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[Ric Gillespie]

I checked our copy of the 1937 Berne List of shore stations and ship call signs.  Shore stations have a three-letter call sign.  The Chinese station with callsign XRO was not on the list and is apparently not a shore station.  Ship call signs have four letters.  The ships are listed alphabetically by ship name and I did not take the time to go through the hundreds of call signs to see is XRO occurs in any of them.

[Randy Conrad]

Ran across this article!


http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_lockheed_XRO-1_altair.html

[Ric Gillespie]

As mentioned earlier, the Lockheed XRO doesn't make sense as the meaning of XRO in this case.

[William G Torgerson]

Mr. Gillespie:

Could there be a mis-identification of a letter?  If so, for instance, if the X was a mis-reading of an H, then it might apply to a National Radio Corp. Model HRO ... which began production in 1934.

Regards,

Bill torgerson

[Ric Gillespie]

Could there be a mis-identification of a letter?  If so, for instance, if the X was a mis-reading of an H, then it might apply to a National Radio Corp. Model HRO ... which began production in 1934.

What do you see? ( A word of caution: These could be random shapes caused by some natural effect.)

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

What do you see? ( A word of caution: These could be random shapes caused by some natural effect.)

[Ric Gillespie]

How strange a coincidence would it have to be for these to not be human-made marks?  Random shapes can resemble letters, but in this case we have three instances of shapes resembling letters that are about the same size and aligned with each other.  The letters X and O have no right-side-up, but R does, so we see the marks as XRO. 
For proof that really strange coincidences happen we need only think of the sextant box.

The only way to know whether these marks are inscriptions is to determine what they are made of.  The Penn State scientists tell us Neutron Activation Analysis should give us the elemental breakdown of the marks and surrounding area.  If it looks like the marks are unique in their elemental make-up, we can then use Laser Sublimation to determine exactly what they are made of.  We're hoping to proceed with those next steps after the holidays.

[Christian Stock]

I don’t know, I see all sorts of stuff when I play with it, but then I tend to see Abe Lincoln in the marble patterns of my shower tile.

What if you are seeing HAQ, as in the middle letters of KHAQQ? Sure, it’s a stretch, but most of us would have poor handwriting when etching the letters out of nature at a giant scale.

An H or a K can easily look like an X
An A resembles an R
A Q is basically an O with a little tail. Not that much of a stretch.

[Randy Jacobson]

Ric:
In your first post, you state that you are examining a document of some sort.  Can you now give us a clue as to the size/scale and overall description of the document?  Is this a paper found on Niku perhaps?

[Bill Mangus]

I suspect the "document" Ric referred to is actually 2-2-V-1.  Perhaps he didn't want to get everyone excited before he had the preliminary results from the Penn State lab in case it turned out to be nothing.

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

I suspect the "document" Ric referred to is actually 2-2-V-1.  Perhaps he didn't want to get everyone excited before he had the preliminary results from the Penn State lab in case it turned out to be nothing.

That's how I interpret what Ric said a few posts ago.

If he were dealing with writing on a piece of paper, I doubt he would need the Penn State scientists to do Neutron Activation Analysis on it.

How strange a coincidence would it have to be for these to not be human-made marks?  Random shapes can resemble letters, but in this case we have three instances of shapes resembling letters that are about the same size and aligned with each other.  The letters X and O have no right-side-up, but R does, so we see the marks as XRO. 
For proof that really strange coincidences happen we need only think of the sextant box.

The only way to know whether these marks are inscriptions is to determine what they are made of.  The Penn State scientists tell us Neutron Activation Analysis should give us the elemental breakdown of the marks and surrounding area.  If it looks like the marks are unique in their elemental make-up, we can then use Laser Sublimation to determine exactly what they are made of.  We're hoping to proceed with those next steps after the holidays.

I could be wrong.

I make lsots of mstikaes.

[Jeff Lange]

LOL!!!

Happy New Year Marty! (and all our TIGHARS)!

[Ric Gillespie]

Penn State has published an excellent article about their work with 2-2-V-1. https://news.psu.edu/story/645773/2021/01/28/research/investigating-amelia-earharts-disappearance-mystery-neutrons  Don't miss the video.

At our request, there's no specific mention of the XRO. They're currently doing a major upgrade to their imaging capability. It will probably take a couple months, but once that is completed we should have a much clearer picture of any markings on the artifact.

[Jon Romig]

Is it on the inside or outside face, where we might also find traces of it in an existing image?

Thanks,

Jon

[Jon Romig]

If real, and if the material turns out to be chalk, paint, graphite or ink, in my mind it is likely a marking related to its removal from inventory at whatever Miami shop did the work. “X” meaning “removed,” “R” possibly “repair”, “revenue” or “inventoRy”, and “O” possibly meaning “zero” or “out.” Those familiar with aircraft parts/materials inventorying will have better ideas I am sure.

How tall are the letters?

Thanks,

Jon