June 24, 1998

Louis Friedman, Executive Director

The Planetary Society

65 North Catalina Avenue

Pasadena, CA 91106-2301

Dear Louis Friedman,

I have been a member of the Planetary Society for the last year and I very much share your goals. I think one of the most important of your projects is the search for life in our solar system. Maybe we should begin by looking in our own back yard. In the early 70's I recovered a meteorite on a ranch where I was working at the time. After an initial examination, I decided the rock was probably from Mars, since it was volcanic and red and Mars just seemed to be the likely source of origin based mostly on its position in the solar system and its smaller gravity and atmospheric pressure. For the last 25 years I have just kept the rock in my closet because it represented a miracle and an answer to a childhood prayer. But upon learning that ALH84001 might contain remnants of early life on Mars, I got my rock out and examined it further. I have spent the last year and a half trying to get the scientific community to look at this rock, but since it is so highly vesicled, its fusion crust is less obvious and apparent prejudice among meteorite "experts" has left this rock unstudied, accept by my feeble efforts.

The rock was made when lava flowed into a sandy area that contained other older volcanic rocks. The rock therefore consists of three main parts: the gray rock which is 13 ma, the red rock which is 49 ma, and the sandy material. Elemental oxide analysis indicates that the rock and its contents didn't come from any local (within 350 miles) volcanoes and the ages of local volcanoes are not similar to those measured in the Frass meteorite. This rock has not been wet in the last 13 million years, although the red rock does show to have been wet during its 50 million years of existence. It has been wet, but it has not been tumbled in a flowing water system because it still has sharp and delicate edges. The rock is so delicate that I can break almost any of the internal walls with my fingernail. The outside of the rock is slightly stronger since it was melted and thickened when it came through the atmosphere. All of the external vesicles were emptied of sand when the rock entered the Earth's atmosphere and thus I never knew that sand existed within the rock until I took the first sample to send for testing. Now the rock is literally falling apart since I have had to take numerous samples for testing and trying to convince someone to look at this rock in a serious manner.

As for the sandy material, it also shows little signs of erosion since many of the particles still have sharp edges that haven't been rounded much. When I took my first look at some of the sandy material, I was amazed to see that it contained small pieces of stuff that obviously were alive at one time. I have now identified a number of items that have come from the rock that appear to be remnants of ancient life that lived in or upstream of the water system. In addition, there appears to be one version that is still alive. I have seen "dead" versions that have come from within the rock, but over the last year or so, I have watched as some of these things have continued to grow. They appear to be a glass version of fungi, since they seem to "gather" around the debris in the sand. A glass fungi is something that doesn't seem too preposterous when thinking of Mars and what might have evolved there. Everything I have seen within this rock seems well within the capabilities of Mars and impossible for Earth. Also, there are small red spots that are everywhere among the pieces of gray and red rock. My microscope is not adequate to see them clearly, but they remind me very much of red and black lichens, something else likely to survive on Mars, if life evolved there. The rock is highly vesicled and very thin-walled and these things exist in core samples removed from the center of the rock.

I know that all of this sounds preposterous at first hearing. However, I have spent much time and money trying to understand this rock that fell from the sky in the early 70's and I am convinced it doesn't represent anything terrestrial. If it is what I think, then it is the most important rock on the planet because it will eventually completely change the way that mankind views himself. It will mean that life is plentiful in our neighborhood and has probably developed at other places within the solar system. It is a very exciting thought to think about having another planet's evolution to compare with that of Earth. We should learn a great deal from that experience. Also, I think this rock represents a new focus for space and its exploration. If we can announce that life did evolve on Mars and, in fact, is probably still there, then I think we can use the rock to help propel us to the red planet, which must be our destiny sooner or later.

What I need is help from someone who will spend the time to honestly evaluate this rock and it's contents. I don't know what things I can offer the Planetary Society, but if you will help me bring this rock to public awareness, then I will pledge to help the Planetary Society in any way that I can. Please consider my plight and its importance to humanity. I have no trouble making my arguments to lay people and all that view the rock and hear the story and look through the microscope are convinced. But when I get to scientist, they will not view the rock and hear the story and take the trouble to look at what I have. They immediately proclaim it Earthly, because they have seen rocks that look like it. Actually, I have compared it to hundreds of versions of Earthly lava and have never seen anything that is similar, when sat side by side. The Frass rock is much more delicate and the walls between the vesicles are much thinner, the result of being formed in a lower gravitational field. The melting is clearly visible over the entire outer surface, but is concentrated on those parts that stick out the most. It has been called a volcanic bomb, but that is clearly impossible when you examine the rock and see that it formed in a river system that had sandy material. There is no mechanism that I can think of that would allow this rock to form in an Earthly river bed 50 million years ago, then with very little erosion have another layer of lava applied 36 million years later. Then the rock was not wet for the last 13 million years and then it fell from the sky 25+ years ago. There is more information at my web site at www.micromike.com.

Please consider my plea and help me if you can. I need someone of extreme intestinal fortitude who is willing to believe what his own eyes show him. Will you help me?

Your friend,

m mike

Mike Moore

502 S. Prospect

Amarillo, Texas 79106

(806) 354-9421

mike@micromike.com