[meteorite-list] Meteor Blamed For 'Rainbow Rain'

Ron Baalke baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov
Wed Aug 1 11:07:04 EDT 2001 

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_364965.html?menu=news.latestheadlines.worldnews

Meteor blamed for 'rainbow rain'
Ananova
August 1, 2001

Red, yellow, green and black rain which fell in India may have been caused
by meteor dust in the atmosphere.

Scientists believe the coloured downpour which lashed the state of Kerala
had an extraterrestrial explanation.

Analysis of a rain sample has confirmed the theory and more tests are now
being carried out.

The Centre for Earth Science Studies in Thiruvanthapuram reports a burning
meteor threw more than 2,000 pounds of fine dust into the atmosphere.

Earlier theories blamed the coloured rain on volcanic ash and Saharan dust
brought by the south west monsoon.

The incident has sparked a storm of copycat reports, including one of
insects raining from the sky.

[meteorite-list] Meteor Rain Theory Dashed

Ron Baalke baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov
Sun Aug 5 19:15:57 EDT 2001 

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_367750.html

Meteor rain theory dashed
Ananova
August 5, 2001

Scientists say "rainbow rain" that lashed parts of India may have been
caused by a fungus, not meteor dust as first thought.

Red, yellow, green and black rain fell in the state of Kerala last week.

It had been thought the colours were down to a burning meteor throwing more
than 2,000 pounds of fine dust into the atmosphere. But analysis of rain
water samples now suggests fungal spores could be to blame.

Indian Express reports a detailed chemical and biological analysis was
carried out by scientists of the Centre for Earth Science Studies in
Trivandrum.

''The red colour in the rain water appears to be mainly due to these
spores," said CESS Director C S Baba.

The biological study has revealed a red-coloured cell structure tentatively
identified as spores of a type of fungus. The exact species has still to be
found.

The scientists though are clueless about what produced the huge quantity of
spores, and how distribution was localised.

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