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Scientists claim discovery of ‘alien life’ in earth’s atmosphere

A group of British scientists recently claimed that tiny organisms found in the atmosphere at altitudes of 22 to 27 kilometers originated from space, U.S. media reported.

Researchers from the University of Sheffield and Buckingham University said they found organisms on a balloon they sent into the stratosphere. Since the particles are too large to have floated from the surface, the scientists have concluded that the most likely explanation is that they have come from outer space.

“In the absence of a mechanism by which large particles like these can be transported to the stratosphere we can only conclude that the biological entities originated from space,” Milton Wainwright, astrobiology professor at Sheffield University, said in a written statement.

Wainwright’s team said they hope to confirm their results by repeating the test in October.

The study was published in the Journal of Cosmology, a journal which is often disputed among scholars in terms of credibility.

Other scientists, including author of “Bad Astronomy” Philip Plait, expressed doubts about the conclusions by Wainwright’s team.

Plait, writing for Slate magazine, said the researchers should look for other ways that the organisms could have made their way up into the stratosphere.

“They dismiss other pathways, just stating they won’t work,” he wrote. “This ‘god of the gaps’ argument leaves me underwhelmed.”

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)