SPACE GOO
or
space snot...star shot....star snot....star jelly....astral jelly.......Star slyme.......astromyxin.......etc.
A couple of years ago i came across some very unusual
'jelly' in the garden of a house in the North York Moors national park in
northern england. It was a clear jelly, in sort of cube
shapes,in several large lumps about an inch across, as well as more blob like deposits scattered
around an area of about 23 sq yards. It didn't smell, and remained undisolved
for about a week even though it was quite wet weather.
I've spent a large part of my life working and wandering in
the countryside but this was something I'd never seen before, so I took some photographs and did a bit of
research, but more recently I've come
across several references to what seems to be the same as the stuff I saw. So
what I've found out is that no one really knows quite what it is !
My photo.
Space goo or something
similar has been found in various parts of Scotland over the last few years,
as well as the Lake District in north western England, and as i said, in North Yorkshire.
Many other places as well I'm sure, but these are just the instances ive come
across. The earliest record ive found is
from John of Gaddesden who lived from
about 1280 to 1361. He was a well known physician who mentions it in his
medical writings, suggesting it could be used for treating abscesses. He called
it star of the earth, and described it as a 'certain mucilaginous substance
lying upon the earth. ' I assume people have always seen it though.
For hundreds of years (at least) people have associated star
shot with meteorites. In 1440 in an english-latin dictionary it was called
'star slyme' or assub, which means
falling star or shooting star.
An article in Fate magazine (date and author unknown)
described it as 'cellular organic matter' which floats around in space in
'presteller molecular clouds' (?).
On 3rd November 1996 a bright meteor was seen at Kempton in
Australia, and the next mornresidents found translucent slime on the roads
and in their gardens.
There were several falls of 'gelatinous rain' in Oakville, Washington,
in 1994. National geographic called it 'mystery goo rain'. Microbiologist Mike
McDowell tested the substance and claimed it could cause illness to anyone who
touched it, and said he believed the town had been used as a 'test site' and
that the substance had been manufactured. Scientists commissioned by the
National geographic society tested some samples but said only that they had
failed to find any DNA in the jelly.
There are many such stories.
Some people believe Star jelly to be some kind of pre
fertilized frog spawn, or 'proto spawn'
which may have been regurgitated from amphibian eating birds, such as
Herons, which may sound plausible, but
the amount I found would have needed to come from some form of monster frog, or
a huge army of normal sized frogs. This substance is also sometimes called
Otter jelly, presumably because its supposedly regurgitated by otters. mmm.
Slime moulds are another possibility as there are various
types and can look unusual.
But then where's the DNA ?
Finally, a man named
Andy Malcolm reportedly claimed on a Scottish radio programme website that it
was stags semen. (How would he know that ? ). Well what i found certainly
wasn't stags semen.
Keep watching the skies.