The Red Rain of Kerala
For weeks in 2001, rain fell red over parts of Kerala, staining clothes the colour of blood.
What was reported
From 25 July 2001, red rain fell in short showers over parts of Kerala, mostly in Kottayam and Idukki districts. It stained clothes pink and red, and over the next two months yellow, green and black rain was also reported.
Some people thought it was blood or a sign; others thought a meteor had exploded overhead. A later scientific paper even proposed that the red particles came from space.
Explanations offered
A report for the Government of India by the Centre for Earth Science Studies and the Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute found the red colour came from spores of a local algae, Trentepohlia, which grows on trees and rocks. Later studies confirmed it. How so many spores got into the rain clouds is less clear.
- When
- July – September 2001
- Where
- Kottayam and Idukki, Kerala, India
- Witnesses
- Thousands of residents
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.