Claims in post that went viral date back to 2015 and are now labeled as false information.
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The post has since been labeled as false information that has been “checked by independent fact-checkers,” notes a screenshot of the Facebook post.
A tweet six years ago — this time posted on notallowedto.com, which Media Bias/Fact Check calls a questionable source that, among other things, exhibits extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies and/or poor or no sourcing to credible information — made a similar claim.
The linked article, which has 645,700 shares, noted the THC-containing meteorite was found in the Nevada desert, perhaps meaning the Mojave Desert, in 2010. The article even said researchers were analyzing the meteorite fragments “in search of micro-bacterial data.”
It also quoted a fictional astrophysicist, who supposedly headed the university research team, as saying “it gives a whole new meaning to the term getting ‘high’” and that the discovery could “revolutionize our modern understanding of psychoactive agents.”
The article further noted tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) was found in a meteorite fragment in 2009 by a research team from the University of Mexico.
According to USA Today, similar claims that NASA found THC on meteorite fragments have been shared on YouTube, meme sites and blog pages. Again, these are all false.
If tempted to believe THC can exist on meteors, and survive its trip to Earth, consider that many move at about 30,000 miles per hour (48,280 kilometres/hour) and can reach temperatures of 3,000 F (about 1,650 C), according to Space.com.
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