We suggest a new component of the Milky Way galaxy that can account for both the optical depth and the event durations obtained by the MACHO microlensing survey toward the Large Magellanic Cloud .
This component is consistent with recent evidence for a significant population of faint white dwarf stars , detected in a proper motion study of the Hubble Deep Field , which can not be accounted for by stars in the disk or spheroid .
This new component consists of ( mostly ) old white dwarf stars distributed in a highly extended ( very thick ) disk configuration .
It extends beyond the traditional thin and thick disks , but well within the dark , roughly spherical CDM halo .
The total mass in this component is \sim 7 - 9 \times 10 ^ { 10 } M _ { \odot } .
We argue that such a component is reasonable , natural , consistent with a variety of observations , and many of the problems associated with a significant halo population of white dwarfs are ameliorated .