SCIENTISTS may be leaping up and down about their discovery of possible life on Mars, but lesser mortals may find the likely micro-fossil remains less earth-shattering.

It has taken scientists 12 years to decide that what looks like a scratch on a rock points to "strong circumstantial evidence of possible early Martian life." It might be the stuff of "Jurassic Park" but far more impressive, frankly, is the testimony of people like Horwich man Phil Catterall who videod a UFO. Sane testimony like his, and the first officer featured on TV who saw a strange craft as his plane approached Manchester Airport, have long been dismissed by scientists. Perhaps now is the time for the experts to come clean about the hundreds of reported sightings, and either give explanations or more credence to personal evidence.

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