Natural phenomenon - bloody rain. Red bloody rains The worst rains
"Nature has no bad weather..." This statement can hardly be attributed to bloody rains. They belong more in a horror movie than in everyday life. Nevertheless, Homer and Plutarch wrote about crimson streams falling from the sky. The latter believed that the bloody anomaly was caused by fumes from the battlefields of the Germanic tribes. To this day, many scientists are trying to unravel the cause of this natural phenomenon.
A LONG TIME AGO
The first documented rain of blood fell in Paris in 582. Eyewitnesses noted that precipitation falling on clothes left red spots on them.
In 1571, streams of “blood” rained down on Holland for almost a week. They painted buildings, trees, fences and flooded an area of tens of square kilometers. People believed that the bloody rain was formed from the vapors of the blood of bulls killed at the slaughterhouse.
A century later, in 1669, a document appeared in the archives of the French Academy of Sciences describing the rain that fell on Chatillon: “A mysterious heavy viscous liquid fell from the sky, similar to blood, but with a sharp, unpleasant odor. Large drops of it hung on the roofs, walls and windows of houses.” This is how another hypothesis emerged: the blood-like liquid is rotten swamp water, lifted into the sky by a whirlwind and falling in the city.
The next anomaly was not long in coming. Already in 1689, the inhabitants of Venice were also caught in the bloody rain. And in 1744, red streams plunged another Italian city, Genoa, into panic. Genoese scientists explained this phenomenon by the presence of cinnabar or sanguine - red chalk - in the water.
Undoubtedly, all this is very meager information. But the bloody rain that fell in 1813 in the Kingdom of Naples was described in more detail by Sementini, a scientist who lived at that time. He wrote that this phenomenon was preceded by a strong wind that blew for more than two days.
Then a huge thick cloud appeared, approaching from the sea. She covered the mountains and the sun, and the wind suddenly died down. Frightened people watched as the cloud changed color from gray to pink and then to crimson red.
Dusk fell over the city, and even during the day residents were forced to light lamps. The sky looked like red-hot iron, thunder roared, and for some reason the sea was loud, even though it was quite far from the city. And, to complete the terrible picture, rain poured from the sky powerful streams fluid that looked like blood. Residents rushed into the cathedral in panic and began to pray. Fortunately, the “apocalypse” did not last long; by evening the sky cleared and the rain stopped.
At the end of the summer of 1841, a blood-colored cloud appeared in Tennessee and it immediately began to rain. He left drops on the leaves that looked very similar to blood.
In the autumn of 1819, abnormal rain fell in Belgium. At that time, a popular hypothesis was that the color of bloody rain was due to the content of red sand from the Sahara. And even some experiments were carried out. But no sand was found during the evaporation of the red liquid, but cobalt chloride, the crystals of which are red-colored, was found in it. pink color.
BLOODY MYSTERY
At the end of the summer of 1841, tobacco leaves were collected in Tennessee (USA). Suddenly a blood-colored cloud appeared above the heads of the collectors and it immediately began to rain. He left drops on the leaves that looked very similar to blood.
There was an unpleasant smell in the air. Frightened people ran for cover. The owner of the plantation turned to Professor Troost for clarification. The scientist’s article was published in the October issue of one of the scientific journals. Referring to the results of studies, Troost argued that the substance that fell from the red cloud contained animal fat and muscle tissue.
They concluded that it was blood that was dripping from the sky. True, a refutation was later published. Allegedly wage-earners they were just joking, for some reason scattering decomposed parts of a pork carcass around the plantation.
The next flow of “heavenly blood” was recorded again in the USA, in North Carolina, on the farm of Thomas Clarkson in February 1850. That day his whole family was working outside. Suddenly, a sharp, deafening sound sounded from the sky, like a gun salvo. Children and adults ran for cover when Clarkson's wife suddenly lost consciousness. The cause was pieces of meat that fell on her from somewhere above, and streams of thick sticky blood that flooded the unfortunate woman.
The same bloody shower also fell on their neighbor Neil Campbell. Only he turned out to be more courageous. Neil decided to collect in a barrel unusual precipitation. And then both families watched in amazement for an hour as the dry grass and yellowed leaves came to life and became green. But it was winter outside.
Local doctor R. Gray, to whom the farmers brought the bloody sediments, determined that the barrel contained blood mixed with dirt. And after examining the samples under a microscope, Gray clarified their biological basis. In his opinion, the cellular structure was close to human.
Of course, this incident caused a stir in the press. Some called the farmers liars, while others decided that the cause of the bloody fallout was the victims whom the bandits dismembered in... baskets of balloons.
A year later, a bloody downpour hit the Samuel Beckworth ranch, located in Katham County, near the Clarkson and Campbell farms. This bloody orgy lasted three days. Samuel's sister Suzanne was supervising workers in the field when scalding streams of brown water began to flow from the sky.
Later, the girl noted that the liquid that flooded the field had the smell of blood, in her words, “like a slaughterhouse.” This rain stained Suzanne's clothes and the cattle fence surprisingly permanently. Only this time the painted grass did not come to life, but became fragile and crumbled into dust at the slightest touch.
Of course, this phenomenon could not but cause concern. People immediately assumed that the bloody rain foreshadowed some great misfortune. Beckworth invited Professor F. Vanable from North Carolina to determine the real reason unusual rain.
Vanable took about 300 soil samples from the rainfall zone and sent them to the laboratory of the University of Göttingen, which had the most best equipment for that time, allowing blood to be identified. The answer discouraged everyone: it was human blood.
IT'S ALL THE BLAME... Buzzards
Over time, people got used to bloody showers, and they no longer frightened, but entertained. In the spring of 1876, one of the American newspapers wrote that in Kentucky on a sunny day, something similar to small pieces of meat, measuring 7 by 10 centimeters, fell from the sky.
Strange precipitation was localized in a small oval area. One of the eyewitnesses became so bold that he even tasted the “heavenly gift.” And he said that this something resembles very fresh lamb or veal. This time, the scientists’ opinion was, one might say, comical: “The precipitation was vomited by a flock of buzzards.”
Soon, in May 1890, bloody precipitation also fell in Calabria (Italy). A report appeared in the local press that, according to meteorologists, bird blood was pouring from the sky. Moreover, there were even explanations for how she got there. Allegedly, a large flock of birds was torn apart... by the wind. However, no wind of such power was observed in those places, and the questions - where did the meat and feathers of the dead birds go - remained unanswered.
BLOOD RIVER
At the end of the summer of 1891, local residents in Rybinsk observed strange, even mysterious phenomena. Police investigator N.I. Morkovkin conducted a survey of eyewitnesses, during which it was established that some liquid poured from the sky onto the surface of the Volga “in abundant stripes and colored the water the color of boiled beets, which was witnessed by people waiting for the arrival of the steamer.”
Among these passengers was a pharmacist, that is, a more or less educated person, and it was he who insisted that samples of these sediments be taken from the surface of the river. They scooped it up with a galvanized bucket that happened to be handy. And then amazing things began. The water, once in the bucket, instantly became milky white. And a day later, bloody rain poured over the entire city. A policeman named Publican took charge of this incident.
The protocol noted that the blood-colored liquid permanently stained the clothes of passers-by, and it was impossible to wash it off. And when it came into contact with the skin, a painful burning sensation was felt. From which the Publican concluded that the culprit was emissions from factory pipes during the production of the dye. And all this would look like the truth if it weren’t for the smell of blood accompanying the sediment.
NOWADAYS
The Indian state of Kerala can be considered the record holder for the amount of bloody rainfall. In 2001, red rain fell everywhere almost every day from the end of July to the end of September. Streams of carmine-red liquid stained people's clothes and burned the leaves.
According to eyewitnesses, before the first red rain there was a strong clap of thunder and a bright flash of light. There have been so many reports about the various consequences of abnormal rain that it is difficult to determine what is fact and what is fiction.
They said that dry gray leaves were falling from the trees, wells suddenly formed out of the blue, that the rain was local (just a few meters from the bloody rain it was just regular rain). In addition, people allegedly saw not only red, but also yellow, green and even black rain. The unusual downpour lasted, as a rule, no more than 20 minutes.
PLANT VERSION
There are many versions of the origin of bloody rains. Many of them received scientific basis, but questions still remain.
V.I. Vernadsky, a famous scientist, considered abnormal precipitation to be the planet’s response to the harmful activities of mankind. By the way, this theory has many supporters.
Another hypothesis states that rainwater turns red as a result of the explosion of a certain celestial body. This, by the way, explains the bright flashes and sounds of explosions. V.I. Vernadsky, a famous scientist, considered abnormal precipitation to be the planet’s response to the harmful activities of mankind.
After red precipitation fell in Kerala, it became possible to study them using modern equipment. Specialists from the Earth Research Center prepared a report stating that the rainwater contained neither meteorite or volcanic dust, nor the red sand of the Arabian Peninsula, as previously thought.
The rains that fell in Kerala contained spores of epiphytic green algae, which often exist in symbiosis with lichens. Due to rainy weather, lichens began to actively spread, their growth causing the formation of a huge number of spores in the atmosphere. But all this is just speculation, because no one has explained how the spores got into the atmosphere and settled in the clouds.
UNCLEAN BUTTERFLIES
It is believed that the culprits of the bloody rains are hawthorn butterflies. The fact is that, when emerging from the pupae, they secrete a couple of drops of bright red liquid. These drops dry in the sun and are visible on green leaves for a long time.
If the summer is hot and dry, which is very favorable for the reproduction of these butterflies, then the leaves of the trees on which they live look as if red paint was sprayed on them.
And if it rains at this time, red bloody streams will flow from the leaves, staining benches and houses, people’s clothes and the fur of animals that have fallen under the bloody drops. Moreover, the paint secreted by butterflies is very stable. It’s quite a realistic version, if you forget that the red rain came from the sky, and not from the leaves, and the scale of it is hardly possible for butterflies.
SPACE TRAIL
After studying rainwater samples, Mahatma Gandhi University physicist Dr. Godfrey Louis suggested that the particles that colored the rain in Kerala were of extraterrestrial origin.
When studying the red particles, the scientist found that they were slightly larger than bacteria (4-10 microns in diameter) and had a thick shell. These strange particles were not familiar to science. Firstly, it seems that they do not have DNA, which means that the versions of spores and algae are immediately eliminated. In addition, they contain almost half of the periodic table, but with a significant predominance of carbon and oxygen.
Louis then determined that the particles have the ability to multiply, even in a hot environment (up to 315 degrees Celsius), while the limit of “earthly life” is 120 degrees.
Based on this, the scientist concluded that these are extraterrestrial bacteria adapted to live in outer space. They ended up on Earth with fragments of some small celestial body and settled on rain clouds. This version also explains the strong clap of thunder and bright flashes before the bloody rains. Perhaps these were meteor explosions.
By the way, if we take into account that “extraterrestrial microorganisms”, according to scientists, fell in the amount of 50 tons in Kerala, then it is hardly possible to find an analogue in mass among the known atmospheric processes.
Louis donated some of the samples for research to astrobiologist Chandra Wickramasinghe, an adherent of the panspermia hypothesis (according to it, the embryos of life are transferred between celestial bodies by meteorites). Chandra Wickramasinghe even managed to detect the DNA of the red particles, but he was unable to identify them.
Many scientists believe that Louis's conclusions cannot be considered flawless and final. But he himself is determined: “When people hear the theory that it’s all about the comet, they reject it as an incredible idea. If people don't think about our arguments, they will simply turn away from the hypothesis that red rain is explained by extraterrestrial biology."
Galina BELYSHEVA
Particles that colored rainwater falling in southern India. The picture was taken under a microscope at 1000x magnification.
Trentepoly algae cells are arranged one after another, forming threads.
In the summer of 2001, rain with red droplets fell repeatedly over the Indian state of Kerala (the southern tip of the Hindustan Peninsula) for about two months. Local newspapers printed notes from correspondents and letters from readers surprised unusual phenomenon. The color of the water falling from the sky ranged from pink to bright red, comparable to the color of blood.
Physicist Godfrey Louis, who works at the University of Kottayam in India, and his student Santosh Kumar collected more than 120 such reports from newspapers and other sources and many samples of unusual rainwater from different points state. Having placed the drops under a microscope, they saw in the water what gave it its red color: many round red particles with a diameter of 4-10 micrometers, about nine million per milliliter. After evaporating several samples, the researchers found that there were about one hundred grams of red sediment per cubic meter of water. According to Louis, during the several dozen episodes described in local newspapers, about five millimeters of precipitation fell per square kilometer of area affected by the rains. This is 500 thousand cubic meters of water, that is, 50 tons of red dust.
Maybe it's really dust? Fine sand blown by the wind is sometimes transported over long distances. It also comes in red. So, in July 1968, in the south of England, thin red sand from the Sahara fell with rain. Dust from the Sahara is sometimes blown across the Atlantic Ocean and into the Americas. But, Louis believes, transfer from some remote areas can be ruled out, since during the two months that the red rains fell, the weather and wind direction changed more than once.
Under a microscope, the red particles do not look like sand, but like some kind of biological objects like cells or spores, round, with a concave middle and a thick wall. Chemical analysis showed the presence of 50% carbon and 45% oxygen (by weight) with small amounts of sodium and iron, which resembles the composition of living cells. Are the red particles the spores of some fungus or pollen washed off trees and roofs by rainwater? This is impossible: red water also accumulated in buckets placed in open areas, far from trees and buildings. In addition, chitin is present in mushroom spores, as well as in the mushrooms themselves, but it was not found in the red rain particles.
Godfrey Louis put forward an unexpected hypothesis: red rains are associated with a meteor explosion in upper layers atmosphere over Kerala.
In the early morning of July 25, a few hours before the first “bloody” rain, residents of Kottayam and the surrounding area heard a loud bang. The glass in the windows shook. Judging by the results of a survey of those who heard the explosion, the meteor flew from north to south and exploded over the town. Louis suggests that it was a fragment of some kind of comet carrying extraterrestrial microorganisms. Some of them fell into the lower layers of the atmosphere and fell to Earth with rainwater.
His bold assumption fits into the mainstream of the so-called panspermia hypothesis, according to which life arose not on Earth, but somewhere in space, and in its primitive forms of certain spores or embryos, under the influence of light pressure, eternally migrates throughout the Universe on meteorites, comets, or simply in interstellar dust. So these disputes ended up on our planet, where, under favorable earthly conditions, they began evolution, which gradually reached man. The panspermia hypothesis emerged in the 19th century and was supported by many prominent scientists, such as Svante Arrhenius and Hermann Helmholtz. It was already known then that some lower organisms in a state of suspended animation they can endure vacuum and cold close to absolute zero for a long time, but science still knew nothing about hard cosmic radiation. True, the few supporters of panspermia these days argue that particularly resistant microorganisms can survive in the depths of a meteorite, under the protection of its material.
What other options can you suggest? Still, it cannot be completely ruled out that these are spores of some algae, pollen, or some unknown terrestrial microorganisms. Not all the flora and microflora of the Earth have been studied yet, especially in India.
The concave middle part of the rounded formations and the red color are characteristic of mammalian red blood cells. But 50 tons of red blood cells per square kilometer is something too much. Not to mention the fact that red blood cells are completely destroyed in rainwater after a few minutes: to maintain their integrity they require saline solution the same concentration as blood plasma. Spectrometry of the mysterious red particles in the optical range showed that they absorb light most strongly at a wavelength of 505 nanometers and there is also a small absorption peak at 600 nanometers. Regular hemoglobin with oxygen attached gives an absorption maximum at 575 and 540 nanometers, and hemoglobin deprived of oxygen has one absorption band - about 565 nanometers. So if the particles of “bloody” rain are still erythrocytes, then they do not contain ordinary terrestrial hemoglobin.
Experts at the Tropical Botanical Garden in Kerala say that these may be spores of the terrestrial microscopic alga Trentepoly, common in India. The color of trentepoly cells is given by a pigment such as carotene. Algae forms on the bark of wet trees tropical forest red or yellow powdery coating. This assumption can be confirmed or refuted by comparing DNA. An analysis carried out in England, at the universities of Sheffield and Cardiff, made it possible to detect DNA in the mysterious particles, but to multiply it using the polymerase method chain reaction, to study in more detail, it has not yet been possible.
In general, an terrestrial origin for red rain seems more likely. But even then the question arises: where did so much algae get into the sky? Is it really possible for a tornado that would selectively remove only algae from the bark of trees and lift into the sky, without capturing any pieces of the bark itself or the leaves of the crown?
Among the most unusual natural phenomena there are the most terrible ones that pose a real danger to humans. A top list has been compiled from such terrible phenomena. In addition, it is also known about terrible phenomenon nature on the planet.
Top most terrible and unusual natural phenomena
Throughout to the globe From time to time natural phenomena occur that cannot be called usual. We are talking about unusual, terrible natural anomalies. They are dangerous to people. The reassuring fact is that such events happen infrequently.Brainicle or "Finger of Death"
In the Arctic, very unusual icicles hang underwater, posing a danger to the inhabitants of the ocean floor. Science has already figured out the formation of such icicles. Salt from glaciers rushes in narrow streams to the bottom, freezing sea water around you. After a few hours, such a stream, covered with a thin ice crust, begins to resemble a stalactite.The “finger of death”, having reached the bottom, continues to spread further along the bottom. This structure is capable of destroying unhurried living organisms in fifteen minutes.
"Bloody rain"
So scary name natural phenomenon is completely justified. It was observed in the Indian state of Kerala for a month. Bloody rains terrified all local residents. 
It turned out that the cause of this phenomenon was a waterspout, which sucked red algae spores out of reservoirs. Mixed with rainwater, these spores fell on people in the form of bloody rain.
"Black Day"
In September 1938, an inexplicable natural phenomenon occurred in Yamal, which remains unsolved to this day. Suddenly the day became as dark as night.Geologists who witnessed this phenomenon described it as sudden darkness with simultaneous radio silence. They, having launched several signal flares, saw that very dense ones were hanging close to the ground, impervious to sunlight, clouds. This eclipse lasted no more than an hour.
"Black mist"
A fog with this name envelops London from time to time. It is known that it was recorded in 1873 and 1880. At that time, almost nothing was visible on the streets; people could only move by holding onto the walls of houses. 
On days when black fog shrouded the city, the mortality rate of its inhabitants increased many times. This is due to the fact that it is extremely difficult to breathe in such fog, even wearing a thick gauze bandage. 'Deadly' fog hits the British capital last time in 1952.
Fire tornadoes
The top most terrible natural phenomena include fire tornadoes. It is known that tornadoes themselves are very dangerous, but if they are associated with fire, their danger increases sharply. 
These phenomena occur in places of fires, when scattered fires unite into a single large fire. The air above it heats up, its density decreases, because of this the fire rises upward. This pressure of hot air sometimes reaches hurricane speed.
Ball lightning
There is no person who has never heard thunder or seen lightning. However, we will talk about ball lightning, which is a discharge of electric current. Such lightning can take different forms.Ball lightning most often looks like red or yellow fireballs. They disprove the laws of physics by appearing completely unexpectedly in the cabin of a flying airplane or inside a house. Lightning floats in the air for several seconds, after which it disappears without a trace.
Sandstorm
Impressive but extremely dangerous phenomenon nature - sandstorm. Sandstorm demonstrates the power and strength of Mother Nature. Such storms occur in deserts. If you get caught in a storm, you can die by suffocating on sand. 
A sandstorm occurs due to strong air flow. At least forty million tons of sand and dust are transported annually from the Sahara Desert to the Nile Basin.
Tsunami
A natural phenomenon such as a tsunami is a consequence of an earthquake. Having formed in some place, a big wave moves at enormous speeds, sometimes reaching thousands of kilometers per hour.Once in shallow water, such a wave grows ten to fifteen meters. Rising ashore at great speed, the tsunami carries away thousands human lives, brings a lot of destruction.
The website has detailed information about other large and destructive waves.
Tornado
A funnel-shaped flow of air is called a tornado. Tornadoes occur more often in the United States, both over water and over land. From the side, a tornado resembles a cone-shaped cloud pillar. The diameter can be tens of meters. The air moves inside it in a circle. Objects that fall inside also begin to move. Sometimes the speed of such movement reaches one hundred kilometers per hour.
Over the past decade, earthquakes have killed seven hundred and eighty thousand people. Shocks occurring inside the earth lead to vibrations of the earth's crust. They can spread over vast areas. As a result of the most powerful earthquakes, entire cities are wiped off the face of the earth and thousands of people die.
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Sometimes nature presents us with “surprises” that are very difficult to understand and explain. Some of them frighten, some surprise, but never leave you indifferent. All these natural anomalies and disasters only prove the power of Mother Nature and force us not to forget about her cunning and power.
New English term"brinicle" from "brine" (ocean water) and "icicle" (icicle) denotes a column of water in the ocean, saltier and denser than the surrounding water, and very cold - colder than ice.
This column of ice slowly descends from the surface of the ocean to the very bottom (here it is the Southern Ocean) and freezes everything in its path, including the inhabitants of the ocean floor.
Cinematographers Hugh Miller and Doug Anderson pioneered a previously unknown phenomenon during their presence in Antarctica. Above the surface of the ocean, filmmakers found ice stalactites that burn through the depths of the ocean in the form of a stream of extremely cold (almost frozen) and very salty water. Scientists called this phenomenon “brinicles,” and the operators who observed it dubbed this phenomenon the “icy finger of death.”
The water of this jet has a much higher density than all the other ocean water surrounding it, and besides, the temperature of this jet is much lower, it is colder than ice, literally speaking. "Icicles of Death" represent underwater stalactites. They received this name due to the fact that, forming at the bottom in places where impurities get into the water (these icicles are the center of crystallization), they kill on their way sea stars and sea urchins.
Research by biologists has shown that the ice in the “icicles of death” is much more porous than in ice floes, and it carries salts to the surface of the sea.
Oceanographer Seelye Martin was the first to describe this phenomenon in detail in 1974. Now, a group of researchers from Spain has published a study on the composition and structure of brynicles, proposing a model for the mechanism of their formation. When salty ocean water freezes, it releases salt to form fresh ice. This excess salt saturates the water remaining on the surface of the ice and in cavities in the ice column.
The result is ice reservoirs containing a high-density, hypersaline solution with a very low freezing point: as salinity increases, this temperature decreases. If the ice cracks, this dense, heavy and extremely cold liquid begins to sink to the bottom in the form of such a deadly stream, freezing all living things in its path.
The Great Smog is a serious air pollution event that occurred in London in December 1952. During the anticyclone, which brought cold and windless weather, pollutants - mainly coal - accumulated over the city, forming a thick layer of smog. This lasted from Friday 5th to Tuesday 9th December 1952, after which the weather changed and the fog lifted.
Severe frosts forced power plants, the main fuel for which was coal, to work at full capacity. But besides this, there were hundreds of thousands, if not millions of fireplaces in London, also heated by coal. In the December days of 1952, the residents of London, in order to somehow warm themselves, did not spare coal, not knowing what this would soon turn into.
The fog, due to the accumulation of harmful substances, had a yellow-black color, for which it received the name “pea soup.” Due to the absolute calmness of the wind, the fog, or, more precisely, smog, hung over the British capital from December 5 to 9, 1952. Every day, due to the fact that the concentration of harmful impurities in the air increased, the situation rapidly worsened.
The investigation into the Great London Smog reached the parliamentary level, where terrifying figures were announced. According to the Ministry of Health, about 4,000 people became victims of the smog. main reason deaths are problems respiratory organs. Even adults and healthy people complained about the lack of air, and for the elderly, chronically ill and infants, the Great Smog became fatal. Further research showed that various diseases respiratory tract infections associated with the effects of the Great Smog of 1952 were found in 100,000 people. During the first months after it, the total number of victims increased to 12,000 people.
"Bloody" rains
The ancient Greek historian and writer Plutarch talked about the bloody rains that fell after big battles with the Germanic tribes. He was sure that bloody fumes from the battlefield permeated the air and turned ordinary drops of water blood red.
In 582, bloody rain fell in Paris.
In 1571, red rain fell in Holland.
Bloody rains were recorded by the French Academy of Sciences. In her scientific “Memoirs” it is written: “On March 17, 1669, a mysterious heavy viscous liquid, similar to blood, but with a sharp unpleasant odor, fell on the city of Chatilien (on the Seine River). Large drops of it hung on the roofs, walls and windows of houses. Academicians racked their brains for a long time trying to explain what happened and finally decided that the liquid was formed... in the rotten waters of some swamp and was carried into the sky by a whirlwind!”
In 1689 it rained blood in Venice, in 1744 in Genoa.
In the early spring of 1813, a bloody rain suddenly fell over the Kingdom of Naples.
On August 17, 1841, people working in a tobacco field in Tennessee were very surprised to hear the sound of large drops hitting the leaves. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that the drops resembled blood and were falling from a strange red cloud.
In the March 1876 issue of Scientific American, you can read that on March 8, many people in Kentucky, USA, witnessed the fall of “meat flakes.”
The Italian Met Office determined the substance was bird blood, Popular Science News reported.
From July 25 to September 23, 2001, red rain fell periodically in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
Carmine-red rains fell along the entire coastline, turning the clothes of local residents pink, scorching the leaves on the trees and sometimes falling in scarlet showers.
In October 2012, red rain fell in Sweden.
Residents of the southern regions of Sweden could observe a strange natural phenomenon over the weekend – weather forecasters predicted “bloody rain”.
The name "blood rain" should not be taken literally. In theory, this plain water, only with an admixture of reddish dust from the Sahara Desert. According to information from the Swedish Meteorological Institute, this kind of precipitation is absolutely harmless to human health.
"Bloody Rain" in India.
For a whole month, residents of the Indian state of Kerala could witness with their own eyes a real Egyptian execution, in which, as you know, all the water turned into blood in an instant. For several weeks the Indian lands were flooded bloody rains, bringing real horror to all the local residents who observed this phenomenon. In fact, the culprit turned out to be an equally terrifying natural disaster - a waterspout that sucked red algae spores from local reservoirs, mixed them with rainwater into a frightening cocktail and brought it down on the heads of unsuspecting Indians.
The causes of red rain may vary, but in most cases they are quite understandable.
“Black Day” in Yamal 1938
This is one of those cases that neither astronomers nor specialists in other fields can explain. Geologists working on the peninsula talk about sudden darkness, which was also accompanied by complete radio silence: it was impossible to find a single station on the air. Having launched several signal flares, geologists were able to establish that extremely dense clouds were hanging above the ground at a low altitude, blocking the sun's rays. There was no dust, no solid particles, or precipitation on the ground.
These strange clouds subsequently left no traces on the surface of the earth - neither precipitation nor dust. Geologists, using the light of signal flares, were able to determine that the darkening band widened by 200-250 kilometers and also moved from west to east. She crossed southern part Yamal and captured Ob Bay. The darkness lasted about an hour and then cleared.
Similar cases were observed before the Yamal one. On May 19, 1780, in the middle of the day, suddenly “a black sheet covered the sky,” as eyewitnesses described it. On those days full moon appeared only after midnight - blood-red, then the stars began to appear and the usual picture of the world returned to normal. June 2, 1802 in Pacific Ocean crew of the schooner "Eldorado" complete darkness caught in the afternoon in complete calm, after half an hour the darkness dissipated. Sudden darkness in broad daylight has been recorded in 1884 in England, 1886 in Wisconsin, and 1904 in Memphis (USA).
Such phenomena, due to their rarity and unpredictability, have not been studied at all.
Fire tornado is atmospheric phenomenon, which is formed when initially separate fires come together. The air above the fire heats up, its density decreases and it rises. From below, cold air masses from the periphery enter in its place. The arriving air also heats up. Oxygen leakage occurs. Stable centripetal directional flows are formed, spiraling from the ground to a height of up to five kilometers. A chimney effect occurs. The pressure of hot air reaches hurricane speeds. The temperature rises to 1000˚C. Everything that is nearby is “sucked” into the fiery tornado - it burns and melts. And so on until everything that can burn has burned.
One of the most striking examples of this phenomenon was the fire in Hamburg in July 1943. The Bombing of Hamburg was a series of “carpet bombings” of the city carried out by the Royal Air Force of Great Britain and Air Force USA July 25 - August 3, 1943 as part of Operation Gomorrah. As a result of the air raids, up to 45,000 people were killed, up to 125 thousand were injured (estimates vary, numbers range from 37 to 200 thousand), about a million residents were forced to leave the city.
The greatest number of victims occurred on the night of July 28, when a huge fire tornado formed in the city. The number of victims that night is estimated at approximately 40 thousand people, most of whom were poisoned by combustion products. About 21 square kilometers of the city were destroyed in the fire.
The consequences of this phenomenon were extremely destructive due to the prevailing dry and hot weather, as well as blockages on the roads, which prevented fire brigades from reaching the fires. Due to the temperature difference, the hot air created a strong draft, literally sucking people into the fire. The speed of the storm's wind on the streets reached 240 km/h, and its temperature exceeded 800 ˚С. From extreme heat the asphalt was burning, and people in bomb shelters were suffocating due to oxygen burnout, or were burning alive.
Of course, such destructive fire tornadoes do not occur often, but one of them, in 1923 in Japan, lasted only 15 minutes and killed almost forty thousand people! In 15 minutes! That tornado arose after the Great Kanto Earthquake from massive fires, and was not only natural phenomenon, but him destructive force was colossal.
Fire tornado. Alice Springs, Chris Tangey, Australia, 2012
One of the most recent fairly large-scale fire tornadoes occurred quite recently, in early September in Australia, in the famous town of Alice Springs, the capital of central Australia.
In 2001, strange red precipitation fell in India with a total mass of about 50 tons. In April of this year, physicist Godfrey Louis of Mahatma Gandhi University suggested that they are of extraterrestrial origin, Popular Science reports.
The scientist discovered that these strange red formations, similar to cells 10 microns long, lack DNA. They were also able to reproduce at temperatures of 315°C, although the known temperature limit for life in water is 120°C. The researcher suggested that these particles could be extraterrestrial bacteria that have adapted to the harsh conditions of outer space. According to him, they came to our planet with fragments of a small meteorite or comet that disintegrated in the atmosphere, and then mixed with rain clouds.
Until now, there have been many speculations about the origin of the “bloody rains”. Some scientists believed that microscopic seaweed was to blame, others believed that the red particles were fungal spores, and there were also suggestions that a meteorite fragment crashed into a high-flying flock bats, whose blood these formations are.
Louis and his colleagues abandoned these theories, since both the spores and the algae would have DNA present, and the blood cells would immediately die if they came into contact with air or water. In addition, blood cells are not capable of self-reproduction. Scientists say that they have already managed to see red formations in the section. According to them, inside the large cell there is another, small one.
An Indian team of scientists is going to soon test red cells for the presence of special carbon isotopes. If the results are positive, it will be serious proof of Louis's ideas.
It must have been a terrible sight when, instead of the usual rain, an ominous stream poured from the sky - red as blood. Such bloody rains have happened hundreds of times in history, both in hoary antiquity and in times closer to us.
The ancient Greek historian and writer Plutarch talked about the bloody rains that fell after big battles with the Germanic tribes. He was sure that bloody fumes from the battlefield permeated the air and turned ordinary drops of water blood red.
From another historical chronicle you can find out that in 582 bloody rain fell in Paris. For many people, blood stained their dresses so much, an eyewitness wrote, that they threw them off in disgust.
And here is another red rain that fell in 1571 in Holland. It rained almost the whole night and was so heavy that it flooded the area for ten kilometers, all the houses, trees, and fences turned red. Residents of those places collected rain blood with buckets and explained extraordinary phenomenon in that it rose to clouds of steam from the blood of killed bulls.
The French Academy of Sciences also drew attention to the bloody rains. In her scientific “Memoirs” it is written: “On March 17, 1669, a mysterious heavy viscous liquid, similar to blood, but with a sharp unpleasant odor, fell on the city of Chatilien (on the Seine River). Large drops of it hung on the roofs, walls and windows of houses. Academicians racked their brains for a long time trying to explain what happened and finally decided that the liquid formed in the rotten waters of some swamp and was carried into the sky by a whirlwind.”
In 1689 it rained blood in Venice, in 1744 in Genoa, just during the war. The red rain caused real panic among the Genoese. On this occasion, one of the learned contemporaries wrote: “What the common people call bloody rain is nothing more than vapors colored with cinnabar or red chalk. But when real blood falls from the sky, which cannot be denied, then this, of course, is a miracle performed by the will of God.”
In the early spring of 1813, a bloody rain suddenly fell over the Kingdom of Naples. The scientist of that time, Sementini, described this event in some detail, and we can now imagine how it all happened: “A strong wind had been blowing from the east for two days,” Sementini wrote, “when local residents saw a thick cloud approaching from the sea. At two o'clock in the afternoon the wind suddenly died down, but the cloud had already covered the surrounding mountains and began to obscure the sun. Its color, at first pale pink, became fiery red. Soon the city was plunged into such darkness that lamps had to be lit in the houses. The people, frightened by the darkness and the color of the cloud, rushed to the cathedral to pray. The darkness intensified, and the sky in its color resembled red-hot iron. Thunder rumbled. The menacing noise of the sea, although six miles away from the city, further increased the fear of the inhabitants. And suddenly streams of red liquid poured from the sky, which some took for blood, and others for molten metal. Fortunately, by evening the air cleared, the bloody rain stopped, and the people calmed down.”
It happened that not only bloody rains fell, but also bloody snow, as, for example, in France in the middle of the last century. This strange scarlet snow covered the ground with a layer of several centimeters.
The people saw the bloody rains as a sign and reproach higher powers. Scientists said that water becomes like blood due to mixing with red dust particles of mineral and organic origin. Strong winds can carry these dust particles thousands of kilometers and raise them to great heights, to rain clouds.
It was noted that bloody rains most often occurred in spring and autumn. In the last century, about thirty of them were registered. They fell out, of course, in our century. But no one was afraid of them anymore.
Gennady CHERNENKO
Magazine "UFO" No. 27/2000.
