Jamie,

The age test is finally back. The rock was created about 13 million years ago. I have talked with Dick Reesman and he agrees with the following analysis. You may call him if you want. This rock was created 13 million years ago when a volcanic lava flow moved through a bed of sand. The sand was encased by the lava. The rock was created when the lava cooled trapping the sand and its content. The sand created the vesicles now seen in the rock. The same sand that created the rock is still within the rock, as it fills all the internal chambers and is visible even in the thin walls of the lava. This sand has not been wet since the material was encased.

The panhandle is known for its dry weather, but it has rained at least once here in the last 13 million years. In fact, I don't think there is anywhere on Earth that this rock could have lasted 13 million years without being completely disassociated. Remember I was able to take this core sample by driving a 5/8 inch copper tube right through the heart of it. Remember that the outside of the rock that you examined is stronger than the inside because of the melting that took place over the entire outer surface. A single freeze thaw cycle would break the rock and multiple episodes would destroy it. The sand would be washed from many of the vesicles by any amount of water. This rock is very thin-walled and very brittle. You know yourself how delicate this rock is, because you have two samples. Do you think it would last for 13 million years on Earth and be in its present form, still full of the sand of its creation?

Now I don't know when the last lava oozed on Mars, but then again, nobody else knows either. So if this rock does turn out to be from Mars, then the planet has just died or is in the final stages of dying. Any way, at this point, I think this rock must be considered extra terrestrial and Mars is the most likely place where one could find an old volcanic water course that has been dry for 13 million years.

I have written this short note to let you know these results a few days before I tell everyone else. For some reason, I have a strong feeling of your integrity and your desire to search for the truth. I want you to know this information before I start letting everyone else know. You now have this information and a sample, so what you do with it is up to you. I am now preparing a report and making ready a number of photos that I have taken of the rock and some of the things that I have found within it. This includes evidence to show that the rock hasn't been wet and evidence to show that the sand hasn't been touched since it was encased (13 million years ago).

I have never once asked anyone to believe anything that I say, only to run the proper tests and to determine scientifically the complete truth of the matter. It has been 3 months since I was promised by you and David that you would make a thin section and analysis this rock. (By the way, Dick said he wasn't sure that you could make a thin section since the rock is already so thin and brittle.) You even said that people in your building could run the elemental ratio analysis like the Pathfinder performed. It would seem to be easy to run some test that might lend a clue as to planet of origin, even if its not the oxygen isotope ratio test.

In the name of God, or science, or humanity, or whatever you believe in, please examine this rock carefully and treat it with the respect that it deserves. You have so little to lose and the world has so much to gain if we do have a piece of "new" Mars sitting right here on Earth. You can be an integral part of this process--a process that promises to change the very way that mankind views himself and his place in the cosmos.

Your friend,