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Sorry, But Anonymous Has No Evidence That NASA Has Found Alien Life (popsci.com)

From a Popular Science article: In a new video, the hacker group known as Anonymous claims that NASA has discovered alien life. But before you freak out, let's talk. Sadly, the group of activists and hacktivists doesn't seem to have found any new evidence to support their extraordinary claim. The video is mainly based on NASA quotes taken out of context, and what appear to be videos and information from conspiracy theory websites. The crux of the argument is based on something Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, said during a hearing in April. These sorts of hearings are organized to educate the House Science Committee on the latest research in a particular field of study. During this one, Zurbuchen said: "Taking into account all of the different activities and missions that are specifically searching for evidence of alien life, we are on the verge of making one of the most profound, unprecedented, discoveries in history." That's the quote Anonymous is pegging their video on. But if you watch his opening statement, he actually explains his reasoning just before he gets to that part. He mentions the Mars 2020 rover, which will look for signs of past life on the red planet. The Europa Clipper mission is slated to search for conditions suitable to life on Jupiter's ocean-filled moon. In a statement, Zurbuchen said, "While we're excited about the latest findings from NASA's Kepler space observatory, there's no pending announcement regarding extraterrestrial life. For years NASA has expressed interest in searching for signs of life beyond Earth. We have a number of science missions that are moving forward with the goal of seeking signs of past and present life on Mars and ocean worlds in the outer solar system. While we do not yet have answers, we will continue to work to address the fundamental question, 'are we alone?'"

3 of 166 comments (clear)

  1. Super-intelligent shade of the colour blue by jfdavis668 · · Score: 4, Funny

    They may have discovered Hooloovoos by spectral analysis of exoplanets.

  2. Re: Aliens would be great for NASA by invid · · Score: 2, Funny

    You would also disprove about 90% of Earths religions.

    It depends on the aliens. If we can talk to them and they say "Your God is BS, you should worship Flarg instead." I'm sure it would cause lots of confusion. Or they might clumsily try to get on our good side by lying. "Oh yeah, we know Jesus. Yep, he visited our world last year. We thought about killing him too, but we couldn't decide on a method. Nailing on a cross, we'll remember that the next time we see him."

    --
    The Moore-Murphy Law: The number of things that will go wrong will double every 2 years.
  3. Re:The thing about Anonymous by Rockoon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well thats ok, the other half are NSA agents.

    Both sides unknowingly investigating the pretended activities of the other, never getting any real evidence, so it just continues forever.

    --
    "His name was James Damore."