Dear Hap,

I wrote you a couple of months ago and you were very kind and considerate in your answer. I'm the one who was trying to get someone to look at a meteorite that I found in 1971. I would like to review the logic of collecting meteorites and show where I think the logic has broken down.

This rock was recovered from a location that has many of the same features as the Antarctic. It has a lot of room, a flat level place for viewing from a distance, no rocks of its own (unlike the Antarctic), and no access where the public could interfere. My aunt lived on this ranch for 50 years before we found this rock and I can say with absolute confidence the rock fell from the sky the night before I found it.

Now the current list of "rules" for finding meteorites is just fine, if you want to find meteorites that are exactly the same as the ones we have already found. I don't want to hurt anyone, so I will use no names, but I have been told that no one will look at my rock unless they decide that it is a meteorite. Then I ask, "Well what does that mean?" and they say it must have a black fusion crust like all the other meteorites that have fallen. My point is that everything that falls through our atmosphere is a unique situation. The space shuttle doesn't have black fusion crust when it comes through and the other day a fuel tank fell from orbit and was almost untouched. My rock shows melting over the entire outer surface, but it is different than what they want. My contention is that a high silicon rock that is full of vesicles and thin silicon walls will handle heat differently than a solid rock made of different materials. If you look at the surface of my rock through a small microscope, you can see that the degree of melting varies across the surface. Those places that "stick out" have more melting and those that were sheltered by the vesicles have little or no melting. Some places do show a black fusion crust, under the microscope. Other places it is the same color as the meteorite, except it is melted.

I have taken a core sample from this rock by driving a 5/8" piece of copper tubing directly into the rock. The rock has been K-Ar dated at 13 million years old, yet is so delicate I could slam it to the floor and break it into a million pieces. I can prove to any objective observer, that the rock was made by lava flowing through a bed of sand and the sand made the vesicles now in the rock. The same sand that made the vesicles is still there and none of it has been in the presence of liquid water since the rock was formed. I don't know of any place on Earth that has been dry for 13 million years, but I could name a bunch of them on Mars.

I can understand why the rules of meteorites evolved as they did, but now it is time to take another look at the rules. We now know that high silicon vesicled rocks are common on Mars. We also know that it is relatively common for rocks to make the journey from Mars to Earth. Wouldn't you think that some of the high silicon rocks would make it to Earth also? And if they did, would they have a black fusion crust like solid rocks made of different materials? The point is that space is a very big place. Sooner or later, something different will land on Earth. To think that the fusion crust of all things that fall from space is the same seems awful closed minded and unscientific to me.

Besides the things I have told you about, my rock is slightly magnetic and contains magnetic dust within the sand which has come from within the rock. All of these things taken together make a very powerful case that this rock did come from Mars and probably represents a good sample of the sand and dust presently on Mars. But I have not even asked anyone to believe these things, only to perform some test that would help to determine the truth of the matter. I have been trying for a year now to get someone to test this rock for planet of origin and I have gotten nowhere. Even the guy at the Smithsonian that you were so kind to send me to, was able to somehow determine planet of origin by looking at my web site. I would think that he could only make an opinion by looking at my web site, but could never determine planet of origin. It seems to me, that the most interesting meteorites that science could find, would be the ones that aren't like all the others. A meteorite is defined as something that falls from space, not something that meets a predefined set of rules that haven't been thought through enough. When science gets a credible report from a responsible person that they have found a rock that fell from the sky, science should listen and test it.

I have asked for an oxygen isotope test but have been told that is too expensive. Then I have asked for a spectrograph like the Pathfinder did and I have been told that they only do those tests on a meteorite. Isn't the cart before the horse here? It seems to me that it would be easy for someone to back up a spare rover to my sample and test it and see if the ratios indicate it falls in Earthly material or Martian, but they won't do that test until they decide it is a meteorite. I can almost guarantee that if this material is Martian, then it must be a meteorite, because I sure didn't go there and get it.

The problem here is that if this rock is from Mars and no one is looking at it, it is almost a crime against God or nature or mankind. If this rock is what I think it is, mankind will never look at himself the same way again. The sandy material from this rock is full of debris of ancient living systems. If this rock did come from Mars, then I can tell you right now that life evolved on Mars at least to a stage that would be similar to our plants. By the way, the sand from the landing site is very different than the sand within the meteorite. These is no one on the planet who studies Mars that wouldn't like to have a piece of this rock, but until somebody is willing to run a scientific test, no one can benefit.

It is my desire, if this rock be from Mars, to let every person possible be a part of studying it. But I feel like I am doing mankind a disservice since I can't get the proper tests done to establish that it is extra terrestrial. For an entire year now, I have been quietly trying to get the proper test done in a scientific way and through established institutions. But the only thing I know to do is to go public with this problem and see if I can draw enough attention that someone will actually do the tests. I guess that is why I am writing you. I have seen you on TV and I trust you. I know your reputation and I know that you are an honorable person (has have been all the people I have contacted). All I ask, in the name of science and finding the truth, please help me get someone to look at this rock with an open scientific look, which means tests. I have placed a new file on my web site that details the tests and observations that I have made. There are a number of pictures of everything that I have described to you. The site can be accessed at www.micromike.com/mars.

I will thank you in advance for any help that you might give me.

Your friend,

micromike