Mysterious "Red Rain"
During intense rainy seasons over the past decade, people in India and Sri Lanka have reported a bizarre, blood-red rainfall. When scientists examined the water, they expected to find dust particles, but instead discovered something alive... and possibly not of this Earth. A recent episode of The Unexplained Files on the Science Channel chronicled the controversial case, in which Physicist Godfrey Louis says the tiny forms – originally believed to be particles from a meteorite that exploded just before the red storms began – are actually living cells. They also seem to be reproducing, despite having no DNA whatsoever... which makes them unlike any known life form on the planet. Louis says the mysterious cells were able to replicate themselves under extreme conditions, including temperatures that would kill any other Earth organism. But it gets even more interesting: further testing has revealed that the cells are also radioactive.
This isn't the first time bizarre microscopic invaders have been reported: earlier this week we shared a story about unidentified “space bugs” hitching a ride on a research balloon in the lower stratosphere, and in a related story in The Huffington Post, fossilized microorganisms were allegedly discovered inside a meteorite in Sri Lanka earlier this year. Are these spores part of a alien invasion?