Similar organism in the coloured rain and meteorites that fell over Sri Lanka in December 2012 and January 2013 have been found through laboratory tests according to the studies conducted by the Medical Research Institute (MRI) Director Dr. Anil Samaranayake and Director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, of the University of Buckingham, UK, Prof. N. C. Wickramasinghe, ‘The Island’ reported on Thursday.
A variety of pigmented microorganisms in the red, yellow, blue and black rain that fell over Sri Lanka have been identified by them and the presence of similar organisms, including diatoms, in meteorites falling over the same time period was uncertain evidence.
These microorganisms were likely to have served as nuclei for the condensation of rain drops, according to the studies.
Evidence of the presence of diatoms were shown in the extracts from the interior of the Polonnaruwa meteorites, that were studied earlier and an organism found in black rain with a similar structure found in the meteorite had been evaluated in their present study, they said.
The possibility of those microbes were lofted from the ground and returned with the rainfall could not be ruled out by the researches, however, the presence of strikingly similar microbes in sterile interior extracts of the meteorite militate against that option.
The fragments of rocks which were recently discovered from the Aralaganwila area of Polonnaruwa in the North Central province, were not fragments of meteors, Peradeniy University’s Professor of Geology have told the media.
Fragments of rock were formed when lightning struck the soil, the Vice Chancellor of the University Prof. Athula Senaratne said.
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