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ORNL Synopsis: Analysis of an Aluminum Specimen

All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office · 10 pages · text from the file's own layer

This synopsis was prepared by Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). It reports on an analysis of drill shavings and a small bulk piece from a metallic specimen claimed to be linked to an unidentified phenomenon over central Ohio around 1995. Chemical assays, microscopy, computed tomography and gamma spectroscopy showed a conventional near-eutectic aluminum-silicon casting alloy that had cooled slowly and gave off no radiation. The report concludes the specimen is ordinary terrestrial industrial metal with no evidence of exotic origin.

Synopsis: Analysis of a Aluminum Specimen5
Figure 4. 20 kV electron beam, polished shavings sample. (a) Low-magnification concentric backscatter electron image
showing a surface of one end of a shaving. (b) Area denoted in the yellow box of (a), showing multiple phases from the
epoxy (black), matrix (dark), and various intermetallics and second phases (medium gray to white). (c) False‑color x‑ray
map denoting the major phases; marked areas are quantified. (d) Quantitative X-ray mapping of the major and minor
elements. The metal atoms’ speckle in the epoxy region is noise. Rough compositions in weight percent of the marked
regions in (c): Cu‑rich: 46Al, 22Si, 19Mg, 13Cu. Matrix: 98Al, 2Si, trace Cu. FeMn‑rich: 61Al, 22Fe, 10Si, 6Mn, possible
trace Cu. Si‑rich: 79Si, 21Al. Pb‑rich: 35Al, 33Pb, 13Si, 12O, 6Mg, trace others.
CuMg-rich
FeMn-rich
Matrix
Si-rich
Pb-rich
Cu Fe, Mn Pb Si Mg Electron
(a)
(b) (c)
(d)

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Report, from the aaro collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 10 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.