Aliens may travel through space on METEORS – suggesting humans may not have originated on Earth, says new study

ALIEN species could be bouncing meteors through space and silently colonizing the galaxy, a fringe theory suggests.

It’s a concept known as panspermia, and it resembles how plant species can migrate when their seeds are spread by birds.

The hunt for alien life is difficult – especially when scientists aren’t sure what they’re looking for.

But two astronomers, Harrison B. Smith and Lana Sinapayen, decided to focus less on what life would be like and more on what life would do to survive.

If life is less viable on an exoplanet, alien life capable of panspermia will try elsewhere.

And it can be done by piggybacking on meteorites or other celestial bodies, the pair write in a new study, which is awaiting peer review.

If the conditions are right, life can thrive.

With the new life, the new planet would begin to resemble the ‘home’ planet of the alien life forms – in the same way that Earth changed according to humans.

Smith and Sinapayen aim to identify potential biosignatures that scientists can use to detect life on other planets in the distance.

For example, there is much more oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere today than there would be if life did not exist.

This is what makes our watery world appear so green to distant observers.

Extraterrestrial species capable of panspermia would attempt to make the same changes on every planet they encounter.

Cosmic chaos

Our universe is incredibly chaotic.

And although the galaxy we call home is currently largely peaceful, it suffered a violent past long before humans existed.

Martian meteorites have been found on Earth dating back to these formative years.

Scientists are confident in life’s ability to “find a way.”

An attempt at life on one exoplanet may fail, but it may succeed on the next – it’s about finding those conditions for survival.

But theory suggests that life need not begin on your “home” planet.

Instead, life could have flourished on exoplanet number one, two, three, or 4,000.

It’s an interesting concept, especially when we look at our own existence on this blue rock of ours.