Thursday, April 26, 2007
Last updated 6:26 a.m. PT

'UFO debris' may be lava or meteor chunk
By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
P-I REPORTER

The University of Washington research engineer who analyzed a mysterious black fragment that some thought was debris from a UFO said it's probably a meteor chunk or old lava.

(Related content: 'Is strange rock from UFO or just a piece of poppycock?)

"I'm not a geologist, but this looks like old lava or maybe ancient mud to me, because it's all full of little gas pockets, and gas pockets have crystals coating the inner walls," chemistry department researcher Bill Beaty said in an analysis video.

"If it's got little crystal incrustations, then at one point it had to be deeply buried."

(Caption reads)Watch a video of the analysis.

The rock was recovered April 15 from the 1947 crash site of a B-25. The bomber was said to have been carrying six chunks of "metal or lava" spewed from a UFO that were recovered off Maury Island.

On June 21, 1947, former Tacoma resident Harold Dahl said he saw six doughnut-shaped aircraft hover above his boat, which was salvaging logs on Maury Island. He said one of the discs hovered to about 500 feet and released what he thought was 20 tons of metal and molten rock.

"My personal theory is that the entire UFO incident was just an exploding stony meteor," Beaty said. "If a meteor comes in at 90 degrees right above you, you would see huge fireballs that aren't moving sideways; maybe several of them if the rock broke up from tidal forces. ... And then a whole bunch of hot rocks falls on your fishing boat."

The story was first reported in 1947, and since the Seattle P-I reported this week that the recovered rock is being displayed at the Seattle Museum of the Mysteries, owners have received dozens of calls and e-mails.

<*snip*>

P-I reporter Casey McNerthney can be reached at 206-448-8220 or caseymcnerthney@seattlepi.com.

____________________________
*ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Additional information can be found at the following website(s):
Uforc.com News and News Archives
PI Librarian Lytton Smith and researcher Marsha Milroy contributed to the story, 
SEE: "A mystery wrapped in a strange black rock: Is chunk from outer space or 
just a piece of poppycock?" By Casey McNerthney: reporter for the Post 
Intelligencer (PI) Seattle Washington USA Monday April 23, 2007 AND "'UFO 
debris' may be lava or meteor chunk" By Casey McNerthney: reporter for the Post 
Intelligencer (PI) Seattle Washington USA Thursday, April 26, 2007 Last updated 
6:26 a.m. PT; Copyright Seattle Post Intelligencer a Hearst newspaper 
Pe-published with permission by the reporter Casey McNerthney WEBSITE: 
http://www.seattlepi.com