Meteorites can be very brittle and Earth-based life can infiltrate them. Image courtesy of NASA.
Joel Kontinen
The Media have not made a big issue of the recent disclosure of alien life found on Earth.
Richard Hoover, an astrobiologist at NASA, said he had found signs of alien life in meteorites.
Hoover published his findings in the Journal of Cosmology, which is not an ordinary science journal but is dedicated to promoting the panspermia hypothesis or the view that life came to Earth from outer space.
The journal is going through turbulent times. In mid February Lana Tao, the senior executive managing director, announced that it will cease to appear in May.
This is not the first time that Hoover announces the discovery of life that originates from outer space. The previous “discoveries” have turned out to be misinterpretations.
Many scientists doubt Hoover’s interpretation of what has been found. They believe that Earth-based microbes could have infiltrated the brittle meteorites.
Moreover, NASA announced that it did not have anything to do with Hoover’s paper.
NASA’s reluctance is understandable. Last December it promoted the discovery of a bacterium that allegedly uses arsenic. The study was severely criticised for not being rigorous enough.
Source:
Ball, Philip. 2011. The aliens haven't landed. Nature News. (8 March)
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