Amelia Gentleman and Robin McKie Sunday March 5, 2006 The Observer Posted on 03/06/2006 6:59:40 AM PST by S0122017
Red rain could prove that aliens have landed Amelia Gentleman and Robin McKie Sunday March 5, 2006 The Observer
There is a small bottle containing a red fluid on a shelf in Sheffield University's microbiology laboratory. The liquid looks cloudy and uninteresting. Yet, if one group of scientists is correct, the phial contains the first samples of extraterrestrial life isolated by researchers. Inside the bottle are samples left over from one of the strangest incidents in recent meteorological history. On 25 July, 2001, blood-red rain fell over the Kerala district of western India. And these rain bursts continued for the next two months. All along the coast it rained crimson, turning local people's clothes pink, burning leaves on trees and falling as scarlet sheets at some points.
Investigations suggested the rain was red because winds had swept up dust from Arabia and dumped it on Kerala. But Godfrey Louis, a physicist at Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam, after gathering samples left over from the rains, concluded this was nonsense. 'If you look at these particles under a microscope, you can see they are not dust, they have a clear biological appearance.' Instead Louis decided that the rain was made up of bacteria-like material that had been swept to Earth from a passing comet. In short, it rained aliens over India during the summer of 2001.
Not everyone is convinced by the idea, of course. Indeed most researchers think it is highly dubious. One scientist who posted a message on Louis's website described it as 'bullshit'.
But a few researchers believe Louis may be on to something and are following up his work. Milton Wainwright, a microbiologist at Sheffield, is now testing samples of Kerala's red rain. 'It is too early to say what's in the phial,' he said. 'But it is certainly not dust. Nor is there any DNA there, but then alien bacteria would not necessarily contain DNA.'
Critical to Louis's theory is the length of time the red rain fell on Kerala. Two months is too long for it to have been wind-borne dust, he says. In addition, one analysis showed the particles were 50 per cent carbon, 45 per cent oxygen with traces of sodium and iron: consistent with biological material. Louis also discovered that, hours before the first red rain fell, there was a loud sonic boom that shook houses in Kerala. Only an incoming meteorite could have triggered such a blast, he claims. This had broken from a passing comet and shot towards the coast, shedding microbes as it travelled. These then mixed with clouds and fell with the rain. Many scientists accept that comets may be rich in organic chemicals and a few, such as the late Fred Hoyle, the UK theorist, argued that life on Earth evolved from microbes that had been brought here on comets. But most researchers say that Louis is making too great a leap in connecting his rain with microbes from a comet.
For his part, Louis is unrepentant. 'If anybody hears a theory like this, that it is from a comet, they dismiss it as an unbelievable kind of conclusion. Unless people understand our arguments - people will just rule it out as an impossible thing, that extra-terrestrial biology is responsible for this red rain.'
Let's put all factoids in a row (for the ones not reading the science article. You know who you are!)
1) The things look like cells
2) The 'cells' seem to contain proteins
3) In medium the cells multiply, an optimum temperature has been found at 300 degree Celsius.
4) 300 degree Celsius is far higher than any lifeform has yet been found to grow at.
5) The estimated amount that supposedly dropped down is 5 ton
6) The cells don't seem to grow good in solutions of
kitchensalt (NaCl) so they can't come from our oceans
7) They can survive iodine without problem and even seem to use it as food. No known earth microorganism does that.
8) They even survived 380 degree Celsius. Water turns into supercritical vapor at that 250 degree Celsius which raises the pressure in the cooker to about 220 atmosphere.
9) Different cell-cycles where observed, none of them like earth microbes (that i know).
10) New cells are 'growing' inside 'mothercells'. Once reached a certain size they slip out through the membrane and grow further.
11) No DNA was found. Either our techniques fail due to this being such a strange life form, or it uses something other than DNA.
12) The 'cells' absorb UV extremely strong. This could give it a protection against UV since it could prevent the UV from passing the inside of the 'cell' when the outerlayer blocks it. Ofcourse space is loaded with UV.
13) The 'cells' can grow without ANY PHOSPHORUS PRESENT.
No life form on earth can survive without any phosporus.
It is, among else, necessary for instance in construction of new DNA.
Great information! Thanks for the info.
All comets are from this solar system, and none heve been found that are not orbitally coplanar with the earth and the sun. If you have studied Johannes Keppler's work, then you know that it is unlikely that their origin could have been any place other than earth.
Perhaps in time adequate acceptance by peer critics shall prove the worthyness of the study. But that still does not mean something is a fact. Many things are assumed to be factual then latter found not to be the case. But whatever the case, was an interesting article to read.
You posted a few links a while ago about proof that a comet hit Egypt during the time of the exodus.
I was wondering.., if a comet struck egypt, you think it likely that red rain would explain why the rivers and waters where like blood?
So far most comets whose origin was fairly certain came from the Oort-cloud. This is the OUTER-edge of the solar-system, and is practically already outside.
So even if a comet appears to come from the Oort-cloud, it doesn't say anything about the original source for the comet. It would be easy enough for an extrasolar comet to strike the Oort-cloud and be captured.
I'm sure that Buck Rogers believed that to be so ;o) Name one 'extra-solar' comet and win $100 and a ride in a '56 DeSoto.
You posted a few links a while ago about proof that a comet hit Egypt during the time of the exodus.I didn't. There's an old topic (I think it was Blam's) from a few years back, "Moses' Comet", but that didn't pertain to a comet hitting the Earth, if memory serves. :')
This has been done. A percentage of the material is biotic in origin, and some is apparently still living. Whether it is from anyplace other than earth is pure speculation, but it should be noted that even over the Sahara as much as 15% of the airborn material is biotic.
Thanks
Red blood cells also lack DNA. They seem to get by without it for a couple of months.
But not at 300 degree Celsius.
http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/11/04/wmet04.xml&sSheet=/news/2001/11/04/ixhomef.html
Meteor clue to end of Middle East civilisations
The catastrophic effect of these could explain the mystery of why so many early cultures went into sudden decline around 2300 BC.
http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/060104_specksfrm1.htm
“It was reported from a few places that people on the streets found their cloths stained by red raindrops. In a few places the concentration of particles were so great that the rainwater appeared almost like blood.”
:')
Meteor Clue To End Of Middle East Civilisations
The Telegraph (UK) | 11-04-2001 | Robert Matthews
Posted on 01/04/2002 1:50:09 AM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/601395/posts
Slam, bang, thanks Saddam: new meteor theory
The Sunday Telegraph via Sydney Morning Herald | 11/06/01 | Robert Matthews
Posted on 11/05/2001 10:38:35 AM EST by dead
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/564185/posts
Disaster That Struck The Ancients
BBC | 7-26-2001 | Fekri Hassan
Posted on 12/08/2001 5:51:43 PM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/586511/posts
Evidence for Major Impact Events in the late Third Millennium BC
Evidence of Astronomical Aspects of Mankind's Past and Recent Climate Homepage
FR Post 9-4-2 | Timo Niroma
Posted on 09/04/2002 4:48:54 PM PDT by vannrox
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/744698/posts
Going Into The Water: A Survey Of Impact Events And The Coastal Peoples Of South-East North America
Cambridge Conference Network | 1-09-2002
Posted on 01/17/2002 7:08:32 PM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/610489/posts
Given the reporting of a loud noise like a sonic boom, any chance an airplane carrying red blood cells crashed or was blown up?
Full Disclosure: How do you find all the good threads so quick, Right?
Cheers!
50% I am pinged by other FReepers who are so thoughtful as to note what interests others might have, and 50% scanning headlines for keywords with well-worn relations to the few topics I know anything about. If someone else sees them as good threads that probably shows a similar spectrum of interest. Right now I expect a Milosovich thread to scroll by; I have been expecting him to drop dead for the past decade--terminal fat obstruction of the arteries.
Many people not the similarity to red blood cells.
Ofcourse, that is sort of ridiculous if there really fell 50.000 kilos down, and seeing as how several districts reported this rain it seems really seems to be inlikely to be from a single point source as a plane. Anyway, why no planeparts come raining down? I read an article in Newscientist in which someone suggesting a comet splashed a flock of bats to smithereens, mixing their blood with clouds and letting it rain down over a period of 2 months.
Still ridiculous, as bats dont disintegrate when they die but let wings and other parts fall down too. Also, bloodcells (of any mammal) fall apart in normal water after just minutes, and these bad boys survived years in bottles. That is just not normal. Also they survive temperatures of 300oC, which no earth lifeform has ever been found to survive, and multiply by that temperature.
Speaking of bats. If you can find the column from Dave Barry (perhaps in his book Dave Barry Talks Back it is hilarious.
Cheers!
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