Nasa destroys Anonymous hacktivist’s claim that it is about to reveal ‘evidence of alien life’
Space scientist speaks out after wild rumours suggested humanity was on the verge of answering the greatest question in the universe
THE internet lit up yesterday when someone claiming to be a member of the hacktivist group Anonymous claimed Nasa was about to reveal the existence of alien life.
Now the space agency has stepped in to answer the rumours in a statement which may prove more than a little disappointing to many extraterrestrial believers.
Nasa scientist Thomas Zurbuchen took to Twitter to insist there was no big news coming up.
"Contrary to some reports, there’s no pending announcement from Nasa regarding extraterrestrial life," he wrote.
"Are we alone in the universe? While we do not know yet, we have missions moving forward that may help answer that fundamental question.";
Yesterday, a self-professed member of Anonymous posted a YouTube clip which claimed a Nasa scientist made the announcement at the last meeting of the US Science, Space and Technology Committee.
Rumours started to swirl after Nasa's Kepler space observatory discovered 219 "potential new worlds" in other solar systems.
Ten of the planets are "rocky" like the Earth and fall in their systems' "Goldilocks zone" - so-called because it is not too hot or too cold for life to exist.
In their video, Anonymous claimed Dr Zurbuchen told the meeting: "Our civilisation is on the verge of discovering evidence of alien life in the cosmos.
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"Taking into account all of the different activities and missions that are searching for alien life, we are on the verge of making one of the most profound, unprecedented discoveries in history."
Professor Zurbuchen said on Twitter last week: "Wow, 219 potential new planets! @NASAKepler data shows us that most stars are home to at least one planet...Are we alone?"
The Kepler space telescope has been hunting for planets since it was launched into orbit around the Sun in 2009.
It can spot tiny drops in a distant star’s brightness when a planet crosses in front of it, which is called a transit.
The latest groundbreaking discoveries were among 2,335 planets beyond our solar system that have been verified after being found by Kepler.
Of these, only 30 planets have been found to be Earth-like planets potentially able to host life.
“This carefully-measured catalogue is the foundation for directly answering one of astronomy’s most compelling questions – how many planets like our Earth are in the galaxy?” said Susan Thompson, Kepler research scientist.
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