Dear Glen,

When I first dug this rock out of my closet over two years ago and prepared to take the first sample from it, I would have agreed completely with you and the two points that you make. But after these two years of trying to get NASA to look at this rock, I have come to view the situation differently. Let me give you a little background and maybe I can explain why things have developed this way.

When I first found this rock, almost 30 years ago, I thought of it only as an answer to my childhood prayers. It had no other value to me as I never thought about it being important in the discovery of information about the planet Mars. The rocks had always been a comfort to me during hard times, because I would get it out and look at it and remember that God answered prayers and that miracles still happen.

But six or seven years ago, I got out the rock and looked at it. Things seemed to be "growing" out of it and this made me wonder. I knew that the rock had fallen from space because of the circumstances of finding it and because of the clear melting that showed over the entire outer surface. But at that time, I had no further evidence of life on Mars and so I just continued to be open minded about the situation.

Then, a little over two years ago, I heard the first news that the martian meteorite ALH84001 had the possible remains of ancient life within the rock. That is when I first began to try to get NASA scientist to look at the Frass rock. But I guess I made a mistake, because I told these people that I thought that the rock might still have life from Mars growing on it. From that time on, no one would believe me or give me a fair hearing. Their minds seemed made up from the beginning and none of my evidence would change their views. Their view seemed to be that it was impossible for me to have a rock like I described, so I couldn't have one. I took the rock to Texas Tech University and then West Texas A&M University and their geologist would not even examine the rock. They said they had seen rocks on Earth like this and so this rock must be from Earth.

To make the long story short, I have fought a continuing battle to get a fair hearing. If you are not convinced, then go to www.marsrock.org and look at the dozens of letters that I have written over the last two years while seeking this fair hearing. Or go to www.marsmeteorite.com and look at the evidence I have collected concerning the age and chemistry of the rock itself. The rock is real and if you want to come to Amarillo, I will be glad to show it to you. I have never asked anyone to believe anything that I say, only that they try to determine the truth that lies within the rock. If I were trying some kind of "trick" on the world, would I be offering the rock for study? This rock has been available for study these last two years, but no one, until lately, would even examine the rock.

So now I have learned my own geology and done my own tests. The labs that did the work can verify each of these tests. The linear nature of the chemistry of the rock and its contents is unlike anything on Earth. The rock was clearly made in a stable volcanic system that existed for at least tens of millions of years and probably existed for hundreds of millions of years. The age of the rock and the small amount of changes that occurred in millions of years, also indicate this rock has not been on this planet long. Any open and honest review of my evidence will clearly show that this rock was not created on this planet. The weather of our planet would destroy this delicate rock in only a few Earthly years. So the life within the Frass Meteorite may not be from Mars, but it is from space and either way, we have a lot to be excited about.

Even to this day, I can not come to grips with the enormous implications of this rock. I have never won anything in my life, yet in some ways, I have won the cosmic lottery. But there is more than luck here, because I prayed for the rock and I wanted the rock and I loved the rock and I was able to recognize the rock for what it is, a cosmic gift from God, sent from one planet and delivered to another.

You could be right about the "spider." It could be from Earth because I did find it on the outside of the Frass Meteorite. It was tangled in among all the glassies growing there and over the years, they had pushed it out. When I first found it, I didn't even look at it because, I too, thought that it was probably from Earth. I didn't examine it carefully until I was able to obtain a good microscope where I could examine the object in more detail. Once I looked at it, I began to become convinced that it might be from Mars. I have stopped looking at it because it is so delicate that I have already broken off one leg and I just don't have the equipment to manipulate it properly without destroying it. But part of the evidence, is the accumulation of tiny grains of sand that are stuck to the insides of one of the legs of the spider. As I have said, this spider is very delicate, yet it has been in some kind of water to allow the sand to be deposited inside the legs. But the water was not violent enough to disturb this delicate creature. I know that the rock has not been wet since I found it and that it didn't rain the night that it landed. So if an Earthly spider crawled into the rock while it was in my closet, how did it get sand inside its dead legs? It seems more likely to me that the thing came with the rock. Also, this spider doesn't seem to have the right number of segments in each leg, the right number of body parts, and the proper amount of specialization of appendages that Earthly spiders all have. But as of this moment, I have not been able to find any "bug" specialist to verify these claims. Buck Sharpton, who used to be with the Lunar and Planetary Institute, had promised me last summer that he would find someone to look at these insects, yet to this day, no one has looked at them except me and my friends.

After all these years, all I have asked for was a fair hearing. I have spent every dollar that I have trying to get the "real" scientists of the world to look at the Frass Meteorite. I am now asking for money. But everything that I have to "sell" I have made free on my web sites. The only products that I am offering are T-shirts and license agreements to use pictures and text on my web sites for educational or personal use. But you know as well as I, that anyone that wants any picture on any of my web sites, only has to right-click the picture and save it as a file on their own computer. Then, if they have Hayne's T-shirt maker, they could make their own T-shirts. So I am not charging anyone for anything that I offer, unless they decide they want to support me and buy a license or T-shirt. People spend a lot of money on much worse things. I have priced a single person yearly license at $20.00. This means a single teacher could use any of my pictures or text in his/her classroom and at home for the entire year and be completely legal and help me in the study of life on Mars. I think it is a bargain, but I guess you will be the final judge of that.

So why is it that the scientists of the world have turned to Jell-O while facing this rock. I am not completely sure why people have been so reluctant to be associated with the rock, but here are a few ideas. The first problem is the fusion crust. The Frass Meteorite represents a new kind of planetary meteorite long predicted by many individuals within the scientific community. See Jan99 above for a review of a paper written by Dr. Alan Treiman, who made the claim that planetary meteorites would be different than the "run of the mill" meteorites that fall on our planet. Since the Frass Meteorite was made by volcanic action and shaped by its fiery fall through our atmosphere, at first glance, it does look much like an Earthly rock. It is only when one looks beneath the surface, that one finds the true nature of anything. So the fusion crust on the Frass Meteorite is different than the fusion crust of any other known meteorite, since the Frass Meteorite is made of different materials with different structures and so behaved differently upon coming through our atmosphere.

The other major factor, is what I call the cold fusion crust factor. Several years ago, an announcement was made that fusion had been obtained at low temperatures, thus the name cold fusion. Scientist quickly lined up on both sides of the argument, until further tests revealed the problems with the experiment. Thus, anyone who was associated with cold fusion probably had his or her career ruined. I think the same phenomenon is happening in the case of the Frass Meteorite. Many of the scientists don't see the Frass rock as an opportunity to view life on another planet, but they view it as a way to ruin their careers, if the rock turns out to be false. So I have therefore named the fusion crust of the Frass rock as cold fusion crust, in order to try to bring a small amount of humor to this situation. I want to cry when I think of how many good scientist have held up human progress by not being brave enough to face the truth of the Frass rock.

But not all scientists are created equal. I have liked every single person that I have met and I hope to be able to work with each of them in the future. But I have come to know one scientist that I hold in much regard. Dr Alan Treiman of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston Texas did give me the fair hearing that I have sought for so long. On January 22^nd of this year, Dr. Treiman conducted a three-hour investigation of the rock and I was very happy with his open-minded approach. He will submit a report to a NASA congressional oversight committee within the next month and I have agreed not to comment on our meeting until he has the time to make all of his own independent observations and prepare a competent report to the oversight committee. Thus I will not say what I think his view might be of the Frass rock, but I have said all along that any independent and objective viewing of the rock and the evidence will conclude that the rock is extra terrestrial.

I will be glad to make a challenge to anyone out there who doesn't think that the Frass rock represents life from another planet. My fee for speaking on the issue of the Frass Meteorite is $2000 plus my expenses. Invite me to speak at your town and have at least 50 to 100 open-minded people in the audience. Allow me time to present my evidence, and then assemble any group of professors or scholars that you can assemble to argue the alternative viewpoint. Then at the end of two hours, take a vote of the open-minded audience. If more than half now agree with me, then you would pay my fee and my expenses. If half of your audience doesn't accept my viewpoint, then you would only owe me my expenses. I will be willing to drive my own car, stay in cheap motels, and eat at McDonald's or Burger King to keep down the expenses. I will bring pieces of the meteorite and the living specimens to show at my talk. Is anyone out there up to the challenge?

So, yes Glen, there is life on Mars.

Your friend,

micromike