Failure of Viking to detect life, despite billions spent on research since the beginning of the space age and over optimistic statements by scientists, sparked public disappointment and manifested in two decades of reduced public funding for the effort.

This was a mistake NASA didn't want to make again. NASA describes its methodology as a careful, staged approach to avoid false positives and ensure scientific accuracy. Unsaid, but obvious, is also the need to avoid another Viking public relations disaster and maintain funding for exploration.

There's no question searching for extraterrestrial life needs to be characterized by deliberate, incremental steps rather than a fast-paced hunt, primarily due to the immense technical challenges, high costs, and the rigorous scientific standards required to confirm such a monumental discovery. But on missions like exploring Titan that occur once every two or three decades, why not at least try for a potential Hail Mary?

Note: The Martian meteorite maggots in the 90s you mentioned you might recall were actually thought to be fossils, not anything living. That made them more difficult to determine if their origin was biological.

I'll keep searching for the articles I read so long ago but again, this isn't something I just dreamed up. It was written by science and/or space reporters. And it makes sense given publicly funded science is NOT immune to politics.