Friday evening, NASA astrobiologist Richard Hoover announced he has found conclusive evidence of alien life. It is inside a rare meteorite—there are only nine of them found on Earth—in the form of fossilized bacteria. The implication: Life is everywhere, and Earthlings may be the flowery parts of space seeds.
On the surface, this seems like the kind of news that might warrant Comcast interrupting my regular programming for a special report. I’ve seen this kind of thing show up on Twitter before, however, so color me unphased for the moment. I can’t tell a Titanospirillum velox from a Paratetramitus jugosus, but fortunately there are some others who can (or at least make a more educated guess than I).
Their skepticism boils down to a few items:
- Hoover has done this before. His career is focused on exploring hostile environments on Earth in search of novel life forms, so maybe this just isn’t as newsy at the FOX headlines make it seem.
- Hoover argues that there is no way these could be of Earthly origin, but his logic isn’t scientifically convincing enough to be conclusive.
- Anticipating skepticism, the Journal of Cosmology had 100 other scientists look at the data. Their reviews are coming out later this week.
- The JoC has a history of wacky claims, which raises the plausibility bar even higher. Throw in a previous announcement that the online publication is ceasing operations in May, less than two years after they launched, and credibility takes a further hit.
- Related to that: Why wouldn’t something of this magnitude be in a more prestigious publication?
This is all circumstantial, of course, and doesn’t mean this paper isn’t accurate about its conclusion. However, neither does Hoover’s work seem to satisfy the questions that are already surfacing.
Like Mulder before me, I want to believe. The first time I see a tweet, my first reaction is: “It’s about time!” Proof of panspermia would have huge impact on a number of fields, not the least of which is theology. Some wonderful debates would be sparked, and perhaps will materialize anyway, even if the 100 other experts pan Hoover’s conclusions.