Government Concealing Evidence of Life on Jupiter, Source Says Washington DC -- A government source claims that the recent Galileo mission to Jupiter detected evidence of life in the planet's atmosphere. Data transmitted back to Earth 60 days ago has led scientists to conclude that there is significant organic activity in "warm pockets" of the lower atmosphere. Once this information was disclosed among internal government agencies, the Galileo mission was immediately "Classified" and all further release of public information was halted. The source says they brought the story directly to America Online "because the government was likely to clamp down and prevent any major media from publishing the facts," according to the source. Experts have long speculated that the government has been withholding evidence that extraterrestrial life exists. President Clinton promised during the 1992 presidential campaign to release any information concerning evidence of extra terrestrials if elected. However, the issue has been mysteriously absent from this administration's agenda. ________ in a related article: Pasedena CA -- In an announcement bound to produce shockwaves around the world, a government source disclosed a report which states that data from the Galileo Mission to study the planet Jupiter has lead to the conclusion that the lower atmosphere of Jupiter is "teaming with life." The Galileo spacecraft recently launched a probe directly into the atmosphere of Jupiter to study such things as atmospheric gasses, weather, and radiation. The information gathered during the probe's trip will take years to analyze, but the source states that early data has detected the presence of organic chemicals and gasses that are the "signature of life." Scientists have long speculated that the atmosphere of Jupiter may contain alien organisms. "The concept is not that shocking when you consider the many forms of life that habituate the harshest environments on Earth," stated John Furtheminer, Ph.D. noted exobiologist. "We find anaerobic bacteria deep in the ice of Antarctica, and tube worms in the crushing depths of the ocean. While the upper layers of the atmosphere are composed of very cold gasses, the mid and lower layers are warmer and in fact are much like the eprimordial soupi of Earth a couple of billion years ago. Many of us have felt that the probability of life in the lower Jovian atmosphere was quite high." The bigger surprise was the revelation that the Galileo probe carried an onboard camera. NASA never publicly announced that photography was to be a part of the mission leading to the speculation that part of the mission was "Classified" due to strong evidence of the possibility that life would be discovered. This information is bound to further feed the criticism by those who believe that the government has routinely concealed evidence of extraterrestrial life like the famous Roswell alien specimens rumored to be in storage at the mysterious Area 51, a classified military facility in Nevada. What is Jovian life like? "I think we will see the kind of diversity we see on Earth," stated Furtheminer. "I would expect everything from microscopic organisms to great floating membranes that thrive in the windy atmosphere much like jellyfish floating in the ocean currents." The government source could not confirm that pictures of Jovian organisms actually exist. _______ Government Declares Life on Jupiter Story "Hoax" Washington D.C. - Government officials have denied stories about the discovery of life on Jupiter, calling recent reports an April Fools "hoax" perpetrated by online service America Online. The popular online service released a story this morning that scant life forms had been found in the atmosphere of Jupiter during the Galileo Mission study. America Online cited an unnamed "government source" who told them they brought the story directly to the popular Vienna VA-based online service out of fears that the government would force traditional media to suppress the story. The Galileo spacecraft is on a two-year orbit of the Jovian atmosphere, recording activity on Jupiter and its four largest moons. Reports earlier today on America Online announced that data from the Galileo Mission pointed toward the existence of life on Jupiter. The spacecraft recently sent a probe into Jupiter's fiery atmosphere to conduct scientific experiments. But the extreme temperatures in the Jovian atmosphere make Jupiter an unlikely candidate for hosting biology as we know it. "The conditions on Jupiter are so extreme that the presence of anything organic is highly doubtful," said Dr. Carl Lederman, Professor of Astrophysics and specialist at the National Space Research and Development Center. Lederman doubted the scientific credibility of exobiologist John Furtheminer's remarks suggesting the presence of alien organisms. "There are extremist views in every field," he said. "Everyone wants to be the one who discovers new life." Still, the question of why the information from the Galileo mission has stopped flowing remains unanswered. Also unanswered is speculation that Galileo had a "classified" camera on board. Officials refused to comment explicitly about whether a camera was on board the Galileo spacecraft. "Photographs were not formally scheduled as part of the atmospheric probe's mission," stated a government source. _______ EXPERT: What is Life on Jupiter Like? (Editor's Note: In response to questions from members, we contacted noted exobiologist Dr. Furtheminer and asked him to elaborate on likely characteristic of life on Jupiter in the event that recent reports are true.) By John Furtheminer Ph.D. The announcement that the Galileo mission discovered organic life on Jupiter has been met with both excitement and skepticism in scientific circles. Jupiter is the fifth planet in our solar system and by far the largest. Approximately 1400 Earths could fit inside of Jupiter. Unlike Earth which consists of mostly of water and about 25% solid land mass, Jupiter is largely a giant ball of hydrogen, helium, methane, ammonia and water. This is exactly the kind of soup that scientists believe existed on ancient earth when organic life originated. Thus, it's not beyond reason to expect Jupiter to support more complex organic compounds such as amino acids, the building blocks of life. Even if carbon, a key element is not native to Jupiter, it could have been introduced over time by collisions with other celestial bodies like last yearis spectacular meeting with Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. While the upper atmosphere of Jupiter is very cold (-125x C/-193x F,) under the clouds of frozen ammonia radiation warms the atmosphere to a balmy 17x C (about 63x F.) It is in this layer that primitive yet highly organized life forms may have evolved. And it is at this altitude that the Galileo probe most probably snapped the very first pictures of extraterrestrial life. We would expect to find a great diversity of biological life in the warm pockets of the Jovian atmosphere. The scale however, would be much greater than on Earth. Think of giant airborne creatures many hundreds of feet long floating in the wind. Some might resemble large parachutes, or hot air balloons continually circulating between the warm updrafts and cooler sinking gases. Others could be like huge, ultralite gliding membranes, much like the wing of a bat. Can we expect to see pictures of these giant life forms beamed back from Galileo? It's possible. While it was not publicized that the probe was carrying a camera, it seems unlikely that NASA would send a probe without one. After all, Viking landed on the surface of Mars in 1976 and transmitted beautiful pictures of the Martian surface. Think of how much technology has improved in the last 20 years. Why then the big secret? Those who have closely followed the Roswell incident of 1947 know that the Federal Government has a long history of covering up the existence of extraterrestrial life. Perhaps the age of silence is coming to an end. _____ AOL Executive Denies Hoax, Disputes Government Claims Vienna VA -- Senior executives at AOL are disputing a government claim that the report of life on Jupiter is an April Fool's Day "hoax perpetrated by online service America Online." "This one will be written in the history books as "Jupitergate," stated Ted Leonsis, President of AOL Services Company, "Federal officials sooner or later are going to have to come to grips with the fact that we have documents, they have been verified, and the public has a right to know." Earlier today, AOL released an exclusive story that a government source had provided documents which show the Galileo Mission to Jupiter had detected evidence of organic life in the planet's atmosphere. Government officials quickly responded with a flat denial accusing AOL of a hoax. Officials also denied that there was a camera on board the spacecraft's probe. The Galileo spacecraft is on a two-year orbit of the Jovian atmosphere, recording activity on Jupiter and its four largest moons. Reports earlier today on America Online announced that data from the Galileo Mission pointed toward the existence of life on Jupiter. The spacecraft recently sent a probe into Jupiter's fiery atmosphere to conduct scientific experiments. "It's unfortunate that this story broke on April Fool's Day, " said Leonsis, "because people are speculating that this is some kind of a joke. Once the furor dies down a bit and the facts come out, people will see we did the right thing." Scientists and UFO pundits alike have hypothesized that the government has hard evidence of the existence extraterrestrial life. However, the tradition is to keep this information classified for "national security" reasons. The Roswell Incident of 1947 is perhaps the most publicized. Many believe that the government is still holding alien specimens of the "Gray Variety" in their super-secret Area 51 facility.