less than perfect. So when Michael asked for a sample, I just got one where I could see the melting. After spending a lot more time lately looking at samples of Earthly lava, I realize that the piece I sent him could easily be seen as just regular Earthly weathering, because they do look very similar. But when one sees the whole rock in its entirety, one realizes that the rock has not been weathered at all, but all the exterior changes are due to melting as the rock flew through the atmosphere. Here are some pictures to help explain what happened.

I'm in the process of redoing my web site and it should be done in a week or two. Then I will post a number of new documents including a more expansive version of what I am writing here that will explain the fusion crust of the Frass meteorite.

The file names stand for fusion crust a, etc. They show what happened as this rock came through the atmosphere and how that differs substantially from a non-vesicled rock, like all the other known meteorites. So fca shows the rock as it just enters the atmosphere. The evidence shows that this rock had a single orientation as it came through the atmosphere so just view this picture as a small cross section near the outer edge. The three remaining files just show the same vesicles over time as the process continues and fcd represents the rock as it looks today.

In fca, we see the air just beginning to rush over the outer surface. All vesicle walls that are exposed to this initial heating begin to melt. The rough exterior has already set up complicated localized air currents that are dependent on the shape of the vesicles. Vesicle 1 and 2 and 3 have not yet been breached and still retain their contents of sand and small pieces of 50ma lava.

As the flight continues and the friction continues to generate heat, we move to fcb. Here we see the outer vesicle wall of Vesicle 1 has melted and the material has been dispersed into the atmosphere. The release of material would help in the dissipation of the heat. The thin walls would insolate interior vesicles and those pieces sticking out would receive more heat and thus make thicker walls as shown. As the material leaves V1 it sets up ever more complex circulations which would melt these inner walls some as well as dissipate more heat. I don't know how big the rock was to start with, but it could have dissipated a great deal of heat by the release of material. It must have been something to see.

In photo fcc we see where the contents of V1 have completely left the vesicle. Small particles have stuck to the wall, though. The heat has caused a breach in the wall between V1 and V3 and the contents of V3 are now beginning to be cast into the mix of particles and currents. Parts of the lava material have left and parts have just gotten much thicker. The contents of vesicle 2 have also been disgorged and we can see the fusion crust at several key points labeled FC.

Now we are at fcd and it shows the rock as it looks today. An examination under a microscope of any of the points labeled FC would show the classic glassy fusion crust that all good weatherologists (since they call someone that studies the weather, a meteorologist, then one who studies meteorites must be called a weatherologist) have come to love. The sample that I sent Michael was a mid level fusion crust and probably didn't show exactly what he was looking for. However, I am sure of my physics and I am sure this rock shows the appropriate melting for its journey through the atmosphere. Jamie is the only geologist that has bent over and looked at the rock (15 secs) and saw the fusion crust. We didn't take enough time to let him look at it over the whole rock and then compare it to the interior. I have shown this rock to a number of my friends who are not geologists but are very bright people and they can see what I am saying.

I guess I misspoke when I told you I thought I could convince you or your friends that this is a meteorite. As a philosopher, it is not my job to convince anyone of anything. My job is to try to make sure that each person examines all the facts with the proper perspective as they attempt to find the truth. I believe the facts show that this rock is a meteorite and if it didn't come from Mars, then we need to figure out where these little things I find within the rock could have originated. I think the probability is small that this rock could have been somehow ejected from Earth, only to fall several million years later. Mars is a much more likely source for these types of rocks. We know this rock didn't come from this region and there is a strong trail of evidence to support my claim that this rock appeared one day many years ago. So what I am confident of is that this rock did fall from the sky and shows the appropriate fusion crust, or maybe in this incidence we could just say that the exterior was frassy instead of glassy. In any case, the rock looks like fcd and the only thing that can explain the current state of the rock is a traverse through our atmosphere.

I hope to be able to come see you in an air conditioned car soon. I have been so caught up in earning treasures in heaven for so long, that I have neglected my Earthly treasures for some time now. I think I have some very strong arguments concerning the Frass meteorite and I know it is just a matter of time until the whole world will know the truth. By the way, you said you were leaving. Are you going to finish your report before you leave or are you going to turn this mess over to some other unlucky soul who gets to take your place?

Well, that's enough for now.

Your friend,