Weird passage in a book

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/item.asp?Item=978067931402&Catalog=Books&Ntt=dyer&N=35&Lang=en&Section=books&zxac=1

This guy wrote a book called, "War" that became a PBS series.
In the book above, he makes reference to balloon tests done at 41km
up. The balloons brought back microbe samples. According to "some"
the microbes must have come from space as it was impossible using
known wind circulation to account for them at that altitude.
This was used to further the idea of pan spermia.
Does anyone know if they ever tested the genetics of these microbes?
The book didn't go into that.
-Rich
.