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Investigative journalist and author of UFO litterature Michael Lindemann reports on the various phases of the alleged government's UFO cover-up.
By Michael Lindemann
For the most part, there were few real surprises at Roswell UFO Encounter 97. But film producer Paul Davids, famous for his lead role in creating the TV film "Roswell," turned his 90-minute lecture on Friday morning into a press conference where Dr. Russell VernonClark, a chemist from the University of California at San Diego, presented evidence that an unusual shard of material acquired from a so-far unnamed source may be, as the source allegedly claims, a manufactured extraterrestrial artifact.
Paul Davids titled his lecture "Case Closed." He stated that the data to be presented by Dr. Vernon Clark would conclusively show that the object in question could only be of extraterrestrial origin, and manufactured rather than naturally occurring (that is, not from a meteorite or similar object). Davids then turned the microphone over to Houston-based hypnotherapist and abduction researcher Derrel Sims, who briefly explained that the object was believed to have come from the Roswell UFO crash. Sims said the source was, for now, insisting on anonymity, but might come forward at a later time. Meanwhile, Sims said, the object had undergone stringent testing at several different facilities, leaving little doubt as to its extraterrestrial origin. To detail those findings, Sims introduced Dr. VernonClark.
Russell VernonClark is a young scientist currently employed as an Environmental Health and Safety Specialist in the Chemistry Department at UCSD. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1993. He claims expertise in processes of inorganic analysis including Inductively Coupled Plasma/Mass Spectroscopy (ICP/MS), the process he used to test the alleged Roswell sample. His C.V. lists publication of eight scientific papers since 1993.
Dr. VernonClark said that tests run by himself, and a separate set of tests run by other scientists at another institution, confirmed that isotopic ratios of several constituent elements in the sample object were very far different from expected terrestrial values. On this basis, he said, he was obliged to conclude the object could not have occurred on earth.
Most chemical elements exist in two or more isotopic forms. An element is defined by its unique number of protons, but its isotopes differ in having more or less neutrons. In the language of chemistry, each proton and neutron has a weight of one; thus, an isotope with more neutrons weighs more than an isotope with less. Extremely sensitive tests can discern these differences in atomic weight, and thus determine the relative percentage of differing isotopes in a given sample.
Furthermore, it is generally agreed that the ratio of isotopic weights for any given element occurring on earth will always be the same, within a very small margin of variance (about 1%). It is thought that these fixed isotopic ratios might be a product of the original formation of elements during the earliest phase of our solar system, as it gradually organized out of the so-called solar nebula. Thus, even elements on Mars should have very nearly the same isotopic ratios as elements on earth.
Dr. VernonClark reported findings on five constitutent elements in the sample. These elements were silicon, silver, nickel, zinc and germanium. In every case, he said, the isotopic ratios varied from the expected norm by an astonishing degree. He said he was almost unable to believe his own results, but concluded he must be right when a second, thus far unnamed, laboratory turned in almost identical findings.
For example, VernonClark reported the test results for silicon, which was found to comprise over 99% of the total sample. In terrestrial silicon there are three stable isotopes: silicon 28, 29, and 30. In normal silicon, isotope 28 will comprise 92% of any sample, but in the tested sample it was only 27%. In normal silicon, isotope 29 is 5%, but in the sample it was 43%. In normal silicon, isotope 30 is 3%, but in the sample it was 30%. According to VernonClark, these huge variances are unheard of in terrestrial elements.
CNI News contacted a number of scientists at leading research centers including Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and California Institute of Technology to discuss these findings. None of the scientists were willing to be quoted by name, because they did not have direct access to the data. But all of them agreed on two things: the findings, if true, would be astounding -- and the findings were very unlikely to be true.
False findings, they said, would probably be the result of faulty testing rather than a fraudulent sample. Though it is theoretically possible to alter the isotopic ratio in a test sample of a single element, it would be exceptionally difficult -- virtually impossible -- to create a sample containing as many as five different elements all displaying greatly altered ratios. On the other hand, these scientists said, findings this anomalous demand more testing and extensive peer review before they could be taken seriously.
Paul Davids told CNI News he is confident that when the second testing facility is identified, and the other scientists involved in the tests come forward, it will be clear that the tests were not erroneous.
In the same vein, Dr. VernonClark said he would never have risked announcing his own findings if he were not greatly reassured by the findings of the second laboratory. Given the corroboration, VernonClark said, he could state his conviction that the sample was extraterrestrial. Furthermore, he said, the purity of the silicon in the sample was a strong sign to him that the object must be manufactured. Silicon is not known to occur in pure form in nature.
Paul Davids also told CNI News that he believes a paper on these findings will be published in a reputable, peer-reviewed journal soon. He said that a major west-coast university might be involved in this publication, but he said the extreme sensitivity of the subject matter precluded him from giving any more details.
Pressed by many who questioned the findings, Davids conceded that the link between the anomalous object and the Roswell UFO crash was weak at best. "I was told that the chain of evidence linking the piece to the crash would be presented at the press conference," he told CNI News. "It was not." This was to have been Derrel Sims' contribution to the proceedings, Davids said. However, Sims stated that the source of the object could not be revealed at present, for that person's own safety. Thus it cannot be determined if the source was even present at Roswell in 1947, much less in a position to have acquired a piece of the alleged UFO.
In defense of the claim that the object came from the Roswell UFO, crash debris eyewitness Dr. Jesse Marcel Jr. was called to the podium at the end of the press conference. Marcel said the object in question was very similar to material he had been shown in 1947 by Major Jesse Marcel Sr., his famous father. Marcel Jr. has often referred to that material as "like Bakelite," an early form of black plastic. Paul Davids conceded, however, that Marcel's testimony was not sufficient to link the test object to the 1947 crash.
As this story was being prepared for publication, CNI News received a call from television producer Chris Wyatt, who was involved in arranging the original testing of the object. Wyatt invited CNI News to create an exclusive information center at our web site to report on all aspects of this alleged extraterrestrial artifact. We are already taking steps to incorporate information provided by Wyatt and others into the CNI News site (www.cninews.com). We also anticipate directly interviewing Dr. Russell VernonClark within the next week. Further details on this story will be presented as soon as they become available. Check the CNI News web site starting Monday, July 14, for the latest updates.
