Editing Panspermia (section)

== Hoaxes & speculations ==

=== Orgueil meteorite ===
On May 14, 1864, twenty fragments from a meteorite crashed into the French city of Orgueil. A separate fragment of the [[Orgueil (meteorite)|Orgueil meteorite]] (kept in a sealed glass jar since its discovery) was found in 1965 to have a seed capsule embedded in it, while the original glassy layer on the outside remained undisturbed. Despite great initial excitement, the seed was found to be that of a European [[Juncaceae]] or rush plant that had been glued into the fragment and camouflaged using [[coal dust]].<ref name=":14"/> The outer "fusion layer" was in fact glue. While the perpetrator of this hoax is unknown, it is thought that they sought to influence the 19th-century debate on [[spontaneous generation]]—rather than panspermia—by demonstrating the transformation of inorganic to biological matter.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Anders |first1=Edward |last2=DuFresne |first2=Eugene R. |last3=Hayatsu |first3=Ryoichi |last4=Cavaillé |first4=Albert |last5=DuFresne |first5=Ann |last6=Fitch |first6=Frank W. |date=1964-11-27 |title=Contaminated Meteorite |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.146.3648.1157 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=146 |issue=3648 |pages=1157–1161 |doi=10.1126/science.146.3648.1157 |pmid=17832241 |bibcode=1964Sci...146.1157A |s2cid=38428960 |issn=0036-8075}}</ref>

=== Oumuamua ===
{{Main|ʻOumuamua|l1=Oumuamua}}

In 2017, the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii detected a reddish object with significant, periodic fluctiations in [[albedo]], strongly suggestive of a slender, rotating object. Analysis of its orbit provided evidence that it was an interstellar object, originating from outside our Solar System, accelerating away from the sun with the absence of the visible outgassing that usually explains the acceleration of asteroids.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Oumuamua - NASA Science |url=https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/oumuamua/ |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=science.nasa.gov |date=29 November 2017 |language=en}}</ref> Astronomer [[Avi Loeb]] argues that there are no satisfying natural explanations for this acceleration, and proposes that Oumuamua may be a [[solar sail]], which would be partial evidence for the feasibility of directed panspermia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Billings |first=Lee |date=2021-04-01 |title=Astronomer Avi Loeb Says Aliens Have Visited, and He's Not Kidding |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/astronomer-avi-loeb-says-aliens-have-visited-and-hes-not-kidding1/ |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=Scientific American |language=en}}</ref> This claim has been considered unlikely by other authors.<ref name="LS-20200819">{{cite news |last=Letzer |first=Ran |date=19 August 2020 |title=Interstellar visitor 'Oumuamua could still be alien technology, new study hints – Aliens? Or a chunk of solid hydrogen? Which idea makes less sense? |work=[[Live Science]] |url=https://www.livescience.com/oumuamua-interstellar-hydrogen-or-aliens.html |url-status=live |access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109012743/https://www.livescience.com/oumuamua-interstellar-hydrogen-or-aliens.html |archive-date=9 January 2021}}</ref>