Green Slime: Did Mysterious Ooze Found in UK Park Come from Meteor Shower?

Since life in today's world is becoming more like a science fiction disaster movie with each passing day, this story will perhaps not be of surprise...

Scientists in the UK are now trying to determine if an icky "green slime" substance found in abundance in a park has originated from an other-worldly source, mainly from the meteors that have been bombarding the earth over the past week!

The unidentified jelly-like substance has been discovered at the RSPB Ham Wall Nature reserve in Somerset, England. According to ancient folklore, the substance known colloquially as "astral jelly" is deposited after an intense meteor shower. The ooze turned up at the park only a few days after a massive meteor exploded in the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk in central Russia. The explosion injured several thousand people and destroyed buildings and shattered windows and nerves across a wide area. A smaller explosion took place less than twenty-four hours later over Cuba.

Tony Whitehead, a spokesman for the UK wildlife protection charity RSPB, says: "Although we don't know what it actually is, similar substances have been described previously. In records dating back to the 14th Century it's known variously as star jelly, astral jelly or astromyxin. In folklore it is said to be deposited in the wake of meteor showers."

Scientists are currently doing tests on the substance to determine what exactly it is and where on earth (or not of earth) it originated. In the meantime, they are advising the public to stay away from the substance should they encounter it, warning that until tests are done, it should be considered dangerous.

Once again, science fiction films seem to be coming to life! From classic movies such as The Blob, Night of the Living Dead and Day of the Triffids, the folklore that bad things seem to follow the arrival of meteor showers or the passing of a comet has endured over the centuries, perhaps for a very important reason...