A pregalactic Population III: primordial helium and heavy elements and the microwave background

The helium, heavy elements and dark remnants produced by a pregalactic generation of stars, Population III, are discussed quantitatively for three scenarios: (1) Population III is responsible for the distortion of the microwave background spectrum measured by Woody and Richards; (2) Population III objects generate the whole of the microwave background; (3) Population III provides the oldest metals found in our Galaxy today.