Mysterious 'angel hair' spotted in Portugal sky

A rain of mysterious strands of wispy, white 'angel hair' fell from the sky in Portugal - leaving locals baffled by the substance, which seems to "come alive" under ultraviolet light.

Some have even questioned whether it was of terrestrial origin - or left drifting in the air by a passing UFO.

One local, who did not want to be named, said, "It fell during the afternoon. I tried to inquire if aeroplanes flew over before, but no straight answer. It happened 2 weekends in a row.

"Me and a couple of friends sent it to be analyzed - and the weirdest things happened. It reacts to UV light. It comes alive." Similar sightings of strands falling from the sky have been reported in countries such as Finland and Canada - but the samples often evaporate before they can be properly analyzed. Conspiracy theorists believe they could be related to UFO propulsion systems - or even to "chemtrails", sinister biological agents supposedly distributed by aircraft around the world.

Nigel Watson, authof the Haynes Manual for UFO Investigations, says, "Sightings of UFOs were commonly associated with angel hair up to the 1970s, and in the past it has been seen in association with religious visions in the sky, such as in Fatima, Portugal in 1917."

"These fine fibres falling from the sky were regarded as being the byproduct of UFO propulsion systems, allthough sceptics tend to explain themas being created by migrating spiders or by dust particles polarised by atmospheric electricity and are a natural phenomenon. It is only in recent years that angel hair sightings have returned again. Samples quickly evaporate making it difficult to analyse their composition and nature."