NASA recently announced that Mars rover, Curiosity, measured more methane than ever (21 parts per billion), and this news sparked much excitement because of the possibility that they have finally found evidence of life on Mars! Microbes, you see, are a main source of methane on Earth, so, if methane is found on another planet or moon, then some scientists and news agencies will inevitably promote the possibility that alien life has been found.

NASA admitted that methane can be produced by other means, such as the interaction between rocks and water, but evolutionists are so desperate to prove that life evolved elsewhere in the universe that mere speculation is cause for excitement.

[Photo credit: NASA/ JPL-Calthech/ MSSS]

According to Paul Mahaffy of NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center, “With our current measurements, we have no way of telling if the methane source is biology or geology, or even ancient or modern.”

A follow-on experiment was conducted, and, according to reports, the methane level dropped significantly (1 part per billion), back down to normal levels. Researchers think the spike in methane was a transient plume that occurs seasonally, but it’s still a mystery because they don’t know what causes it or where it came from.

These findings are interesting because, back in 2013, scientists thought they detected plumes of methane, but then backed off, announcing that there was no trace of methane on Mars, and that the maximum they’d expect to find would equal no more than 1.3 parts per billion. That was disappointing news then, and the latest news is equally disappointing… although they haven’t given up.

In fact, scientists are also excited about studying Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, an ocean world covered in ice. Scientists have found high concentrations of carbon dioxide and hydrogen there, and they believe it has similar pH, salinity and temperature as Earth’s oceans. That means scientists consider it ripe for life, and hold out hope that someday they’ll be able to detect something as tiny as a microbe. According to Lucas Fifer, a doctoral student at University of Washington, “This bodes well for possible life, too.”

I’m skeptical about there being life beyond what has originated on Earth. There’s really no evidence for alien life, and no good reason to suspect it exists. Ideology is the dominant factor for such belief, and naturalism a chief contributor (not science), as well as the occult. Without an adherence to naturalism- a philosophy that only takes into account natural elements and forces, while excluding the supernatural- the need for aliens is diminished. I personally love astronomy and space exploration, but the resources used to detect life could be better spent elsewhere. I’d rather see the money spent on hard science rather than a justification from naturalism.