Star Jelly: Unexplained Gelatinous Substance that Falls from the Sky
Mysterious jelly that seems to fall from the sky.
Throughout history people have reported a strange gelatinous substance appearing in their garden overnight before quickly dissipating. In some cases this weird jelly is associated with UFO activity.
What is Star Jelly?
Star Jelly is a strange gelatinous substance that seems to appear overnight or fall from the sky. It is described as being like watery jello. It is usually clear in color but purple and green variations have also been seen.
Most sightings of Star Jelly have occurred in Europe but it has been reported all over the world.
Star Jelly is also known as astromyxin, astral jelly, star slime or caca de moon(moon excrement).
Star Jelly Sightings
The first recorded sighting of Star Jelly was written about by John Gaddesden in the 14th Century. Gaddesden suggested Star Jelly could be used to treat abscesses and minor wounds. For the record we do no recommend putting strange jelly in your wounds.
In 1846 a four foot ball of luminous goo fell from the sky in Lowville, NY. The impact site was covered in a heap of smelly, glowing jelly that quickly evaporated. This event was reported in Scientific American.
In 1950, four policemen from Pennsylvania found a dome shaped disc of quivering jelly. The blob was six feet in diameter, about one foot thick in the centre and just one or two inches thick at the edges. When the officers tried to pick up the substance it evaporated, leaving behind a sticky residue.
In 1983 in North Reading, Massachusetts a grayish-white gelatinous substance fell from the sky. It was found on people’s lawns, streets, sidewalks and dripping from gas station pumps.
On numerous occasions in 1994 gelatinous rain fell in Oakville, Washington.
The Fortean Times reported that in 1996 in Kempton, Tasmania a slime was found on the ground the morning following a meteor shower.
More recently Star Jelly was discovered all over some hills in Scotland in the fall of 2009.
Possible Explanations for Star Jelly
A number of theories about what Star Jelly is and where is comes from have been floated over the years. Some of the more mundane explanations are:
A clear, gelatinous fungus that can appear overnight called Myxarium nucleatum. It tends to grow on decaying wood. This might explain some cases of Star Jelly but doesn’t explain cases where it is seen falling or found on metal structures.
The Star Jelly that was found on the hills in Scotland seems to be likely to be pawn jelly from frogs or other amphibians. When predators eat a frog they will sometimes vomit up the spawn jelly.
There are some types of slime mold that would match the description of Star Jelly in some cases.
Nostoc, a type of fresh water algae forms colonies which swell up into a jelly like mass when wet but appear as small crystals when dry. Perhaps some of these particles were blown onto someone lawn and went unnoticed until it began to rain, causing it to swell.
Some UFO enthusiasts believe Star Jelly is the remains of an alien creature or something used by extraterrestrials to power their space flight. This connection is made due to Star Jelly often being found after a “meteor” sighting.
The National Geographic Society commissioned a study into Star Jelly which didn’t manage to find any DNA in the sample it had. This would suggest the material was inorganic, at least in one instance.
It seems like Star Jelly can be quite different in each different scenario. This would suggest that we will probably not find one explanation to cover all sightings of Star Jelly.
Have you ever seen Star Jelly? Let us know in the comments!
If you enjoyed this article you may be interested in the Kentucky Meat Shower or the Oakville Blobs.
