THE BROOKING REPORT [9f]
Washington, D.C. August 7, 1996. On the South Lawn of the White House, 30 years after NASA announced the Viking mission had not found evidence of life on Mars, President Bill Clinton held an historic press conference to announce some momentous news: microbial life may exist on the red planet after all. Scientists had found what they believed to be fossilized remains on a Martian meteorite that crashed to Earth 12,000 years ago.
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON (video footage): It must be confirmed by other scientists, but clearly the fact that something of this magnitude is being explored is another vindication of America's space program and our continuing support for it, even in these tough financial times.
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“There was enormous excitement over this discovery. Based on the chemical composition of the meteorite, we could tell that it was from Mars. Inside the rock, researchers found different chemicals and, in particular, different physical shapes of objects that looked extremely similar to microorganisms here on Earth.” – Robert H. Frisbee, Ph.D. |
Soon after the president’s press conference, scientists began to backpedal on whether the meteorite actually showed signs of life. They said the original team of experts may have been wrong.
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“The image certainly looks like some kind of a microorganism, but the opponents said the microorganism remains are too small to have DNA to be inside it. And therefore, it can’t be a fossil. Since then, microorganisms have been found that small, which have DNA in them, but it has not been resolved.” – Gil Levin, Ph.D. (NASA / Viking Scientist) |
But given the controversy surrounding the possibility that life may have been discovered on Mars, starting with the Viking mission of the 1970s and continuing to – the present day – some scientists say NASA almost seems to be avoiding the issue. The space agency has never retried Gil Levin’s test for signs of life on the red planet.
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“It is very puzzling as to why NASA has refused to send life detection experiments back to Mars. My experiment discovered the most remarkable thing yet known about Mars. That there is something highly reactive in the soil, chemical or biological. But we really should find out what it is. It is startling that NASA has made no attempt to determine that issue. I truly think NASA knows there is life on Mars, but for some reason unbeknownst to me, it does not want that information out.” – Gil Levin, Ph.D. (NASA / Viking Scientist) |
Has NASA found definitive signs of life on Mars that they’re intentionally keeping from the public? And if so, have they found evidence that an advanced civilization once lived on the red planet? Some Ancient Astronaut Theorists believe they have, and as evidence, point to a report commissioned by NASA in 1960 that offers advice for how to reveal the news if the American space program should ever find proof of extraterrestrial life.
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“The so-called Brookings Report essentially said that in your travels throughout the solar system, there is a distinct possibility that you will discover artifacts, that you will actually discover evidence of an ancient alien presence on Venus, on the moon, or on Mars. And the implications of such an announcement, if it were made, would be potentially devastating to the human race. It could be catastrophic. In fact, it used the word ‘disintegrate.’” – Michael Bara (Author, The Choice), |
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“I would imagine that it would be something that would be kept secret for awhile. I don’t think it’s a bunch of men sitting in a room and smoking cigarettes and saying we’re gonna keep this secret. But it is a responsibility, and I think that they would certainly be very, very careful as to how to let out this knowledge.” – Robert Bauval (Egyptologist), |
Is it possible that not just microbial life, but also intelligent beings, once called the red planet their home? And if so, what would that mean for the existence of life elsewhere in the cosmos?
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“If life used to exist on Mars, particularly if it formed independently of Earth life, life in the Universe is all over the place.” – Greg Matloff, Ph.D. (NASA Consultant) |
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“That means that of the billions of planets discovered now similar to Earth, through our Universe, many of them would have life on them. And if there is life different from life on Earth that has evolved, there would be every reason to suspect such evolution would have gone on, on countless other Earths. And that there would be intelligent life out there as well.” – Gil Levin, Ph.D. (NASA / Viking Scientist) |
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“We want there to be life on Mars. We want there to be life somewhere beyond here. We want that transcendent connection to the heavens. We don’t want it to be invaders, but we don’t want to be alone in the Universe.” – Jonathan Young, Ph.D. |
Are tales of life on Mars, found in cultures across the world, simply mythology? Or might Martians really have visited Earth in the distant past, as Ancient Astronaut Theorists suggest? If so, could there be evidence waiting to be discovered on the red planet? Perhaps with further missions to Mars we’ll find that not only was it home to alien beings thousands of years ago, but it still is today.
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Next: 6.9 – The Shamans (2.28.14)
References:
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[9a] Prometheus Entertainment. (2014). Ancient Aliens: 6.8 – Aliens & the Red Planet. [DVD Footage: Introduction]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [9b] Prometheus Entertainment. (2014). Ancient Aliens: 6.8 – Aliens & the Red Planet. [DVD Footage: Evidence of Life]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [9c] Prometheus Entertainment. (2014). Ancient Aliens: 6.8 – Aliens & the Red Planet. [DVD Footage: Life & Death on Mars]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [9d] Prometheus Entertainment. (2014). Ancient Aliens: 6.8 – Aliens & the Red Planet. [DVD Footage: Enuma Elish]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [9e] Prometheus Entertainment. (2014). Ancient Aliens: 6.8 – Aliens & the Red Planet. [DVD Footage: Man-Made Structures]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. [9f] Prometheus Entertainment. (2014). Ancient Aliens: 6.8 – Aliens & the Red Planet. [DVD Footage: The Brookings Report]. Los Angeles, CA: A&E Networks, LLC / History™. |
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