The Thar Incident - 5
Continued from Part 4.
******************
It had taken a week before the debris was recovered from the site and then a week after that the first scientific analysis of the wreckage reached the PSA's desk.
It was in the late afternoon that the PSA sat down and began to read the report that had come from his handpicked investigation team.
The report was handwritten and very simply titled "Technical Evaluation: Survey of Methods and Preliminary Results". The entire report contained about 28 pages of text and equations and each page was a slightly different handwriting as it was written by a different author. Each author had signed his part of the report. The first page of text contained the title and the executive summary which read as follows:
"The debris as presented to us was subject to a variety of scientific investigation methods. The preliminary results of the investigations are presented herein. The aerodynamic design of the vehicle is far in advance of current limits on flight control and dynamics. The propulsion system is an unknown quantity at the present time. The purity of the materials in the debris suggest the use of extremely advanced metallurgy well outside the limits of known aerospace technology. The control circuitry depicts an extraordinarily large scale of integration. The investigation has been unable to determine any of the control algorithms. The initial conclusion supported by these results is that the debris is the product of an extremely advanced technology development cycle capable of almost arbitrary levels of precise manufacture. A biological investigation of the occupants is also attached. A preliminary conclusion is that the samples do not match any known lifeforms."
The page then went on to list which scientists had conducted what specific investigation. The page was signed by the director of the lab. Gingerly the PSA turned the page on the report and began to read the details of the investigations.
The PSA's attention was drawn to the page titled "Microscopic investigation", The text very blandly stated:
"Samples of taken from various points on the wall of the craft indicated a high level of organization and structure when examined under an electron microscope. There were large arrays organized on an atomic length scale. The low levels of repetition and connectivity patterns suggest that this was most probably part of a control system of the craft. It is difficult to fathom what sort of control logic these used, however if it is the case that data was stored in these atomic size structures then a conservative estimate suggests a data storage capability in the range of terrabytes per square millimeter. Structuring of materials on this length-scale is not novel - but build large structured arrays of material at this scale and especially with high levels of reliability to use in a control system - is simply beyond the scope of all known technology. "
The words in the section titled "Propulsion Systems" were even more stark:
"There is no discernable enclosure inside the craft that appears to belong to a propulsion system. It could be that propulsion system appears to enmeshed into the outer shell of the craft. It is unclear how such a system could work or how the craft would actually power it. It is possible that the craft derives its energy (and thence propulsion) by the very act of motion. There is evidence of very high levels of radiation inside the craft. The pattern is uniform suggesting that the craft continously exposed to the source and yet there is no reactor or any other known source of radiation inside the craft. The ambient radiation levels inside the craft would expose a human being to five lifetime doses in under a very short time of exposure. This suggests that the craft has not been designed for human use."
A few pages later, the extremely bizarre biological analysis of the occupants was presented. This was the longest section which began by stating that most of the "bodies" recovered at the site had been subject only to MRI analysis and that only one of the partially burnt specimens was actually physically autopsied. There were a few line drawings of the interesting results. The last few pages of the biological analysis concluded,
"Despite their humanoid appearance there are very few elements of similarity between the occupants and other humanoid species. Specifically the occupants appear to have a circulatory system of some kind for internal energy transport but it is unclear how this system is powered. The tissue matter does not resemble any known biological specimen and some of the body parts do not depict a discernable cell structure and seem more like synthetic polymers. We cannot pin point any sexual differentiation in the samples. The tissues seem utterly transparenent to all manner of radiation. We cannot identify the means used by these samples to acquire and process information. There appears to be no control circuitry which rules out the possibility of these being drones or robots made on earth. All these strongly supports the idea that these samples are of exobiological origin."
As if this wasn't enough, the computational sciences expert had the following words to offer,
"Based on the assumption that data is stored in atomic sized structures spread along the wall of the craft, it is possible to say that the craft appears to warehouse and handle millions of exabytes of data. The ability to process such data is beyond all known algorithms and transmission of such data across even short distances is likely to cause serious degradation due to information entropy alone. A computational algorithm to search such a large database even an indexed one - is largely beyond current science-fiction. "
Normally the PSA would been awash with a desire to throw the report into the trash can besides his desk, however as the list of scientists testified, all nine investigators were high-ranking gazetted officers of the government. Eight out of the nine were recipients of the coveted INSA Young Scientist prize. Half a dozen of those were also recipients of the S.S. Bhatnagar prize for scientific achievement. The remainder were recipients of a number of private prizes like the Birla prize and one of the physicists had been awarded a Padmashree for his role in designing the cores of India's nuclear weapons. The nine scientists were among the most respected voices in India's science and technology establishment.
Wearily the PSA began to rub his eyes and stared at the picture of Homi Jehangir Bhabha that adorned his wall. It was an extremely wise decision on his part to ask his investigative team to keep all documentation handwritten and to quarentine any electronic system that had been near the craft or its occupants.
******************
It had taken a week before the debris was recovered from the site and then a week after that the first scientific analysis of the wreckage reached the PSA's desk.
It was in the late afternoon that the PSA sat down and began to read the report that had come from his handpicked investigation team.
The report was handwritten and very simply titled "Technical Evaluation: Survey of Methods and Preliminary Results". The entire report contained about 28 pages of text and equations and each page was a slightly different handwriting as it was written by a different author. Each author had signed his part of the report. The first page of text contained the title and the executive summary which read as follows:
"The debris as presented to us was subject to a variety of scientific investigation methods. The preliminary results of the investigations are presented herein. The aerodynamic design of the vehicle is far in advance of current limits on flight control and dynamics. The propulsion system is an unknown quantity at the present time. The purity of the materials in the debris suggest the use of extremely advanced metallurgy well outside the limits of known aerospace technology. The control circuitry depicts an extraordinarily large scale of integration. The investigation has been unable to determine any of the control algorithms. The initial conclusion supported by these results is that the debris is the product of an extremely advanced technology development cycle capable of almost arbitrary levels of precise manufacture. A biological investigation of the occupants is also attached. A preliminary conclusion is that the samples do not match any known lifeforms."
The page then went on to list which scientists had conducted what specific investigation. The page was signed by the director of the lab. Gingerly the PSA turned the page on the report and began to read the details of the investigations.
The PSA's attention was drawn to the page titled "Microscopic investigation", The text very blandly stated:
"Samples of taken from various points on the wall of the craft indicated a high level of organization and structure when examined under an electron microscope. There were large arrays organized on an atomic length scale. The low levels of repetition and connectivity patterns suggest that this was most probably part of a control system of the craft. It is difficult to fathom what sort of control logic these used, however if it is the case that data was stored in these atomic size structures then a conservative estimate suggests a data storage capability in the range of terrabytes per square millimeter. Structuring of materials on this length-scale is not novel - but build large structured arrays of material at this scale and especially with high levels of reliability to use in a control system - is simply beyond the scope of all known technology. "
The words in the section titled "Propulsion Systems" were even more stark:
"There is no discernable enclosure inside the craft that appears to belong to a propulsion system. It could be that propulsion system appears to enmeshed into the outer shell of the craft. It is unclear how such a system could work or how the craft would actually power it. It is possible that the craft derives its energy (and thence propulsion) by the very act of motion. There is evidence of very high levels of radiation inside the craft. The pattern is uniform suggesting that the craft continously exposed to the source and yet there is no reactor or any other known source of radiation inside the craft. The ambient radiation levels inside the craft would expose a human being to five lifetime doses in under a very short time of exposure. This suggests that the craft has not been designed for human use."
A few pages later, the extremely bizarre biological analysis of the occupants was presented. This was the longest section which began by stating that most of the "bodies" recovered at the site had been subject only to MRI analysis and that only one of the partially burnt specimens was actually physically autopsied. There were a few line drawings of the interesting results. The last few pages of the biological analysis concluded,
"Despite their humanoid appearance there are very few elements of similarity between the occupants and other humanoid species. Specifically the occupants appear to have a circulatory system of some kind for internal energy transport but it is unclear how this system is powered. The tissue matter does not resemble any known biological specimen and some of the body parts do not depict a discernable cell structure and seem more like synthetic polymers. We cannot pin point any sexual differentiation in the samples. The tissues seem utterly transparenent to all manner of radiation. We cannot identify the means used by these samples to acquire and process information. There appears to be no control circuitry which rules out the possibility of these being drones or robots made on earth. All these strongly supports the idea that these samples are of exobiological origin."
As if this wasn't enough, the computational sciences expert had the following words to offer,
"Based on the assumption that data is stored in atomic sized structures spread along the wall of the craft, it is possible to say that the craft appears to warehouse and handle millions of exabytes of data. The ability to process such data is beyond all known algorithms and transmission of such data across even short distances is likely to cause serious degradation due to information entropy alone. A computational algorithm to search such a large database even an indexed one - is largely beyond current science-fiction. "
Normally the PSA would been awash with a desire to throw the report into the trash can besides his desk, however as the list of scientists testified, all nine investigators were high-ranking gazetted officers of the government. Eight out of the nine were recipients of the coveted INSA Young Scientist prize. Half a dozen of those were also recipients of the S.S. Bhatnagar prize for scientific achievement. The remainder were recipients of a number of private prizes like the Birla prize and one of the physicists had been awarded a Padmashree for his role in designing the cores of India's nuclear weapons. The nine scientists were among the most respected voices in India's science and technology establishment.
Wearily the PSA began to rub his eyes and stared at the picture of Homi Jehangir Bhabha that adorned his wall. It was an extremely wise decision on his part to ask his investigative team to keep all documentation handwritten and to quarentine any electronic system that had been near the craft or its occupants.
posted by maverick at 3:16 PM
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