Orgueil

In 1961, at a meeting of the National Academy of Sciences, Fordham University organic chemist Bartholomew Nagy and microbiologist George Claus presented evidence for what they said were “organized elements” embedded in mineral grain of the Orgueil meteorite (which fell on southern France in 1864) and the Ivuna meteorite (which fell in Tanzania in 1938).

First Contact Marc Kaufman 2011

“Organic particles embedded in minerals in the Orgueil and Ivuna carbonaceous chondrites.”

First Contact Marc Kaufman 2011

Hoover does not study Mars meteorites, but rather some of the best-known rocks that have fallen to Earth from asteroids, comets, or perhaps other planets—legendary finds such as Murchison, Orgueil, Tagish Lake, or Allende.

First Contact Marc Kaufman 2011

But among the incoming rocks on display are the Allende meteorite from Mexico, the Orgueil meteorite from France, the Murchison meteorite from Australia—all legendary in the world of meteorites, and of especially great interest to astrobiologists.

First Contact Marc Kaufman 2011

As Hoover later wrote in a paper that began with a history of these events, “A few scientific works were subsequently published, but the suggestion of a hoax associated with the Orgueil meteorite won their debate and terminated serious scientific search for microfossils in meteorites for over three decades.”

First Contact Marc Kaufman 2011

“Organic particles embedded in minerals in the Orgueil and Ivuna carbonaceous chondrites.”

First Contact Marc Kaufman 2011

But among the incoming rocks on display are the Allende meteorite from Mexico, the Orgueil meteorite from France, the Murchison meteorite from Australia—all legendary in the world of meteorites, and of especially great interest to astrobiologists.

First Contact Marc Kaufman 2011

Both were the rare carbonaceous meteorites and Orgueil in particular was so loosely formed that it would dissolve in water.

First Contact Marc Kaufman 2011

In 1961, at a meeting of the National Academy of Sciences, Fordham University organic chemist Bartholomew Nagy and microbiologist George Claus presented evidence for what they said were “organized elements” embedded in mineral grain of the Orgueil meteorite (which fell on southern France in 1864) and the Ivuna meteorite (which fell in Tanzania in 1938).

First Contact Marc Kaufman 2011

Both were the rare carbonaceous meteorites and Orgueil in particular was so loosely formed that it would dissolve in water.

First Contact Marc Kaufman 2011