Skip to navigation | Skip to content  Skeptical reaction to the
resurrection of Martian fossils  Electron micrograph of a
Martian fossil?  Electron micrograph of a Martian fossil?
Claims by NASA that new evidence shows microscopic structures in
a Martian meteorite are ancient fossils have been met with
skepticism from palaeontologists.  The structures, first
identified in 1996 in meteorite ALH84001L from Antarctica, were
thought to be fossils of extremely small bacteria. The meteorite
was originally a piece of the surface of Mars blasted into space
during a large meteorite impact 16 million years ago. This was
the first fossil evidence of life beyond Earth.  These initial
claims were dismissed by palaeontologists who pointed out that
the "fossils" were too small for even the smallest known
bacteria (nano-bacteria). In fact the structures were so small
it was inconceivable that enough molecular hardware could have
been packed inside to make the original structure a living
organism.  NASA's latest research on