I've lurked here for a while and joined TIGHAR about a week or two ago.
My training is in science (environmental toxicology to be specific), and that's the field in which I have my day job. I also do freelance fiction writing on the side.
Having no expertise in aircraft, I never expected to have a reason to post here, but the scientist side of me was able to contribute a few minor comments over on the thread about the mercury-jar analysis. So I thought I might as well formally introduce myself.
I'm here because the Niku hypothesis seems to make a lot of sense, from what I understand. I don't know if there will ever be a "smoking gun" find that settles the question definitively--although that would be nice. Maybe it will continue to be a series of smaller pieces of evidence that add up to, "this is what probably happened." Either way, the inquiry and debate here are very interesting!