Angel hair
Encyclopedia
Angel hair or siliceous cotton is a substance said to be dispersed from UFOs as they fly overhead. It has been described as being like a cobweb
or a jelly
. It has also been reported at sightings of the Virgin Mary.
It is named for its similarity to fine hair, or spider web
s. Reports of angel hair say that it disintegrates or evaporates within a short time of forming. One theory is that it is "ionized air sleeting off an electromagnetic field" that surrounds a UFO. It is an important aspect of Raëlism
.
Angel hair was reported at the Miracle at Fatima on the 13th of September and October 1917.
The most reported incidence occurred in Oloron, France in 1952.
On October 27, 1954, Gennaro Lucetti and Pietro Lastrucci stood on the balcony of a hotel in St. Mark's Square in Venice
and saw two "shining spindles" flying across the sky leaving a trail of the angel hair.
In the Portuguese city of Évora
on November 2, 1959, angel hair was collected and analyzed at the microscope by local school director and later by armed forces technicians and scientists of the University of Lisbon. Conclusions were not possible although it was formed, apparently, by a small organism featuring 10 'arms' stretching from a central core. It was advanced that it could be a single-celled organism of some kind. This event followed the sighting, by the population of the city, of several UFOs. Angel hair was also spotted in the same day, at the Air Force Base of Sintra
, several kilometers to the north.
Explanations related to Unidentified Flying Objects include:
, a radar counter-measure which can be in the form of fine strands, which is dropped by some military aircraft. It can also come from sounding rockets and balloons, which would have released it at high altitude for radar tracking.
Cobweb
-Animals:* Cobweb or spider web, silken web made by spiders* Cobweb spider or tangle web spider, any of the many spiders in the family Theridiidae* Cobwebbing, a pattern of fine lines on the face of a horse, zebra or other equid: see horse Primitive markings...
or a jelly
Gel
A gel is a solid, jelly-like material that can have properties ranging from soft and weak to hard and tough. Gels are defined as a substantially dilute cross-linked system, which exhibits no flow when in the steady-state...
. It has also been reported at sightings of the Virgin Mary.
It is named for its similarity to fine hair, or spider web
Spider web
A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web or cobweb is a device built by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets....
s. Reports of angel hair say that it disintegrates or evaporates within a short time of forming. One theory is that it is "ionized air sleeting off an electromagnetic field" that surrounds a UFO. It is an important aspect of Raëlism
Raëlism
Raëlism is a UFO religion that was founded in 1974 by Claude Vorilhon, now known as Raël.The Raëlian Movement teaches that life on Earth was scientifically created by a species of extraterrestrials, which they call the Elohim...
.
Sightings
There have been many reports of falls of angel hair around the world.Angel hair was reported at the Miracle at Fatima on the 13th of September and October 1917.
The most reported incidence occurred in Oloron, France in 1952.
On October 27, 1954, Gennaro Lucetti and Pietro Lastrucci stood on the balcony of a hotel in St. Mark's Square in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and saw two "shining spindles" flying across the sky leaving a trail of the angel hair.
In the Portuguese city of Évora
Évora
Évora is a municipality in Portugal. It has total area of with a population of 55,619 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Évora District and capital of the Alentejo region. The municipality is composed of 19 civil parishes, and is located in Évora District....
on November 2, 1959, angel hair was collected and analyzed at the microscope by local school director and later by armed forces technicians and scientists of the University of Lisbon. Conclusions were not possible although it was formed, apparently, by a small organism featuring 10 'arms' stretching from a central core. It was advanced that it could be a single-celled organism of some kind. This event followed the sighting, by the population of the city, of several UFOs. Angel hair was also spotted in the same day, at the Air Force Base of Sintra
Sintra
Sintra is a town within the municipality of Sintra in the Grande Lisboa subregion of Portugal. Owing to its 19th century Romantic architecture and landscapes, becoming a major tourist centre, visited by many day-trippers who travel from the urbanized suburbs and capital of Lisbon.In addition to...
, several kilometers to the north.
Published explanations
Explanations based on known phenomena include:- Some types of spiders are known to migrate through the airBallooning (spider)Ballooning is a term used for the mechanical kiting that many spiders, especially small species, as well as certain mites and some caterpillars use to disperse through the air. Many small spiders use gossamer or especially fine silk to lift themselves off a surface or use the silk as an anchor in...
, sometimes in large numbers, on cobweb gliders. Many cases of angel hair were nothing other than these spider threads and, in one occasion, small spiders have been found on the material. - Atmospheric electricityAtmospheric electricityAtmospheric electricity is the regular diurnal variations of the Earth's atmospheric electromagnetic network . The Earth's surface, the ionosphere, and the atmosphere is known as the global atmospheric electrical circuit...
may cause floating dust particles to become polarized, and attraction between these polarized dust particles may cause them to join together, to form long filaments. - On two occasions a sample was sent for testing once on the 13 of October in 1917 a sample found at Cova da Iria was sent to Lisbon and on October 17, 1957 another sample found at Cova da Iria and examined. The analysis of this proved to be natural consisting of white flakes. When put under a microscope it was found to be a vegetable product not animal.
Explanations related to Unidentified Flying Objects include:
- Ionized air may be sleeting off the electromagnetic field that surrounds a UFO.
- Excess energy converted into matter.
- The usage by UFOs of a G-field would cause heavy atoms in ordinary air to react among themselves and produce a kind of precipitate that falls to the ground and disappears as the ionization decreases.
Angel grass
"Angel grass" is a related phenomenon. It is when short metallic threads fall from the sky, often forming intertwined loosed masses. They are a type of ChaffChaff (radar countermeasure)
Chaff, originally called Window by the British, and Düppel by the Second World War era German Luftwaffe , is a radar countermeasure in which aircraft or other targets spread a cloud of small, thin pieces of aluminium, metallized glass fibre or plastic, which either appears as a cluster of secondary...
, a radar counter-measure which can be in the form of fine strands, which is dropped by some military aircraft. It can also come from sounding rockets and balloons, which would have released it at high altitude for radar tracking.
See also
- MannaMannaManna or Manna wa Salwa , sometimes or archaically spelled mana, is the name of an edible substance that God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert according to the Bible.It was said to be sweet to the taste, like honey....
- Star jellyStar jellyStar jelly is a gelatinous substance, which, according to folklore, is deposited on the earth during meteor showers. It is described as a translucent or grayish white gelatin which tends to evaporate shortly after having fallen...
- EctoplasmEctoplasm (paranormal)Ectoplasm is a term coined by Charles Richet to denote a substance or spiritual energy "exteriorized" by physical mediums...
- Yellow rainYellow rainYellow rain was a political incident in which the United States Secretary of State Alexander Haig accused the Soviet Union of supplying T-2 mycotoxin to the Communist states in Vietnam and Laos for use in counterinsurgency warfare....
- Red rain in KeralaRed rain in KeralaThe Kerala red rain phenomenon was a blood rain event that occurred from July 25 to September 23, 2001, when red-coloured rain sporadically fell on the southern Indian state of Kerala. Heavy downpours occurred in which the rain was colored red, staining clothes pink. Yellow, green, and black rain...
- pixie dust