Angel hair (folklore)

Angel hair or siliceous cotton is a sticky, fibrous substance reported in connection with UFO sightings, or manifestations of the Virgin Mary.[1][2] It has been described as being like a cobweb or a jelly.[3][4][5]

This article is about the material allegedly emitted by UFOs. For angel hair pasta, see Capellini. For the Christmas tree decoration, see tinsel.
A spiderweb, one of the potential causes of the Angel hair phenomena

It is named for its similarity to fine hair, or spider webs, and in some cases the substance has been found to be the web threads of migrating spiders. Reports of angel hair say that it disintegrates or evaporates within a short time of forming.[3][6][7][8] Angel hair is an important aspect of the UFO religion Raëlism,[4] and one theory among ufologists is that it is created from "ionized air sleeting off an electromagnetic field" that surrounds a UFO.[9]

Sightings

There have been many reports of falls of angel hair around the world. Angel hair was reported during the 1561 celestial phenomenon over Nuremberg[10] and also at the Miracle at Fatima on 13 September and 13 October 1917.[11]

The most widely reported incidence occurred in Oloron, France in 1952, when "great flakes" were reported as falling from a nearly cloudless sky.[4] On October 27, 1954, Gennaro Lucetti and Pietro Lastrucci reported standing on the balcony of a hotel in St. Mark's Square in Venice and seeing two "shining spindles" flying across the sky leaving a trail of the angel hair.[3]

In New Zealand and Australia local newspapers have reported many sightings since the 1950s, although many have been identified as spider webs after analysis.[12] An incident was reported in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka on October 20, 2014.[13]

Published explanations

Explanations based on known phenomena include:

  • Some types of spiders are known to migrate through the air, sometimes in large numbers, on cobweb gliders.[2] Many cases of angel hair were found to be these spider threads and, in one occasion, small spiders have been found on the material.[8][12] Linyphiidae spiders frequently cause showers of gossamer threads in England and the Northern hemisphere.[14] Australia and New Zealand have frequent cases, caused by several native species of spiders and by some introduced species of Linyphiidae.[14]
  • In the Portuguese city of Évora on November 2, 1959, a substance described as angel hair was collected and analyzed under a microscope by a local school director and later by armed forces technicians and scientists of the University of Lisbon. The scientists concluded that the angel hair was produced by a small insect or some kind of single-celled organism.[15]
  • Atmospheric electricity 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.[16]
  • On two occasions samples were sent for testing. On October 13, 1917, a sample found at Cova da Iria was sent to Lisbon and on October 17, 1957, another sample found at Cova da Iria was examined. The analysis found this to be natural, consisting of white flakes. When put under a microscope it was found to be a vegetable product not animal.[11]

Unscientific explanations based on beliefs regarding Unidentified Flying Objects include:

  • Ionized air may be sleeting off the electromagnetic field that surrounds a UFO.[9]
  • Excess energy converted into matter.[3]
  • 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.[17]

Angel grass

"Angel grass" is a related phenomenon. It is when short metallic threads fall from the sky, often forming intertwined loose masses.[8] They are a type of chaff, a radar counter-measure which can be in the form of fine strands, which is dropped by some military aircraft.[8] It can also come from sounding rockets and balloons, which would have released it at high altitude for radar tracking.[8]

Literature
  • William R. Corliss: Tornados, Dark Days, Anomalous Precipitation, and related weather phenomena (The Sourcebook Project, 1983), pages 60 to 62, GWF8: Prodigious Falls of Web-Like Material.
gollark: readchar, readline, writechar, writeline.
gollark: STANDARD INPUT.
gollark: HOW WILL YOUR PROGRAM GET INPUT?!?!?
gollark: TO GET LUSER INPUT...
gollark: HOW ABOUT A COMMAND TO READ A LINE FROM STDIN?

See also

References
  1. Spignesi, Stephen J. (2000). The UFO Book of Lists. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-2109-0. ... Angel hair has likewise been reported at sightings of the Virgin Mary, ...
  2. Mara Faustino (2004). Atlantic Monthly Press (ed.). Heaven and Hell. pp. 57–58. ISBN 0-87113-696-1. these mysterious "webs" are associated with UFO sightings as well as angel sightings. Those who believe in UFOs believe the white filamentlike threads are related to the source that powers UFOs, while skeptics believe the filaments come from balloon spiders or a related spider family
  3. "Mysterious angel hair phenomenon often reported after UFO sightings". Pravda.ru. 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-31. A cobweb-like and jellylike substance which is also slightly radioactive often falls to the ground shortly after UFO sightings. The substance dubbed “angel’s hair” evaporates without a trace several hours after the sighting. The “hair” was reported to either disintegrate or turn into cottony tufts with an offensive smell when held in the hand. American ufologists refer to the material as “angel’s hair”; Italians call it “siliceous cotton”; and the French use the term “the Madonna’s present” to describe semitransparent threads that fall from heavens.
  4. Palmer, Susan Jean (November 2004). Aliens Adored: Rael's UFO Religion. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-3476-3. Angel hair is a rare phenomenon associated with UFO sightings, and the most famous incidence occurred in France in 1952. People of the town of Oloron were ... Suddenly someone cried, "What is that falling from the sky?" Great flakes were falling from a near cloudless sky. They seemed to be made of a cottony ...
  5. "Swap Spacey Tales". Long Beach Press-Telegram. July 8, 1991. Retrieved 2008-12-31. Chitchat at the 22nd annual gathering of the Mutual UFO Network included discussions of mysterious angel hair left behind by UFOs
  6. Sladek, John Thomas (1973). The New Apocrypha.
  7. Edward Uhler Condon and Colorado University (1969). "Final Report of the Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects". Bantam Books: 89. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. Edward Condon (1968). "Condon report. 2. Material Allegedly Deposited by UFOs". National Capital Area Skeptics with permission from University of Colorado. (part of the Condon Report)
  9. Rath, Jay (1997). The W-Files. Big Earth Publishing. ISBN 0-915024-59-4. In ufology, this material is known as "angel hair," and some suspect that it is ionized air sleeting off an electromagnetic field surrounding a UFO. ...
  10. "Stothers, Richard. "Unidentified Flying Objects in Classical Antiquity" The Classical Journal 103.1 (2007) 79-92" (PDF). The Classical Journal. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-22. Retrieved 2012-10-06. p. 87
  11. Fernandes and d'Armada, Heavenly Lights 2005 p. 83-103
  12. Keith Basterfield (March 2001), "A catalogue and analysis of Australasian 'Angel Hair' cases", www.project1947.com
  13. Gossip Lanka (Oct 2014), cobwebs like particles floating in polonnaruwa skies
  14. Barbara York Main (1984), Spiders, Sydney: Collins, p. 181, ISBN 0 002165767, (...) While Lynphiids are the principal gossamer spiders of England and other parts of the Northern hemisphere, they are certainly not responsible for all the notable falls of gossamer in Australia which are caused by a variety of native species in addition to introduced members of the Linyphiidae (...)
  15. Imbrogno, Philip J. (2010). Files from the Edge: A Paranormal Investigator's Explorations into High Strangeness (1st ed.). Woodbury, Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications. p. 53. ISBN 0738718815.
  16. Fisica, Società Italiana di (1995). Il Nuovo cimento della Società italiana di fisica. In other words, angel air may be the product of an electrostatic precipitation of atmospheric dust. This tangibly supports the view that UFOs are a ...
  17. Menzel, Donald (1963). The World of Flying Saucers. Doubleday. ... create heavy atoms that react in ordinary air to produce a kind of precipitate that falls to the ground and disappears as the ionization decreases.
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