Report of Snowballs in Space Disputed by Other Researchers

The much-ballyhooed idea that giant snowballs are continually striking the Earth, releasing water vapor into the atmosphere, is nothing more than the result of experimental artifacts, two teams of researchers reported at the American Geophysical Union meeting. Louis Frank of the University of Iowa reported photographing the snowballs in May, but teams from the University of Washington and the University of Arizona argued that he was seeing instrument interference similar to “static you hear on your hi-fi.”

Other researchers also argued that the comet trails, if they are real, should be visible in the night sky and should produce visible impact craters on the moon. Neither is the case. Frank, however, said he has new photographs that eliminate the possibility of static and that still show the presence of the comets.