Nasa finds alien life on three meteorites

A Nasa scientist reports detecting tiny fossilized bacteria on three meteorites, and maintains these microscopic life forms are not native to Earth.

If confirmed, this research would suggest life in the universe is widespread and life on Earth may have come from elsewhere in the solar system, riding to our planet on space rocks like comets, moons and other astral bodies.

The study, published online late Friday in The Journal of Cosmology, is considered so controversial it is accompanied by a statement from the journal's editor seeking other scientific comment, which is to be published starting on Monday.

The central claim of the study by astrobiologist Richard Hoover is that there is evidence of microfossils similar to cyanobacteria -- blue-green algae, also known as pond scum -- on the freshly fractured inner surfaces of three meteorites.

These microscopic structures had lots of carbon, a marker for Earth-type life, and almost no nitrogen, Hoover said in a telephone interview on Sunday.

Nitrogen can also be a sign of Earthly life, but the lack of it only means that whatever nitrogen was in these structures has decomposed out into a gaseous form long ago, Hoover said.

"We have known for a long time that there were very interesting biomarkers in carbonaceous meteorites and the detection of structures that are very similar ... to known terrestrial cyanobacteria is interesting in that it indicates that life is not restricted to the planet Earth," Hoover said.

Hoover, based at Nasa's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, has specialized in the study of microscopic lifeforms that survive extreme environments such as glaciers, permafrost and geysers.

He is not the first to claim discovery of microscopic life from other worlds.

In 1996, Nasa scientists presented research indicating a 4-billion-year-old meteorite found in Antarctica carried evidence of fossilized microbial life from Mars.

The initial discovery of the so-called Mars meteorite was greeted with acclaim and the rock unveiled at a standing room-only briefing at Nasa headquarters in Washington.

Since then, however, criticism has surrounded that discovery and conclusive proof has been elusive.

Hoover's research may well meet the same fate. In a statement published with the online paper, the Journal of Cosmology's editor in chief, Rudy Schild, said in a statement:

"Dr. Richard Hoover is a highly respected scientist and astrobiologist with a prestigious record of accomplishment at Nasa. Given the controversial nature of his discovery, we have invited 100 experts and have issued a general invitation to over 5,000 scientists from the scientific community to review the paper and to offer their critical analysis."

Britain releases classified UFO sighting and policy files

Britain has released 35 previously classified files documenting sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by the military and members of the public dating back to the 1950s.

The files contain around 8,500 pages which mainly cover the period from 1997 to 2005 and include photographs, drawings and descriptions of flying saucer sightings, as well as letters the Ministry of Defence (MoD) sent eyewitnesses in response to their accounts.

Policemen, a soldier, a Royal Air Force (RAF) officer and members of the public report sightings of objects including a "chewy mint shaped solid craft" and aerial objects resembling a "ring", a "jellyfish" and a "silver voile spin top".

In one account a man said he believed he had been "abducted" by aliens in October 1998 after seeing an unidentified craft hover over his London home and finding he had gained an hour of time in the process.
"It was a large cigar-shaped vehicle with big projectiles on each side like wings," he told the MoD.
"It seemed to have two very bright lights at the front and a white light flashing round and round underneath... As you can imagine, I felt quite shaken."

The MoD wrote to the man informing him that the object was probably an airship, adding that the time he had gained was probably the result of the clocks being put back one hour on the night of his close encounter.

Another file released by the National Archives reveals how the RAF was inundated with calls one morning in 1967 after residents of southern England awoke to find six small beeping UFOs lying in a perfect line from the Isle of Sheppey to the Bristol Channel.

A bomb disposal unit blew up one of the UFOs, another was airlifted to the southeastern village of Aldermaston and both the army and the MoD's intelligence unit were mobilised for what was considered a real "alien invasion".

It was later discovered that engineering students at Farnborough Technical College had constructed and positioned the UFOs in a bid to raise money for charity.

"It does raise some questions about what really would happen if at any time in the future there was some kind of instant -- would we be prepared?" said David Clarke, author of "The UFO Files" and consultant to the National Archives' UFO project.

One of the files documents the experiences of a retired RAF officer who said he saw a UFO while on holiday in Sri Lanka in April 2004 and sent the MoD supporting photographs.

"I noticed a partial aura in the sky, a minute or so later there was a clap of thunder, then a short while later a ring like a doughnut appeared," he told the MoD, adding that he thought it was an "air burst".
In its reply the MoD suggested he contact the Sri Lankan government.

Other highlights include a UFO policy file from 1997 which reveals how the Ministry of Defence handled UFO reports and a file detailing the only full debate about UFOs ever to be held in Britain's House of Lords -- in January 1979.

The MoD said it investigated every UFO sighting report it received to determine "whether there is any evidence that the United Kingdom's airspace might have been compromised by hostile or unauthorised air activity."

The files are available to download free of charge for one month at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ufos.

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