Mystery from 1884 - the day it rained blood

[skywizard]

http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2013/10/07/14/25/vZz6x.Em.138.jpeg
Francis Preston Venable, professor at UNC, examined
samples from the blood rain reported in Chatham County in 1884.


Fortean events involving strange things raining down from the skies have been reported for centuries.

In 1884 on a day with clear skies over rural Chatham County, sharecropper Bass Lasater witnessed a deluge unlike anything she'd ever seen. Drops of liquid started to fall from the sky that, far from being the usual cool raindrops that typically water her crops, took the form of large spots of blood that doused an area of approximately one tenth of an acre in a strange red sheen.

Word of the event very quickly spread across the county and gained widespread attention after being published in local newspapers. Upon hearing about the incident, chemist Professor Francis P. Venable decided to conduct his own investigation and headed out to take a closer look.

Venable took samples of the red substance from areas where it had dried in to the sand and took it away for analysis. Examining the samples with a microscope and spectroscope he concluded that the substance was indeed blood, but that he could not explain how it had come to be there.

"As to theories accounting for so singular a material falling from a cloudless sky, I have no plausible ones to offer," he wrote. "I have deemed this strange matter worthy of being placed on record."


Source: http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/256009/legends-revisited--the-day-it-rained-blood
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/10/07/4372012/mystery-from-1884-the-day-it-rained.html#.UlqN2Sr5w6-


peace...
skywizard

[Spiral]

Why did "animal mutilations" just pop into my head ?

:abduct:

[Sparky]

OK...Twirly One ...and why do you suppose this just pop into my head after reading your comment?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QxfOYhpjro&feature=player_embedded

Sorry...I didn't save the link with pictures. Did a "copy and past" from an email I sent.

Scientists claim discovery of life coming to Earth from space
September 20, 2013
SEM_of_a_diatom_frustule

SEM of a diatom frustule (possibly a Nitzschia species) captured on a stub from a height of 25km in the stratosphere (credit: Milton Wainwright et al./Journal of Cosmology)

Scientists from the University of Sheffield believe they have found life arriving to Earth from space after sending a balloon to the stratosphere.’

After it landed, scientists discovered that they had captured a diatom fragment and some unusual biological entities from the stratosphere, all of which are too large to have come from Earth.

Other scientists disagree, as noted here: New Alien Life Claim Far from Convincing, Scientists Say

The team, led by Professor (Hon. Cardiff and Buckingham Universities) Milton Wainwright, from the University’s Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology found small organisms that could have come from space after sending a specially designed balloon to 27km into the stratosphere during the recent Perseid meteor shower.

Professor Wainwright said: “Most people will assume that these biological particles must have just drifted up to the stratosphere from Earth, but it is generally accepted that a particle of the size found cannot be lifted from Earth to heights of, for example, 27km. The only known exception is by a violent volcanic eruption, none of which occurred within three years of the sampling trip.

“In the absence of a mechanism by which large particles like these can be transported to the stratosphere we can only conclude that the biological entities originated from space. Our conclusion then is that life is continually arriving to Earth from space, life is not restricted to this planet and it almost certainly did not originate here.”

Professor Wainwright said the results could be revolutionary: “If life does continue to arrive from space then we have to completely change our view of biology and evolution,” he added. “New textbooks will have to be written!”

Professor Wainwright said stringent precautions had been taken against the possibility of contamination during sampling and processing, and said the group was confident that the biological organisms could only have come from the stratosphere.

The group’s findings have been published in the Journal of Cosmology (open access) and updated versions will appear in the same journal, a new version of which will be published in the near future. Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe of the Buckingham, University Center for Astrobiology (of which Professor Wainwright is an Honorary Fellow) also gave a presentation of the group’s findings at a meeting of astronomers and astrobiologists in San Diego last month.

Professor Wainwright added: “Of course it will be argued that there must be an, as yet, unknown mechanism for transferring large particles from Earth to the high stratosphere, but we stand by our conclusions. The absolutely crucial experiment will come when we do what is called ‘isotope fractionation’. We will take some of the samples which we have isolated from the stratosphere and introduce them into a complex machine – a button will be pressed. If the ratio of certain isotopes gives one number then our organisms are from Earth, if it gives another, then they are from space. The tension will obviously be almost impossible to live with!”

The research was conducted by Professor (Hon. Cardiff and Buckingham Universities) Milton Wainwright from the University of Sheffield, Chris Rose and Alex Baker from the University of Sheffield’s Leonardo Centre for Tribology and Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe Director of the Centre for Astrobiology, University of Buckingham.
References:

Milton Wainwright et al., solation Of A Diatom Frustule Fragment From The Lower Stratosphere (22--27km) - Evidence For A Cosmic Origin, Journal of Cosmology, 2013 (open access)

Related:

New Alien Life Claim Far from Convincing, Scientists Say

Topics: Biotech | Space