Joe Bauman was kind enough to share with me your email to him regarding the article in yesterday's Deseret News. I take responsibility for originating the idea of dropping objects on the Salt Flats as part of an effort to look for meteorites in the area, but the idea has acquired a life of its own, beyond my control. Allow me to give you some background: Von Del Chamberlain, former director of the Hansen Planetarium, first suggested to me some years ago that the Salt Flats may be a productive area for hunting meteorites. The flat expanse of white would make it easy to spot objects that appear out of place, and rocks from space might stay exposed on the surface for some time. His thought was to gather a large group of people to simply stroll across the Flats for a day and see if anything turned up. At the time (about 1990) that was as far as the conversation went. I mentioned this idea to astronomy friends of mine (other members of the Salt Lake Astronomical Society, or SLAS), a number of whom expressed an interest in the experiment. In early October of 2000, we scheduled a Saturday to gather at the Salt Flats for the "hunt." Unfortunately, the weather was bad and only one other enthusiast joined me. Together we drove about ten miles across the salt, parallel to I-80, but much nearer to the mountains. We were surprised to discover many rocks on the surface (no meteorites...darn), probably carried there be flash-flooding from the mountains. What really intrigued me, however, was the fact that there were so many 50mm shell casings, presumably from WWII, that were just "floating" as it were on top of the salt. This made me wonder two things: (1) What kind of impact would be necessary to punch through the salt layer and sink into the mud, and (2) Is there some mechanism at work in the nature of the salt crust that will keep rocks floating on the surface for decades, centuries, or even longer? These issues have an obvious bearing on the likelihood of actually finding meteorites on the salt surface. While discussing my thoughts with others, the idea occurred to me that we could make some empirical analysis by dropping objects at or near terminal velocity to measure the impact (literally) on the salt crust. An airplane pilot friend, also a member of SLAS, offered the use of his plane if we really wanted to try this experiment. From there, others "got wind" of the idea and... well here we are. I appreciate your concerns and would like to discuss with you how we might carry out this experiment with minimal disturbance to natural resources. We are only considering dropping objects well away from the speedway track and any other man-made features. We are also considering dropping only a handful of objects, perhaps a bowling ball or two (due to its spherical shape we should be able to get more typical results for a theoretical object) and one or two rocks for comparison. We may want to do this when there is standing water, i.e. during winter or spring, and also when the salt is dry, as it typically is in late summer. I admit I know nothing about the Salt Flats other than what I have observed while driving across them, but I doubt our experiment would have any more effect than natural events (storms, flash flooding, and... meteorites?) and certainly less effect than hundreds of racing enthusiasts who disturb the natural formations to make racing more practical and leave countless articles of trash behind. (Yes, I saw the numerous soda bottles, cans, bags, worn tires, etc. strewn all over the area, and no, I do not litter myself.) However, I would still value your input and any suggestions you might have. We only propose to follow all relevant regulations, and would repair any damage to the salt crust that could possibly occur from the impact of a bowling ball or similar sized rock. Feel free to respond via email or to telephone me at my office number: 322.5550. I look forward to hearing from you. Kim A. Hyatt, AIA SL&A Architects 331 South Rio Grande, Suite 304 Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 801.322.5550 x122