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- ANALYSIS OF "UFO' DUST ON THE KNOWELS CAR
- by Bob Fletcher
-
- In January 1988 the Knowels family was driving along the Eyre
- Highway in Western Australia close to the service centre of
- Mundrabilla, when they were accosted by a "bright light". The
- occupants claimed that this object had spun the car round in the
- opposite direction. Certainly they were shaken by the
- experience especially on such a lonely stretch of road.
-
- The interesting thing about this encounter was that the car was
- left covered in an "ash". There have been other cases where
- similar things have been reported.
-
- In an article in the "UFO Magazine" vol.4, No.1 it was claimed
- that research had been carried out at Melbourne's Monash
- University on the substance. The Magazine goes on to state
- that the substance consisted of Potassium Chloride and quote the
- University as saying, "The particles appear like nothing they
- had seen before".
-
- I was approached by Michael Corbin, ParaNet's Administrator to
- see if more could be found out on the work done. Thanks to
- Michael's initial contact with Monash I was given the name of
- the mineralogist who carried out the work. This turned out to
- be Alf Hohmann, who no longer works for Monash but is a private
- consultant in the Melbourne suburb of Ormond.
-
- Alf was initially approached by John Auchettl of the Victorian
- UFO Research Society and asked him to analyze the "UFO ash".
- Using an Electron Micro Probe it was revealed that the "ash"
- consisted mainly of Potassium Chloride with traces of other
- salts and "normal" dust.
-
- Was this from a UFO I asked Alf? " The evidence is not
- conclusive" he replied. I asked him to elaborate, he said that
- as far as he was concerned he had been given this substance to
- analyze, but had no proof otherwise of its origin. Well thats
- pretty fair I thought. I then went on to ask him about the
- reported "highly unusual characteristics". "That is not what I
- have said", he retorted. He went on to say that to look at the
- salt for its molecular structure would need the use of an
- electron microscope. Whilst this was no problem, to look at
- any chemical salt this way would reveal some unusual structures.
- Was there anything unusual about the substance then? Well yes,
- the Nullarbor Plain is particularly free of potassium salts.
- To find potassium chloride in the quantity found in the sample
- means that someone or something must have deposited it there.
-
- So, whilst the potassium chloride in itself was not unusual, for
- it to be found in that area was. Considering that this is not
- the first instance on potassium chloride being left following a
- UFO encounter we are left to hypothesize what purpose this
- serves in these craft.
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