This is all very simple, believe it or not. Everything hinges on what is meat by the statement: "the rubber bands were still intact and crumbled when touched".

On a common sense level what Tom is saying is utter nonsense and a contradiction.

Tom could have asked for and been given 'band fragments' to test, but he chose not to do that preferring instead to make general-confusing statements like: "the rubber bands were still intact and crumbled when touched" which is basically meaningless.

Were we in this to think and do lab work or not?

I am totally 100% mystified.

 

I think your statements are spot on.  So if the Citizen Sleuths botched the rubber bands, could they be off base on dismissing the Palmer Report?  Can we do a quick poll and see who favors the Palmer Report and who favors the CS's non-dredge theory?  I'm leaning toward the Palmer Report.

One would think the bundles separated when Brian ran his hands through the sand? that should of disrupted the whole thing basically. I seriously doubt the bands would stay in any position for almost a decade?

I've contacted the "Alliance Rubber Band Company" asking for similar bands that were used in the same time period.

Is anyone game for setting up some testing on these puppies?

I ordered some small bank bags for an experiment, but I was going to do the experiment in a closed five-gallon bucket, so it wouldn't have any bio-activity, which would skew the results. Also, I'd like to find an analogue for American currency (every penny counts in my budget).

The right rubber bands.

I was going to use foreign currency for the test, old Chinese Yuan. Any thoughts? Does it matter?

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One would think the bundles separated when Brian ran his hands through the sand? that should of disrupted the whole thing basically. I seriously doubt the bands would stay in any position for almost a decade?

I've contacted the "Alliance Rubber Band Company" asking for similar bands that were used in the same time period.

Is anyone game for setting up some testing on these puppies?

By a fluke of fate, I have two almost empty bags of rubber bands made by Alliance and in their packages.  I don't remember where I got them or when but they list a 2001 date which is apparently the date manufactured and apparently in the USA.  I also have more rubber bands about the same sizes in bags that bear the Staples brand name with one bag being dated 2002 and the other 2009 and both were manufactured in Thailand.

All of these rubber bands are in good shape after who knows how long in my computer room.

My barber has two large rubber band balls in the picture window at his shop. Some of the bands are Alliance. His wife is a long time teller at a bank. The ball on the right is about 8 inches wide and 17 years old - the one on the left about 6 inches wide and about 10 years old. There are maybe ten broken and curled bands on each ball? I never examined the surface of the bands to see what shape they are in but 99% of them look "intact"! ... meaning still in place and still in one piece.  

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One would think the bundles separated when Brian ran his hands through the sand? that should of disrupted the whole thing basically. I seriously doubt the bands would stay in any position for almost a decade?

I've contacted the "Alliance Rubber Band Company" asking for similar bands that were used in the same time period.

Is anyone game for setting up some testing on these puppies?

I ordered some small bank bags for an experiment, but I was going to do the experiment in a closed five-gallon bucket, so it wouldn't have any bio-activity, which would skew the results. Also, I'd like to find an analogue for American currency (every penny counts in my budget).

Sir, unless you sterilize everything that goes into that bucket, and the bucket too, there is going to be 'bio-activity' in that sealed container come noon on Sunday. 

What will be a good water test for the money, and the bands?

What will be a good water test for the money, and the bands?

What Tom did is perfectly acceptable but he didn't tell us the temperatures of the water. I dont know, maybe find out what the temp at the bottom of the Columbia is is try that ... but you might also want to duplicate the psi there, and current forces, and the oxygen level, and who know what else ... it could get complicated.    These things always start out simple and get very complex. 

'Intact rubber bands that crumbled to the touch'. Maybe that means on Mars?

I'm interested in what happens with the bands, and the money inside of a bag similar to what was used submerged in water....I think that's also a point NMI made....

Tests can be done forever and we still don't have the crucial part of the puzzle, which is the state the Ingram bands were in! Until we have an Ingram band or band fragment to test we have nothing, and can only conjecture about what "intact but crumbled to the touch" meant - whoever it was coined that phrase. We don't even know whose description this is! 

'crumbled to the touch' is the only descriptor which has any meaning to me. That implies late stage chemical degeneration where basically the only thing left is bands turned to dust (atoms). That has meaning. That implies near total atomic and molecular degeneration of the bands due to continued exposure to the elements for a long time. Not just broken bands but former vital bands now in fragments and particles, ossified, and clinging to the fibers that make up the paper which would be instantly reduced to dust if touched or exposed even to a wind. I could believe from the description that this was the state the Ingram bands were in .... but that is a light year away from being "intact" in any meaningful sense of the word.

My guess is the evidence folders contain that dust and a few band particles which still could be tested.