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Re: Saturn-Like Ring Around the Earth

Well perhaps "vindication" may not be the accurate word--although it sure
seems to apply here--but I guess I'd comment that science stops being
science when scientists, with less popular theories, are excluded from
publishing papers in some jounrals and mocked as was/is the case with
O'Keefe, I believe.

Regardless of what you feel about the conflicting evidence surrounding
tektite origin, O'Keefe seems to have been CORRECT (my emphasis) on a number
of counts--the idea of terrestrial ejecta ring(s)--tektitic or ntherwise;
the Moon being--at least in part--formed of terrestrial material; and
hydrogen and water (ice) being detected recently by Lunar Prospector.

Also, Apollo 16 (?) alpha spectrometer detected radon gas emissions from the
Aristarchus Plateau long suspected to be a volcanic area.  Since radon gas
is a short-lived radioactive and associated with the decay of uranium in
magmatic rock, there's little reason to doubt that volcanism exists on Luna
in geologic timescales.  Now if you care to make the leap linking tektites
to lunar eruptions, then that's another debate.  But certainly O'Keefe is
sharper than he's often given credit for by his critics starting back with
Urey (who's theory of lunar formation has been seen to be incorrect,
ironically).

-----Original Message-----
From: RAY D STANFORD <STARSONG@prodigy.net>
To: Lou Varricchio <morbius@together.net>;
meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com <meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sunday, March 21, 1999 5:36 AM
Subject: Re: Saturn-Like Ring Around the Earth


>Hello List,
>
>    This morning Lou Varrichio commented (capitalized words are MY added
>emphasis):
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Lou Varricchio <morbius@together.net>
>To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
><meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>
>Date: Sunday, March 21, 1999 6:26 AM
>Subject: FYI: Saturn-Like Ring Around the Earth
>
>
>Subject: Saturn-Like Ring Around the Earth
>
>
>"FYI: The April 1999 issue of DISCOVER science magazine, p. 20, has a story
>about two U.S. scientists PROPOSING that a ring of ejecta by the so-called
>K-T impactor created a temporary ring around the Earth whose shadow had a
>profound affect on climate change at the end of the Cretaceous.  Well, this
>isn't a new idea--astronomer John A. O'Keefe, NASA Goddard (retired)
>predicted two rings during the K-T and Eocene events.  O'Keefe linked this
>ring with tektite falls.  However, O'Keefe attributed the ring formation to
>silicic volcanic eruptions on the Moon.  Personally, I'm thrilled to see
>O'Keefe VINDICATED in this area!"
>
>When a PROPOSING of something (actually that is nothing but
>hypothesis-making) becomes VINDICATION of the proposed hypothesis (of
>vindication of anyone's earlier hypothesis that resembles it), then science
>is no longer science!
>
>    Ray Stanford
>
>

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