ET Stayed At the Ramada

Story by:: Larry Knowles
(Nov. 29) -- A Michigan man claiming to possess an ice meteorite rich in extraterrestrial organisms will announce in a news conference Tuesday that alien life, at long last, has been found. The announcement will take place at a Ramada Inn in South Haven, Mich.

"I prayed for Jesus to send me an ice meteorite, because I knew it would be quite valuable," Duane P. Snyder, 65, said of the chunk of ice he found on a South Haven roadway in 2000.

Valuable indeed. For centuries, humankind has sought confirmation that it isn't alone in the universe. If Snyder's claim is accurate, the South Haven resident will be catapulted to worldwide fame, and the Ramada Inn, 50 miles west of Kalamazoo, will likely become an iconic landmark for the human race.

Duane P. Snyder

E.T. may phone home -- from a Ramada Inn in South Haven, Mich. The red object above was found embedded in a chunk of ice in 2000. The owner of the chunk, Duane P. Snyder, believes the squiggle is an alien life form and will discuss his finding at the Ramada Inn this week.

In March 2000, Snyder noticed several chunks of ice on the road near his home. Since it hadn't snowed for weeks, he deduced that the ice must have been an ice meteorite. After gathering up a few pieces and stashing them in his freezer, he spent the next 10 years trying to convince scientists to analyze the frozen mass.

However, Snyder received little interest from the scientific community, and in September, he paid to have chemical analyses performed by two commercial laboratories. What the labs found -- that samples contained particles with unique molecular structures -- convinced Snyder that he indeed had in his possession alien life forms.

He has set up a website, snydericyrite.com, where people can purchase the lab reports and photos of the particles. He's given the particles descriptive names, such as "Red Watani Worm," "Six Legged Life Form" and "Clear Snakelike Life Form."

In a phone interview with AOL News, Snyder emphasized that more rigorous analysis is needed to determine just what sort of alien life form he has, adding that the prohibitive cost has so far prevented him from getting tests done.

"I'm hoping some scientist calls and says, 'Hey, Duane, I'll do it for you,'" Snyder said.

Last week, Snyder took strides toward getting that call. He issued a press release, under the headline "Ice Meteorite Found With Extraterrestrial Life-Forms," in which he announced Tuesday's news conference.

The release received worldwide distribution and, according to Snyder, media outlets from Germany, Mexico and Sweden plan to cover the story.

All the attention means that, for a brief moment, the Ramada Inn in South Haven will be at the center of the world -- or, in this case, universe. And that has the staff at the Ramada Inn slightly anxious.

"We haven't had a chance to speak with Mr. Snyder," Saima Farrukh, director of operations for the Ramada Inn in South Haven, told AOL News. "And we're all kind of curious to know what kind of life form he has."

BIBRamada Inn