Quote:

A balloon returned from a high-altitude flight this year covered in microscopic life forms which seemed not to be of this world, and reignited the debate over whether life on Earth actually began here, or somewhere else. This year, other scientists have argued that life originated on Mars, due to a mineral found in Martian meteorites, thought to be crucial to the genesis of life. Another experiment showed that amino acids could have arrived in impacts with comets, which suggests life might be widespread in the solar system. But a new book by American ecologist Dr Ellis Silver argues that humans may well not be from Earth - and may have arrived separately. Silver offers arguments, based on human physiology, that suggest we may not have evolved alongside other life on Earth, but arrived from elsewhere, brought here by aliens as recently as a few tens of thousands of years ago. Silver, an environmentalist  who is currently working with the effort to clean plastic debris from the Pacific, says his book aims to provoke debate, and is based on scientific work on the difference between humans and other animals. “The Earth approximately meets our needs as a species, but perhaps not as strongly as whoever brought us here initially thought,” Silver said in an interview with Yahoo news. “Lizards can sunbathe for as long as they like, and many of them do. We can just about get away with it for a week or two. But day after day in the sun? Forget it." "You might as well just lie down on the freeway and wait for a bus to hit you, we are dazzled by the sun, which is also odd, says Silver, most animals are not." Silver claims that some chronic illnesses that plague the human race - such as bad backs - could be a sign we evolved on a world with lower gravity. Silver points to other unique human traits, such as the fact that babies’ heads are so large that women have trouble giving birth, in earlier eras, this was often fatal for mother, child or both. “No other truly native species on this planet has this problem,” he says. Silver also points out to the “extra” 223 genes in human beings, which are not found in any other species, and to the lack of a fossil “missing link”. Silver chose not to publish in a scientific imprint, wanting to inspire open debate. Reviewers have compared Silver to other space-gazing theorists such as Erich von Däniken, while others have said, “it is possible to drive a coach and horses through several of his arguments.” Silver also claims that the human race has defects that mark us out as being possibly “not of this world”. “We are all chronically ill,” says Silver. “Indeed, if you can find a single person who is 100% fit and healthy and not suffering from some (perhaps hidden or unstated) condition or disorder (there's an extensive list in the book) I would be extremely surprised, I have not been able to find anyone.” “I believe that many of our problems stem from the simple fact that our internal body clocks have evolved to expect a 25 hour day (this has been proven by sleep researchers), but the Earth's day is only 24 hours." "This is not a modern condition, the same factors can be traced all the way back through mankind's history on Earth.” Silver does not suggest one answer, but a possibility that early pre-humans such as homo erectus were crossbred with another species. He also suggests several possible origins, including Alpha Centauri. “Mankind is supposedly the most highly developed species on the planet, yet is surprisingly unsuited and ill-equipped for Earth's environment: harmed by sunlight, a strong dislike for naturally occurring (raw) foods, ridiculously high rates of chronic disease, and more." Plus there's a prevailing feeling among many people that they don't belong here or that something "just isn't right". “This suggests (to me at least) that mankind may have evolved on a different planet, and we may have been brought here as a highly developed species. One reason for this, discussed in the book, is that the Earth might be a prison planet, since we seem to be a naturally violent species, and we're here until we learn to behave ourselves.” “Humans are not from Earth was published mainly to gauge reaction from readers and to provoke thought, particularly among those who might not have considered such a possibility before.”

Quote:

Ellis hopes that readers will contact him with more evidence for a more extensive follow-up work. The claim that bacteria are arriving from space has also caused controversy, and revived the idea of “panspermia”, where life from Earth might have “pollinated” other planets nearby.. "There is probably truth to the report that they find curious stuff in the atmosphere," Chris McKay, an astrobiologist at NASA said. "The jump to the conclusion that it is alien life is a big jump and would require quite extraordinary proof." Professor Wainwright and his colleagues at the University of Sheffield aim to conduct further tests. “In the absence of a mechanism by which large particles like these can be transported to the stratosphere, we can only conclude that the biological entities originated from space," Wainwright added. "Our conclusion then is that life is continually arriving to Earth from space, life is not restricted to this planet and it almost certainly did not originate here." Silver’s more radical idea is presented as polemic, intended to inspire argument.. “Initial reaction has been positive, although one reviewer thought it was a parody, while another found the writing style heavily dictatorial,” he admits. The debate over the origin of life looks set to intensify. Simulations on supercomputers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the U.S. have found that amino acids, the building blocks of life, could have arrived on Earth via comets. This would suggest that life might be found elsewhere in our solar system, or even beyond. Nir Goldman suggests that the simple molecules found in comets (such as water, ammonia, and carbon dioxide) could have supplied the raw materials, and the impact with early Earth could have “ignited” a prebiotic reaction. A series of experiments where projectiles were fired into a cometary ice mixtures formed amino acids - the building blocks of life.     "These results confirm our earlier predictions of impact synthesis of prebiotic material, where the impact itself can yield life-building compounds," Goldman said. "These results present a significant step forward in our understanding of the origin of the building blocks of life. This increases the chances of life originating and being widespread throughout our solar system," Goldman said. Silver wants to pose the question of whether humans arrived separately, “Recent scientific reports suggest that life itself might not be from Earth but might have arrived here on meteors or comets. This primitive form of life then evolved over billions of years into what we find on Earth today. “My thesis proposes that mankind did not evolve from that particular strain of life, but evolved elsewhere and was transported to Earth (as fully evolved Homo sapiens) between 60,000 and 200,000 years ago.” “Little in the book can be proven - it can only be supposed or suspected. But there is more than enough indisputable evidence to make further study worthwhile. http://www.adguk-blog.com/2013/10/humans-came-from-another-planet-new.html#.Uky1nZ3UpY8.facebook

Makes some very interesting points, and it would explain why Mankind is so surprisingly unsuited and ill-equipped for Earth's environment: harmed by sunlight, a strong dislike for naturally occurring (raw) foods, ridiculously high rates of chronic disease, and more compared.

Interesting reading.  I'm keen to read the book.
At a very young age I remember thinking it was curious that humans needed to clothe themselves for protection etc...  Something the other life forms don't have to do.  So much of this planet is ill suited for natural survival, for humanity. 

There are some posters on here who appear to come from another planet.  ;D

As far as the microscopic "lifeforms"  from the high altitude balloon, the report said that they "may" contain DNA.

As far as I'm concerned, that's a wishy washy statement. It's easy to conduct the test, and it's easy to characterise the DNA and find out of that DNA is terrestrial or not.

So does it contain DNA or not? 

I don't mind the proposal that comets and carbonaceous chondrites may contain the precursors to life. That makes perfect sense.

It's actually more likely that simple cells could have originated in the relatively safe environment inside a comet than on Mars, but there are all kinds of issues with this life "taking" in an entirely different environment in the early Earth.

In fact, Aluminium 26 may have provided a heat source for life to eventuate in the early solar system.

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1977Metic..12..459H

muso wrote on Oct 5^th, 2013 at 8:43am:

There are some posters on here who appear to come from another planet.  ;D

hahaha Yes, I think I would like to be included in that number! Earth is a shameful place really with respect humanity!  But that's an entire topic on it's own!

Jaqs wrote on Oct 5^th, 2013 at 9:21am:

muso wrote on Oct 5th, 2013 at 8:43am: There are some posters on here who appear to come from another planet.  ;D hahaha Yes, I think I would like to be included in that number! Earth is a shameful place really with respect humanity!  But that's an entire topic on it's own!

Hullo Jaq... I see blahoo finally went belly up  ;D

bloodyhell wrote on Oct 5^th, 2013 at 10:10am:

Jaqs wrote on Oct 5th, 2013 at 9:21am: muso wrote on Oct 5th, 2013 at 8:43am: There are some posters on here who appear to come from another planet.  ;D hahaha Yes, I think I would like to be included in that number! Earth is a shameful place really with respect humanity!  But that's an entire topic on it's own! Hullo Jaq... I see blahoo finally went belly up  ;D

Hello BH, yes so I believe - may they rest in peace! lol You have mail. :)

http://beforeitsnews.com/beyond-science/2013/10/have-you-ever-seen-anything-like-this-who-or-what-do-these-ancient-statues-represent-2443902.html

Have You Ever Seen Anything Like This? Who Or What Do These Ancient Statues Represent?

Monday, October 14, 2013 3:00

Temehea Tohua is located in Nuku Hiva. It is the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. This beautiful yet unique island is home to some of the most strangest statues ever seen. Several statues seem to represent beings that do not appear to be from this world, but what are they really? Artists’ imagination or something that was seen at a certain period in time at the island?

http://beforeitsnews.com/mediadrop/uploads/2013/42/5569ec0c863a68e4a39d53482b3603a5ee44f6dd.jpg

At first glance they seem just seem like “big statues” but upon closer inspection, interesting details are revealed; Big eyes, large elongated heads, small bodies/huge bodies, and other several strange looking features that make you wonder what could have inspired the artist to carve such non-human features?

http://beforeitsnews.com/mediadrop/uploads/2013/42/afbeb57339aa344a9952aacedd7038c973695ae0.jpg

Nuku Hiva is the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. It was formerly also known as Île Marchand and Madison Island.

                                                    Location of Nuku Hiva in Pacific

http://beforeitsnews.com/mediadrop/uploads/2013/42/6e921b68e7abfcc0ab60ec19ca5997912d84b393.jpg

Herman Melville wrote his book Typee based on his experiences in the Taipivai valley in the eastern part of Nuku Hiva. Robert Louis Stevenson’s first landfall on his voyage on the Casco, was at Hatiheu, on the north side of Nuku Hiva, in 1888. Nuku Hiva was also the site for Survivor: Marquesas, the fourth installment of the popular CBS reality television show in the US

                                                        Nuku Hiva warrior 1813

http://beforeitsnews.com/mediadrop/uploads/2013/42/e733731f7b1e2cb618d7961f368ce942279a95e9.jpg

Nuku Hiva was, in ancient times, the site of two provinces, Te I’i covering somewhat more than the western two thirds of the island, and Tai Pi, covering the eastern third.

Latest studies indicate that the first people to arrive here came from Samoa around 2000 years ago, only later colonizing Tahiti, Hawaii, The Cook Islands and New Zealand. The legend has it that Ono, the god of creation, promised his wife to build a house in one day, so he gathered together land and created these islands, which are all named after parts of the house, Nuku Hiva being the roof. Everything he had left over he threw to one side and created a dump which is called Ua Huka. From these supposed origins the population rose to an untenable size; first European estimates vary from 50,000 to 100,000

http://beforeitsnews.com/mediadrop/uploads/2013/42/ea46720b385f8ec9c86444af71ae073cd7faf2ec.jpg

Food became of prime importance. Breadfruit was the staple, but taro, plaintain and manioc also played a big part. As for meat, fish was the main source, but even so was limited because of the quantity needed to feed so many mouths. Pigs, chickens and dogs were also cultivated, and hunted when they took to the wilds.

                                                                  Breadfruit

http://beforeitsnews.com/mediadrop/uploads/2013/42/8e7b6473d795c7bce991e465e9da89a6702020e6.jpg

It is still debated why many Polynesian tribes or nations practiced cannibalism. Indeed a large number of Pacific Islands residents did so in pre-historic times. One theory is that cannibalism was more for food than ritual, although ritual played a big part. An offering to the gods was called Ika, which means fish, and a sacrifice was caught and, just like a fish, was hung by a fishhook in the sacred place. Those to be eaten were tied and hung up in trees until needed, then had their brains bashed out on execution blocks with a club. Women and children seem to have been cannibalized just for food, whereas warriors killed in battle were offerings to the gods and were eaten by their conquerors to absorb their power; their skulls were kept by their slayers for the same reason.