Kerala Red Rain, 2001: Blood-Coloured Rain and Alien Cells
For two months in 2001 parts of Kerala, India, got rain coloured red. Two physicists claimed the particles were cells from space. A government study found spores of a local green alga.
Sources Centre for Earth Science Studies & Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, report for the Government of India (Nov 2001); G. Louis & A. S. Kumar, Astrophysics and Space Science 302 (2006) 175, doi 10.1007/s10509-005-9025-4; Wikipedia, 'Red rain in Kerala'
On 25 July 2001 people in Kottayam and Idukki districts of Kerala found their rainwater coloured red, like diluted blood. Over the next two months red, and sometimes yellow, green or black, rain fell in patches across the state.
The government study
India’s Centre for Earth Science Studies first suspected dust from a meteor. Later analysis with the Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute found the particles were spores of Trentepohlia, a green alga that grows on trees and rocks in the area and turns orange-red. Why so many spores got into the rain at once is less clear.
The space theory
In 2006 physicists Godfrey Louis and A. Santhosh Kumar of Mahatma Gandhi University argued in Astrophysics and Space Science that the particles were cells from space, lacking DNA. The idea was promoted as evidence for panspermia but did not win acceptance, and later studies identified algal DNA.
Ledger status
Marked cited. Map position is region level.
Sources
- Louis, G. & Kumar, A. S. (2006), Astrophysics and Space Science 302, 175 — doi:10.1007/s10509-005-9025-4
- Wikipedia, “Red rain in Kerala” — en.wikipedia.org
Part of the World Ledger, batch 1. Original text; no images are used.
Evidence ledger
Each claim in this file, the source it rests on, and how well it holds up: 2 corroborated · 1 disputed · 1 unverified. What the labels mean.
| Claim | Source | Type · date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red-coloured rain fell sporadically in Kerala from 25 Jul to 23 Sep 2001. | CESS report (2001); Wikipedia | official · 2001 | corroborated |
| The colour came from spores of the alga Trentepohlia, abundant locally. | CESS/TBGRI study for Government of India | official · 2001 | corroborated |
| The particles are extraterrestrial cells without DNA.Not accepted; later work found DNA consistent with algae. | Louis & Kumar (2006) | scholarly · 2006 | disputed |
| A meteor airburst delivered the particles. | Louis & Kumar | scholarly · 2006 | unverified |
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