Quote from Arnie:
Here's a nice quote from another scientist........
I have not read the original post but I independently reviewed Jones' paper and concluded the following:
Jones investigates only the red and gray chips and not the entire sample. He has a limited sample size. The chips have a laminar nature which suggests a coating or adhesive but he rules out paint by comparing the effect of MEK on some unknown paint and comparing it to the effect on the red chips. This is either incompetence or scientific misconduct and fraud.
He sees that there is an organic fraction but does not analyze it. He uses DSC to measure exotherms but does it in a stream of air so he cannot tell the difference between a reaction and plain combustion of components but claims thermitic reaction. His EDAX shows silicon, aluminum, and oxygen in the same areas of the particle but he ignores this congruency; aluminosilicates are clays and are often fillers in paints and coatings. He does not extract a larger sample of the red and gray chips with a more agressive solvent, such as hot DMF or DMF-DMSO which would allow analysis of individual components.
His conclusion that this is a thermitic material is not justified based on the data.
I have not reviewed the paper in depth, but that may be a waste of time as it is fatally flawed, in my opinion. I estimate that the samples are a red oxide primer on corroded steel.
