Countless science fiction stories revolve around life on Mars, and more than a few pseudo-scientists have found "proof" of life in odd Martian rock formations and camera glitches. But scientists take possible life on Mars seriously, and actually might have proof in the mysterious meteorite known as ALH84001.
The little meteor fell to Earth in 1984 and seemed like an interesting, albeit normal, meteor sample. With more study, scientists came to a shocking conclusion. The meteor was from Mars and was 4.1 billion years old. It was blown off the planet during a collision and traveled space since then, finally coming down to Earth. Even more shockingly, it had what looked like features of fossilized bacteria in it. Overnight, ALH84001 became the most famous meteor on Earth.Since then, scientists have debated among themselves about the nature of the rock. Sure, it looks like there are bacteria embedded in it, but further study has proven inconclusive. It could just be remnants of mineral structures found on Mars all those years ago, or a fluke of geologic formation. What makes ALH84001 so amazing is that, even after thirty years of study, it's still a mystery. Scientists still take it very seriously, with groups even proposing that ALH84001 provides evidence that the Moon and other worlds could be littered with fossils knocked away from Earth by asteroid collisions. Possibly, the planets are constantly trading rocks through this mechanism, and maybe even trading life as well.
You would think that a claim of alien life in a meteor would get shut down rather quickly, but this little meteor still stumps scientists. Maybe they should try to reanimate the bacteria. Jurassic Park was
cool, but Martian Park would be 10 times cooler.
View of supposed microbial life in Mars rock
Does it look like a life-form to you
Electronic view of a slice of another meteorite...similar wormy objects can be seen,
Is it proof of life on other planets??\
What do you think?
