>From Stephen Lawrence: > I would *love* it if this were true, but... >> >> When was nitinol invented? > > Wiki says 1962 (for discovery of its "memory" ability), which helps with > believing that Roswell brought something unique along. But Wiki also > says this: > >> The discovery of the shape-memory effect dates to 1932 when Swedish >> researcher Arne Olader first observed the property in gold-cadmium >> alloys. The material, if deformed while cool, returns to its >> undeformed shape when warmed. Other shape-memory alloys (SMA) have >> since been discovered. Some of these alloys include CuSn, InTi, TiNi, >> and MnCu. TiNi alloys and copper-based alloys are the most commonly >> used.... > > This suggests pretty strongly that the concept of "memory metal" was > already floating around in the collective consciousness by the time the > Roswell crash took place. This would seem to cast a certain amount of > doubt on the assertion that a particular memory metal was "unknown to > science" before the Roswell crash, at least without a lot more > information to back up the claim. > > Nitinol may have been the first practical memory metal, but it seems > clear it was not the first; as Wiki also says: > >> There are hundreds of alloys that exhibit the shape memory effect >> (known as shape memory alloys; SMAs), but only two alloy systems, TiNi >> and CuZnAl, have found many practical applications. Other alloys are >> considered too expensive or they exert insufficient force.
Stephen makes a valid argument. I suspect similar arguments could also be made about other alleged Roswell artifacts, such as IC devices and filament lighting. See Philip J. Corso's book, "The Day after Roswell". http://books.google.com/books?id=XCHQPeAcXcAC&dq=Philip+J+Corso&printsec=frontcover&source=an&hl=en&ei=knklSufyJKiElAebktDgBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#PPA18,M1 http://tinyurl.com/pzx2r4 Which, BTW, I have a signed copy of! ;-) I have the first edition, the one containing the hastily deleted introduction from the late senator, James Strom Thurmon, who recommended that what Corso has to say in his book should be very interesting reading. Strom's recommendation was, of course, vehemently denied after its publication & hastily removed in successive printings.(So much for sticking up for one's old war buddies.) But I digress. What I believe most Roswell Crash proponents are likely to counter is that individuals like Frankie Rowe claimed to have held in their hand some kind of a mysterious material far in advance of anything we have yet to manufacture, back in 1947 as well as today. Frankie claimed that she could not feel the material in her hand when she wadded it up into a tight little ball. When she released the material it returned to its original un-creased shape within one or two seconds. And then there was the strong arm tactics from military police to keep quiet about what she had witnessed. Why such a fuss? Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
