Improved instrumental techniques, including isotopic analysis, applicable to the characterization of unusual materials with potential relevance to aerospace forensics

Abstract

The problem of precise characterization, analysis, and eventual identification of unknown materials arises in many fields and takes many forms, depending on the nature of the substances under study. In the first part of this paper we review common, modern mass spectrometry techniques applied to such studies. We also give an overview of improvements made to these technologies in recent years by Silicon Valley companies and other teams focused on precise biomedical research dependent upon sensitive techniques, yet applicable to a wide range of non-biological materials. In the second and third parts of the paper we review practical experiences applying these techniques to the simplest case of the characterization of solid materials (as opposed to liquids or gases) and comparing our results with previously undertaken isotopic analysis. In particular, we describe our correlations of that analysis with the patterns described by witnesses in a well-documented, still-unexplained incident, initially thought to be of aerospace origin, which gave rise to the deposition of unknown material, and by the investigators who handled it in the field and the laboratory. The lessons from this specific investigation are applicable to a wider range of issues in reverse engineering of complex, esoteric materials, and aerospace forensics.

Introduction

The problem of precise characterization, analysis, and eventual identification of unknown materials arises in many fields -- ranging from archaeology to meteoritics, medicine, law enforcement, nuclear forensics, space exploration and national (US and foreign) intelligence agencies. In materials analysis of metals and other inorganics, the approach can take many forms, depending on the nature of the substances under study. In general, one starts with basic constituents such as elemental composition, moving onto studies of internal structure if any.

In the first part of this report, we review common analytic procedures, including modern mass spectrometry, X-Ray spectroscopy, and certain other techniques that are often initially applied for such studies. We also provide an overview of improvements made to one of these technologies in recent years by investigators that focused on precise biomedical research with sensitive techniques yet are still applicable to a wide range of non-biological materials. This development was driven by that fact that most materials are not ‘uniform’ in their composition and therefore techniques that allow for 2D and 3D analysis of materials are key to both understanding as well as quality control.

For example, an insight brought from the biological research arena is that spatial patterns (for instance, of cells) in a tissue are critical determinants of outcomes in disease states (whether certain immune cell types are within a given radius of a tumor or pathogen). Spatial component organization is key as well in design of microelectronic circuitry. As such, in the analysis of novel materials whose function will depend on local changes in elemental composition (wiring or semiconductors), the use of spatially sensitive instrumentation adds great value. In addition, while isotopes of elements are often considered equal in functional attributes for most purposes, subtle distinctions in properties of isotopes relative to spin states of nuclei, utility in quantum entanglement systems, and even pharmaceutical effects have been apparent in recent years (detailed below).

In the second and third parts of this report we review practical experience applying some of these techniques to a simple case of the characterization of a solid material (as opposed to liquids or gases) while comparing our results with previously undertaken isotopic and elemental analysis.

We describe correlations of that analysis with the patterns described by witnesses in a well-documented, still-unexplained incident, initially thought to be of aerospace origin, which gave rise to the deposition of an unknown material, and by the investigators who handled it in the field and in the laboratory. The lessons from this specific investigation are applicable to a wider range of issues in reverse engineering of complex, esoteric materials, and aerospace forensics.

We apply these insights to a case of a material derived from an unidentified aerial object as observed by multiple independent witnesses. We apply the standard, and new, techniques as outlined herein as an example of how the analysis of such materials can be addressed. We detail the elemental and spatial differences in elemental and isotopic composition of subsamples from the parent sample CB_JV-1 at 50 nm resolution. The results show differences in the elemental distribution based on 5 subsample grains, suggesting the parent sample is inhomogeneous. For each of the subsamples the elemental composition was homogeneous to a depth of ∼50 nm. Notably, there were no significant isotopic differences from terrestrial normal in the subsamples, and thus the overall sample could have been made with terrestrial-derived materials. That said, the CB_JV-1 sample itself remains of unknown provenance or function.