Background
The sample is from a young lady who has had a history of unusual and bizarre experiences involving strange entities. One strange event occurred overnight, August 31 – September 1, 2000, which resulted in a possible physical trace sample. The object is to identify the sample. Following is an excerpt from a letter accompanying the sample explaining the background behind the sample.
“With no school on Friday, September, (she) was allowed to be outside the home Thursday night until her normal weekend curfew of 12:30 AM. (The parents) … retired shortly before 11 pm and had to (their) knowledge, an undisturbed, restful night.
(She) arrived home at 12:25 AM to discover a utility truck in front of (the) home. The motion-detecting light above (the) driveway did not turn on as expected. She walked over and spoke briefly with the utility worker, who confirmed that the power was out. [There has been no storm that day or night.] (She) then proceeded inside. Trying a light switch with no success, she found a candle and proceeded to her bathroom.
Minutes later, as she stepped back into the hallway near (the parents) closed bedroom door, she heard a succession of four beeps repeated a few times, with a several-second pause between each sequence. She believed the beeps were coming from (the parents} bedroom, which was in front of her and to the right beyond (the) closed door. [This might well have been in actuality the utility truck backing up repeatedly, though that would make the source of the sounds behind her some 40 feet and to the right.] She also heard the sounds of (the parents] moving on the (the) bed as if restless, and she assumed (they) were getting up. With that, she proceeded downstairs to her bedroom, candle in hand.
Friday morning (she) awoke about 11 AM and came upstairs to the bathroom. She immediately noticed a black smudge on her finger where she had rubbed her nose. Inspecting her nose closely, she discovered that both nostrils were caked with a black powdery substance. In that (her mother) had already left for our cottage, (She) phoned (the father) at his workplace to tell him. He instructed her to use Q-tips to remove the material and place them in a sandwich bag, which she proceeded to do. (She) also commented on the phone that she had found a white powdery substance on the butt of her right palm, but before she could find something to wipe it on, the substance apparently fell off of its own accord.”
Conclusions
1.) The foreign materials detected in the nose sample are primarily carbon, with small amounts of oxidized hydrocarbon and a long carbon chain carboxylic acid salt. The acid salt may be calcium and/or zinc stearate. A trace amount of inorganic sulfate may possibly be present.
2.) There is a high probability that, in part, some of the foreign components (carbon and oxidized hydrocarbon) come from the candle. Fireplace soot as a source is ruled out because of the absence of substances such as humates, etc. in the nose materials.
3.) A long carbon chain carboxylic acid salt (specifically indicated to be zinc stearate) has been found by this analyst in a sample related to a well-known abduction. This analysis is currently on going and has not been reported out yet. This may be a significant find if it is found in more samples from other abduction events.
4.) The use of Q-tip for sampling is not recommended for this analysis. Cotton and polymer from the sides of the Q-tip tend to both mask the foreign components as well as introduce difficultly in isolating the material from the Q-tip.
The Analysis
This post was published on October 13, 2016