Do the precise measurements of the Casimir force agree with the expectations?

An upper limit on the Casimir force is found using the dielectric functions of perfect crystalline materials which depend only on well-defined materia l constants. The force measured with the atomic force microscope is larger than this limit at small separations between bodies and the discrepancy is significant. The simplest modification of the experiment is proposed allowi ng one to make its results more reliable and answer the question if the dis crepancy has any relation with the existence of a new force.