Official Claims Creationists Attempted to Steal Evidence of Extraterrestrial Life

Wimal Weerawansa, the leader of Sri Lanka's National Freedom Front party and member of the Sri Lakan parliament stated in a recent speech that men from an unidentified space agency attempted to steal fragments of the Anuradhapura meteorite earlier this year, soon after a report of the analysis made by researchers from the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology and the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology (University of Buckingham) was published in the Journal of Cosmology.

Fragments of the Anuradhapura meteorite. Photo from report linked above

From Mysterious Universe (via Obscuragator):

Sri Lankan politician Wimal Weerawansa, the leader of that nation’s left-wing National Freedom Front party, recently revealed in a speech that “white gentlemen” from an international space agency came to his country and attempted to steal fragments of a meteor that may contain evidence of alien life. Why?

"It’s because they don’t want the world to know that creationism is a blatant lie. When it is proven that life outside planet earth exists, creationism would turn into a lie. This was a fact that was initially declared and proven by the Buddha and his teachings on the universe."

The Anuradhapura meteorite fell to Earth on December 8, 2013 in the Anuradhapura District of Sri Lanka during the Taurid meteor shower. The report released in February claims that the meteorite contains biological structures — specifically, fossils resembling those of acritarchs and diatoms — which the researchers believe to be evidence of Panspermia.

The original story appeared on October 25 in the Daily Mirror (Sir Lanka). Mr. Weerawansa is a Buddhist, his speech was delivered in front of a group of worshipers at a Buddhist temple and I have been unable to track down any further explanation of his comments.

A little bonus fun fact:

Comet Encke and the meteors that are part of the Taurids meteor stream are believed to be the remnants of a larger comet. Comet Encke has been identified with a particular comet from the 2nd century BC Chinese manuscript, the Book of Silk. Carl Sagan postulated in his 1985 book, Comet, that the appearance of this comet with four bent arms might be the origin of the Swastika.

I think there's a god and that this god created not only us but what we would call aliens.

I don't think Creationism as a whole would fall apart, I think that the ones who distort it into think that life and creation only applies to this world would be very angry though.

S + F, I don't doubt agencies suppress items and theories through various fronts (makes people look every way but never in the direction of the agency)

a reply to: theantediluvian

From what I have read, Buddah didn't teach about the HOW, his teachings are based in the WHY.

Buddah simply realized time is an illusion, we are not bound to time, not even to this creation. Rather we are bound to the LIGHT and return to the LIGHT.

The LIGHT is something that exists within us, all around us and at the same time in a place away from us. We come from Light and we return to Light.

For a Buddhist, science should only be seen as a tool. Creation vs Evolution is an argument that separates, the LIGHT brings us together.

a reply to: theantediluvian

I have a feeling this may involve Chandra Wickramasinghe , all the ingredients are there.

In a paper published in the Journal of Cosmology in February, 2014, scientists from the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology and the Buckingham Center for Astrobiology at the University of Buckingham

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: theantediluvian

I have a feeling this may involve Chandra Wickramasinghe , all the ingredients are there.

In a paper published in the Journal of Cosmology in February, 2014, scientists from the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology and the Buckingham Center for Astrobiology at the University of Buckingham

Isn't that the alleged meteorite which has yet to be independently confirmed as such, much less containing extraterrestrial diatom fossils?

And yes, Chandra Wickramasinghe is the editor of that non-peer reviewed blog.

a reply to: theantediluvian

Disclosure already happened from the pages of the New Testament.

Disclosure 2000 years ago...

a reply to: AlephBet

I don't see why Creation is always applied just to Earth and us.

I see the variety of life on this planet and can only imagine what else God decided to create.

it is just me, or can you show me where in the article where the word Creationists is.
i saw where someone claims that people who don't want people to know creationism lie. but no where did i see that they said they were Creationists.

the only thing that maybe real facts that was posted about the two “white gentlemen” is that they were white and posed as people from a "international space agency".

it could have been any one and they were probably trying to steel it for the money, there can be big money in meteor fragments. especially if it is a famous one.

a reply to: theantediluvian

The report released in February claims that the meteorite contains biological structures — specifically, fossils resembling those of acritarchs and diatoms — which the researchers believe to be evidence of Panspermia.

So the only evidence of Panspermia is missing then?

ETA: I'd Love to see this Swastika comet…

a reply to: draknoir2

Yes and he's the director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology as well so take it for it's worth. Wickramasinghe (and Hoyle for that matter) are no strangers to the fringe and Wickramasinghe has a recent history of making claims about fossils in "meteorites" in his own web-based fringe-y journal that haven't held up well under scrutiny but I wouldn't label him a charlatan.

a reply to: intrptr



That's from the Wikipedia page on the Book of Silk I linked above. The Encke page has this bit about it from famed astronomer Fred Whipple:

Fred Whipple in his The Mystery of Comets (1985, page 163) points out that Comet Encke's polar axis is only 5 degrees from its orbital plane: such an orientation is ideal to have presented a pinwheel like aspect to our ancestors when Encke was more active.

a reply to: hounddoghowlie

EDIT:

Sorry, I reread your comment and realized I wasn't actually responding appropriately.

I suppose that's a worthwhile distinction though I don't think it's necessarily one that Mr. Weerawansa was interested in making. Therefore, it would be true that he alleged that "creationists" were trying to snatch the fragments as opposed to non-creationists. Whether or not these alleged would-be thieves were in fact creationists or motivated by a creationist agenda — or if any part of his statement is true — is not something I would presume to be able to verify.

a reply to: theantediluvian

Ahhh, I see. Thanks for that clarifying pic of diagrams. Could they have been seeing jets of gas from the object?
It would have to be close to actually discern that.

ETA: Wait a sec… Those could be stylized interpretations of what they thought (or wanted to think) they were seeing. Look close at the diagrams… between the second and third from the right is a more accurate depiction of a comet as we are used to seeing them with the naked eye.

a reply to: theantediluvian

that says less than the Mysterious Universe (via Obscuragator) link.
so he just assumed that they were Creationist with no proof, no admission from them that they were Creationists. he just thinks they were.
you know what they say when one assumes.

i still say that they were trying to steel it/ them for the money, they can sell as much as a 1000 dollars a gram and a famous one would more than likely bring in more.

a reply to: intrptr

I believe the key is that that assuming the hypothesis is correct, they would have been viewing it more or less head on so the jets would take on something of a pinwheel appearance.

a reply to: theantediluvian

I saw Halley's comet from, death valley back in (?). It was a spot of light with a small halo around it. It was also "head on" and still further out. My dad woke me up one night to see Kahoutek (Spelling?) out the window. It was awesome with this big bright tail stretched out. We could see it low on the horizon with the naked eye.

Comets are so way cool. Have you heard that the Chinese Dragon with the long tail and "firecrackers" could have been their interpretation of a comet seen long ago? Or maybe a meteor like the one over Russia early this year?

a reply to: theantediluvian

So... What we are lead to believe here, is that an official from one ideology which relies on there having been absolutely no reality to creationism of any kind, has impartially reported that two gentlemen claiming to be from a space agency, have tried to steal an object which disproves creationism, therefore the likely culprits are creationists?

I see critical thinking skills are not in the forte of the official concerned! For a start, any number of people have a vested interest in getting hold of meteor fragments, and the LEAST of these, are the sort of nut bars who would conduct a Mission Impossible style subterfuge in order to pilfer a God damned space rock in the name of religion of some sort!

I would be much more willing to believe that the intention behind the attempted heist was entirely faith neutral, and more about what governments have access to what data, than I would be prepared to believe that some sort of Opus Dei BS was in the offing here.

a reply to: TrueBrit

I agree. Oddly, in my opinion the "creationist took them" part of the story was completely secondary to a member of the Sri Lankan parliament accusing men from an unnamed western space agency of trying to pilfer meteorite fragments. He could of course be making the whole thing up or it could be that his statements are being sensationalized. Another possibility would be that he's simply misinformed.

Then again, maybe he has some reason to believe it's a clandestine operation conducted by some religious group. It's certainly happened before. Ever heard of Operation Snow White?

Operation Snow White was the Church of Scientology's internal name for a major criminal conspiracy during the 1970s to purge unfavorable records about Scientology and its founder L. Ron Hubbard. This project included a series of infiltrations and thefts from 136 government agencies, foreign embassies and consulates, as well as private organizations critical of Scientology, carried out by Church members, in more than 30 countries.[1] It was the single largest infiltration of the United States government in history[2] with up to 5,000 covert agents.[3] This operation also exposed the Scientology plot 'Operation Freakout', because Operation Snow White was the case that initiated the US government investigation of the Church.[3]

Under this program, Scientology operatives committed infiltration, wiretapping, and theft of documents in government offices, most notably those of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Eleven highly placed Church executives, including Mary Sue Hubbard (wife of founder L. Ron Hubbard and second-in-command of the organization), pleaded guilty or were convicted in federal court of obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property. The case was United States v. Mary Sue Hubbard et al., 493 F.Supp. 209 (D.D.C. 1979).[4][5][6][7]

a reply to: theantediluvian

Well Scientology has the history of breaking into places and fiddling records, and putting people in sensitive positions it's true.

However, call them creationists is a bit of a stretch, since as I understand it, most of them have no idea what they are supposed to believe about any damn thing, let lone the origins of life, the universe, and so on!

Great thread, makes you wonder if the discovery of alien life will be through meteorites.

Unfortunately doing some research on this, our scientist, Chandra Wickramasinghe and Journal of Cosmology gets slammed by astronomer Phil Plait.

Slate Link Phil Plait response

Wickramasinghe is a proponent of the idea of panspermia: the notion that life originated in space and was brought to Earth via meteorites. It’s an interesting idea and not without some merits.

However, Wickramasinghe is fervent proponent of it. Like, really fervent. So much so that he attributes everything to life in space. He’s said that the flu comes from space. He’s said SARS comes from space. He’s claimed living cells found in the stratosphere come from space.

The Journal of Cosmology is an online site that claims to be peer reviewed. However, the papers it publishes are not always of the highest quality. One paper they published a few years back claimed to have found fossils in meteorites, and it was roundly ridiculed by biologists familiar with the field—one even used the word “pathetic.” Ouch.

The journal also supports other fringe claims that have very little or no evidence to back them up. For an example in my own field, when some astronomers said they found circumstantial evidence for a previously unknown planet in the outer solar system, the JoC published a page with the headline, “Tyche: Rogue Planet Discovered in Oort Cloud,” which was dead wrong.

However who is Phil Plait? Who is Chandra Wickramasinghe?

Link, Extraterrestrial Life Exists, Scientist Chandra Wickramasinghe Claims

"In 1962, [Hoyle and I] pioneered the theory of carbon grains in space to replace the old ice grain theory. This was vehemently resisted by the astronomical community at the outset, but with the dawn of infrared spectroscopy, the ice grain theory gave way to the carbon dust theory," Wickramasinghe told HuffPost in an email.

"Over a few years, after a great deal of model-fitting, we came to the conclusion that material similar to biomaterial fitted all the available data in astronomy ... We considered the possibility that biology (microbiology) had a universal character, and no observations in astronomy or new information from biology has provided contrary evidence."

Doing a Google search of his name, Chandra Wickramasinghe checks in...

Link University of Buckingham

Director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, University of Buckingham; Honorary Professor, University of Buckingham; Visiting Professor, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka; Board Member and Director of Research, Institute for the Study of Panspermia and Astroeconomics

Panspermia.org report on Chandra

His website

Youtube video from 12/2013 on this exact thread. 1 hour 30 minutes long


Wiki - Phil Plait

Philip Cary Plait (born September 30, 1964),[1] also known as The Bad Astronomer, is an American astronomer, skeptic, writer and popular science blogger. Plait has worked as part of the Hubble Space Telescope team, images and spectra of astronomical objects, as well as engaging in public outreach advocacy for NASA missions. He has written two books, Bad Astronomy and Death from the Skies. He has also appeared in several science documentaries, including Phil Plait's Bad Universe on the Discovery Channel. From August 2008 through 2009, he served as President of the James Randi Educational Foundation.[

From 2008 to 2009, Plait served as the President of the JREF, which promotes scientific skepticism. He has also been a regular speaker at widely-attended science and skepticism events and conferences, such as The Amaz!ng Meeting (TAM),[19] Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism (NECSS),[20] and DragonCon.[21] Plait writes and speaks on topics related to scientific skepticism, such as advocating in favor of widespread immunization.

Phil Plait on TED


Phil Plait debunking the "Apollo Moon Landing Hoax"


Hmmmm...Phil Plait seems to be making a career out of hard core skepticism...and went on an anti-panspermia crusade (no pun) after Chandra's claim.

Curious if there will ever be updates to this meteor.