  Red coloured rain occurred in many places of Kerala in India during July to
September 2001 due to the mixing of huge quantity of microscopic red cells in
the rainwater. Considering its correlation with a meteor airbust event, this
phenomenon raised an extraordinary question whether the cells are
extraterrestrial. Here we show how the observed features of the red rain
phenomenon can be explained by considering the fragmentation and atmospheric
disintegration of a fragile cometary body that presumably contains a dense
collection of red cells. Slow settling of cells in the stratosphere explains
the continuation of the phenomenon for two months. The red cells under study
appear to be the resting spores of an extremophilic microorganism. Possible
presence of these cells in the interstellar clouds is speculated from its
similarity in UV absorption with the 217.5 nm UV extinction feature of
interstellar clouds.
