[2] These claims were controversial from the beginning, and the wider scientific community ultimately rejected the hypothesis once all the unusual features in the meteorite had been explained without requiring life to be present.

Despite there being no convincing evidence of Martian life, the initial paper and the enormous scientific and public attention caused by it are considered turning points in the history of the developing science of astrobiology.

[3] ALH 84001 was found on the Allan Hills Far Western Icefield during the 1984–85 season, by Roberta Score, Lab Manager of the Antarctic Meteorite Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center.

[15] A later study in January 2022 concluded that ALH84001 did not contain Martian life; the discovered organic molecules were found to be associated with abiotic processes (i.e., "serpentinization and carbonation reactions that occurred during the aqueous alteration of basalt rock by hydrothermal fluids") produced on the very early Mars 4 billion years ago instead.

[16][17] On August 6, 1996, a team of researchers led by NASA scientists including lead author David S. McKay announced that the meteorite may contain trace evidence of life from Mars.

If the structures had been fossilized lifeforms, as was proposed by the so-called biogenic hypothesis of their formation, they would have been the first solid evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial life, aside from the chance of their origin being terrestrial contamination.

[3] In January 2010, a team of scientists at Johnson Space Center, including McKay, argued that since their original paper was published in November 2009, the biogenic hypothesis has been further supported by the discovery of three times the original amount of fossil-like data, including more "biomorphs" (suspected Martian fossils), inside two additional Martian meteorites, as well as more evidence in other parts of the Allan Hills meteorite itself.

[24] Features of ALH84001 that have been interpreted as suggesting the presence of microfossils include: The 2001 mystery-thriller novel Deception Point by Dan Brown, about a discovered meteorite that seems to prove the existence of extraterrestrial life, was inspired by ALH84001.