Thanks for those replies @JohnyFive.
I’m also curious about the possibility of Beryllium.
I wonder if you could describe the smell a bit.
I understand from some reports that beryllium has a sweet taste. But is toxic so shouldn’t be tried! Good idea to wear a gas mask.
But compounds of Beryllium could be indicative of some interesting processes. And some of these can generate odours.
beryllium Carbide I think slowly reacts with water to produce beryllium oxide and methane for example... if you are smelling methane this could have all kinds of implications. Methane on Mars for example.
Beryllium Carbide is normally produced at high temperatures. But there is carbon in the paper. So perhaps some more reactive beryllium like pregenorator would be implicated. Or something else that catalysis it’s formation.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryllium_carbide
Beryllium oxide (BeO) [ whilst not quite an odor ] is soluble in water so that might indicate something about why it is removed when wet.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryllium_oxide
This kind of chemical effects could be true of a Beryllium like pregenorator (some kind of exotic compound LiH) or true Be. Obviously the simplest logical assumption using true Be is the best solution. but If Be appears but then diminish over time especially in line with the long 20 minutes half life then perhaps it could indicate something more exotic. Normal Be8 or stimulated Be9* half-life should be much shorter. And Be9 in ground state is stable. (This long half-life to me could imply a pregenorator making Be).
Beryllium Hydoxide incidentally is only slightly soluble but hydrated on heating to produce soluble BeO and H2O.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryllium_hydroxide
I wonder if the BeO would precipitate out in an acid?
If something exotic is implicated (I admit it’s a big if) . If an exotic LiH compound entity simulating a Be is implicated maybe certain Be compounds such as Be2C or BeOH stabilize the exotic component from a chemical point of view where as others such as BeO do not. So the compound the compound HLi nucleus remains (until it interacts at nucleus level) but in the other less stable ones the compound lithium and hydrogen separate into their individual entities or more classical ionic bound LiH.
A crazy thought I admit... but I wonder if certain chemical compounds could stabilize an pregenorator entity so it’s nucleus interaction is in hibited too. If so it could form an interesting method of storage.