Red Rain may be extraterrestrial -- news link

THE RED RAIN PHENOMENON OF KERALA AND ITS POSSIBLE EXTRATERRESTRIAL ORIGIN
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(This is for real. I'm putting it here for future reference. Enjoy. Chase the links if you like.)
 
The present study of red rain phenomenon of Kerala shows that the particles, which caused the red colouration of the red rain, are not possibly of terrestrial origin. It appears that these particles may
have originated from the atmospheric disintegration of cometary meteor fragments, which are presumably containing dense collections of red rain particles. These particles have much similarity with biological cells though they are devoid of DNA. Are these cell like particles a kind of alternate life from space? If the red rain particles are biological cells and are of cometary origin, then this phenomena can be a case of cometary panspermia (Hoyle & Wickramasinghe, 1999)
were comets can breed microorganisms in their radiogenically heated interiors and can act as vehicles for spreading life in the universe.
       --Godfrey Louis and A. Santhosh Kumar, Astrophysics and Space Science
 

http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/astro-ph/pdf/0601/0601022.pdf

School of Pure & Applied Physics, Mahatma Gandhi University,
Kottayam-686560, India; E-mail: godfreylouis@vsnl.com
1 January, 2006

Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/astro-ph/pdf/0601/0601022.pdf

Abstract

A red rain phenomenon occurred in Kerala, India starting from 25th July 2001, in which the rainwater appeared coloured in various localized places that are spread over a few hundred kilometers in Kerala. Maximum cases were reported during the first 10 days and isolated cases were found to occur for about 2 months. The striking red colouration of the rainwater was found to be due to the suspension of microscopic red particles having the appearance of biological cells. These particles have no similarity with usual desert dust. An estimated minimum quantity of 50,000 kg of red particles has fallen from the sky through red rain. An analysis of this strange phenomenon further shows that the conventional atmospheric transport processes like dust storms etc.
cannot explain this phenomenon. The electron microscopic study of the red particles shows
fine cell structure indicating their biological cell like nature. EDAX analysis shows that
the major elements present in these cell like particles are carbon and oxygen. Strangely,
a test for DNA using Ethidium Bromide dye fluorescence technique indicates absence of
DNA in these cells.
In the context of a suspected link between a meteor airburst event and the red rain, the possibility for the extraterrestrial origin of these particles from cometary fragments is discussed.

1 Introduction

The mysterious red rain phenomena occurred over different parts of Kerala, a State in
India, starting from 25th July 2001. The news reports of this phenomenon appeared in
various newspapers and other media (Nature, 2001)and are currently carried by several websites (Ramakrishnan, 2001; Radhakrishnan, 2001; Surendran, 2001; Solomon, 2001; Nair, 2001). In an unpublished report, Sampath et al. (2001) claimed that the red rain particles were possibly fungal spores from trees. But they also raised several unexplained questions regarding the origin of huge quantity of red particles amounting to several tons and the unexplainable mechanism by which the red particles can reach the rain clouds etc. From the observation of a dust layer in the atmosphere using multiwavelength LIDAR data of 24th and 30th July 2001 above Thiruvananthapuram (8.33 deg N, 77 deg E), Satyanarayana et al. (2004) and Veerabuthiran & Satyanarayana (2003) claimed that the dust generated from desert areas of the west Asian countries was a possible cause of the observed coloured rain. However their study did not address the cause of red rain that continued to occur in Kerala for an extended period of time.
Further, the nature of the red particles, which coloured the red rain, was not examined in their study. In this paper we give a detailed account of the geographical and time distribution patterns of the red rain phenomenon of Kerala and also provide the photomicrograph study of the red particles. The possible biological nature of the red rain particles is also investigated through electron microscopy and elemental analysis. The result of the test for DNA using Ethidium Bromide dye fluorescence
technique is also reported in this paper. It is also discussed how this phenomenon cannot be explained using ideas like desert dust storm activity. Considering the suspected connection of the
red rain phenomenon with a meteor air burst event, it is further discussed, how the red rain phenomenon can be explained as due to the fall of fragments from a fragile cometary meteor that presumably contain a dense collection of red cells.

[...]

10 Discussion

When the red rain reports are viewed in the background of the normal rainfall data the pattern that emerges is that of a sudden starting of red rain phenomenon after 25th July 2001 and then a decay of red rain cases with time. The red rain started in the State during a period of normal rain, which indicate that the red particles are not something, which accumulated in the atmosphere during a dry period and washed down on a first rain. It was found that several cases of red rain phenomenon
have occurred on rainy days after and during normal rains. Thus it cannot be again assumed that the red particles came from accumulation in the lower atmosphere. The vessels kept in open space also collected red rain. Thus it is not something that is washed out from rooftops or tree leaves. Considering the huge quantity of red particles fallen over a wide geographic area, it is impossible to imagine that these are some pollen or fungal spores which have originated from trees.

The nature of the red particles rules out the possibility that these are dust particles from a distant desert source. These red particles do not have any similarity with the usual desert dust. This is clearly shown by microscopic study of the particles. Particles of this type are not found in Kerala or nearby place. The origin of these particles is unknown. It is convenient to assume that these particles are something, which got airlifted from a distant source on Earth by some wind system. Several
questions remain unanswered even under such an assumption. One characteristics of each
red rain case is its highly localized appearance. If particles originate from distant desert source then why there were no mixing and thinning out of the particle collection during transport. Why some isolated cases of red rain occurred over an extended period of two months despite the changes in climatic conditions and wind pattern spanning over two months.
It is also unexplainable why there is a concentration of red rain incidences in Kottayam and nearby districts. Above arguments and facts indicate that it is difficult to explain the red rain phenomenon by using usual arguments like dust storms etc.

An examination of the several characteristics of this red rain phenomenon shows that it is possible to explain this by assuming the meteoric origin of the red particles. The red rain phenomenon first started in Kerala after a meteor airburst event, which occurred on 25th July 2001 near Changanacherry in Kottayam district. This meteor airburst is evidenced by the sonic boom experienced by several people during early morning of that day. The first case of red rain occurred in this area few hours after the airburst event. This points to a possible link between the meteor
and red rain. If particle clouds are created in the atmosphere by the fragmentation and
disintegration of a special kind of fragile cometary meteor that presumably contain a dense collection of red particles, then clouds of such particles can mix with the rain clouds to cause red rain. The atmospheric fragmentation of the fragile cometary meteor can be the reason for the geographical distribution of the red rain cases in an elliptical area of size 450 km by 150 km. Maximum cases of red rain occurred in Kottayam and nearby districts (fig. 3). From this, it can be inferred that while falling to the ground at low angle, the meteor has been travelling from north to south in a south-east
direction above Kerala with a final airburst above Kottayam district. During its travel in the
atmosphere it must have released several small fragments, which caused the deposition
of cell clusters in the atmosphere from north to south above Kerala.

An examination of the red rain data shows that more than 85% of the red rain cases occurred during the first 10 days after the airburst event. This delayed time distribution for the first few days can be accounted as due to the slow settling of the microscopic red rain particles in the atmosphere, with a settling rate of a few hundred meters per day. For this the meteor disintegration is expected to
provide a vertical distribution of particles spanning over a few kilometres above the rain clouds. The remaining 15 % of the isolated delayed red rain cases occurred with a delay of up to 60 days, which presumably also reflect gradual settling of the particles in the upper atmosphere.

The biological cell like nature of the red rain particles is revealed by the electron microscopy and elemental analysis. Fine structure and enclosing cellular membranes in the red rain particles as evidenced by TEM is indicative of biological-like cells. The external morphology of the cells as reveled by the SEM is also indicating that the red particles are like biological cells. The optical microscope images also support the idea that these transparent red particles are similar to biological cells. The clear presence of carbon as shown by the elemental analysis indicates the organic
nature of these particles. While these particles have striking morphological similarity with biological cells, the test for DNA gives a negative result, which argues against their biological nature.

The present study of red rain phenomenon of Kerala shows that the particles, which caused the red colouration of the red rain, are not possibly of terrestrial origin. It appears that these particles may have originated from the atmospheric disintegration of cometatory meteor fragments, which are presumably containing dense collections of red rain particles. These particles have much similarity with biological cells though they are devoid of DNA. Are these cell like particles a kind of alternate
life from space? If the red rain particles are biological cells and are of cometary origin, then this phenomena can be a case of cometary panspermia (Hoyle & Wickramasinghe, 1999) were comet can breed microorganisms in their radiogenically heated interiors and can act as vehicles for spreading life in the universe. Future collaborative studies are expected to provide more answers.

FULL PAPER at http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/astro-ph/pdf/0601/0601022.pdf 
Copyright 2006, Astrophysics and Space Science