It was a science fiction fantasy come true: Ten years ago this summer, NASA announced the discovery of life on Mars.

At a Washington, D.C., news conference, scientists showed magnified pictures of a four-pound Martian meteorite riddled with wormy blobs that looked like bacterial colonies. The researchers explained how they had pried numerous clues from the rock, all strongly supporting their contention that microscopic creatures once occupied its nooks and crannies.

It was arguably the space agency’s most imagination-gripping moment since Apollo. Space buffs and NASA officials said that it just might be the scientific discovery of the century.

“If the results are verified,” the late Carl Sagan pronounced, “it is a turning point in human history.”

The meteorite from Mars labeled ALH84001 sits under a microscope at a Johnson Space Center lab in Houston in this 1996 photo. Researchers at NASA and three universities claimed to have found organic compounds they said were deposited by primitive life forms on Mars, but many scientists disagree with the claims.

Ten years later, the results have not been verified. Skeptics have found nonbiological explanations for every piece of evidence that was presented on Aug. 6, 1996. And though they still vigorously defend their claim, the NASA scientists who advanced it now stand alone in their belief.

“We certainly have not convinced the community, and that’s been a little bit disappointing,” said David McKay, a NASA biochemist and leader of the team that started the scientific episode.

But even though the majority of his colleagues don’t buy his “life on Mars” theory – McKay’s own brother, also a NASA scientist, is one of his most prominent critics – many say they respect him and greatly appreciate his efforts.

The announcement and the technical paper that followed it practically created exobiology, the scientific field that investigates the potential for life on other planets.

Debating the claim has helped researchers develop standards that will eventually prove useful for evaluating the presence of life in other Martian meteorites or a sample from the red planet. It has given the scientific community ideas about exactly where on the planet they would most like to scoop up a sample, should they ever get to retrieve one.

And it is undeniable that McKay and his colleagues have drawn attention to what is – whether it contains evidence of life or not – a very interesting rock.