Did NASA detect a hint of life on Venus in 1978, and not realize it?

Jul 27, 2020
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Quoting from the article:

"The scientists also found definitive evidence for atoms of phosphorus in the atmosphere, which likely came from a heavier gas such as phosphine."

Since this data was based on mass spectrometry, one wonders why a positive determination for phosphine was not made. It seems likely that noise in the data made such a determination impossible. That would be the same story we just heard from the radio telescopes "detecting" phosphine. There are other volatile forms of phosphorous which could also explain the findings.

They also claim "hints" of other compounds possibly formed from life. In this biz, hints are not even close to empirical data, i.e. results that are real and believable.

Looks like we will have to wait for more advanced missions to Venus to detect or reject life. These are just the kind of results that NASA et al. use to obtain funding for major space projects.

One thing seems certain, if they find life on Venus, it is likely all female!