I'm going to be on a beach in a couple of weeks, and am planning a small, simple experiment to test a theory I had many months ago.
Theory: The bill fragments found all throughout the sand, down to a depth of three feet, were unknowingly distributed over such a wide area and depth by the activity of the FBI and Ingram family immediately after the discovery of the money bundle.
In layman's terms, I think the fragments were trampled into position, then discovered under increasing scrutiny of the sand. I think the Ingrams found the bills, started picking at them, ended up damaging and dropping pieces of the currency in the sand. Then in came the FBI with shovels, boots and a backhoe and started looking for a body, briefcase and parachute.
The experiment will be a simple one, Freshman-level stuff, and if anybody cares to beat me to the punch, here is what I am planning to do:
Materials Needed
- Yard stick
- Shovel
- Trowel
- Bucket
- Rag
- Garden hose
- $6 in singles, 4 cross-shredded and 2 torn into pieces
- Glitter
Procedures
- Scatter bill fragments over four plots of sand, glitter over two more if you have bad eyesight. Cover three of the six with a thin layer of sand and saturate the plots with a gentle spray over time. I'm thinking I'll set up a sprinkler and come back after lunch.
- Dig down to three feet in all plots, stopping after each foot of depth to examine the sand in the holes and cleaning the shovel in between each to avoid cross contamination. Do not try to avoid stepping on the plots. Just act naturally.
- Examine the sand found in the holes, bottoms and sides. Don't be shy. Get down in there and check for the fragments.
- On six separate pages of a notebook, one for each hole dug, write down exactly how many pieces you found and at what depth. Keep those results and graph them later. Should tell us if covering the plots with sand had an effect vs. being right on the surface.
The idea is to see if the action of digging in sand, including the frustrating little "cave-ins" we experience when digging, sufficiently redistributes the bill fragments downward in an either noticable or unnoticable way. If it's sunny, the glitter should help you see the miniature sand avalanches filling in the hole as you try to dig. I'm planning to dig the glitter holes last
Hopefully my kids won't wreck the ENTIRE thing, but try reasoning with a 3 year old at the beach.