Debunked: Chemwebs / Mysterious Fibers fall from sky (ballooning spiders)

JFDee said:
A recent one from Texas, probably noteworthy because it shows the airborne webs: (video)
Click to expand...

Interesting, most of the webs seem to be traveling up-and-out.....not "falling".
Exactly what you'd expect from ballooning spiders at the start of their journey.
 
Leifer said:
most of the webs seem to be traveling up-and-out
Click to expand...
If I understand correctly the poster's camera is pointing straight upward, so the webs are likely moving laterally. He states he had set the manual focus to an estimated 200 ft. which would translate to altitude in that case.
 
JFDee said:
If I understand correctly the poster's camera is pointing straight upward, so the webs are likely moving laterally. He states he had set the manual focus to an estimated 200 ft. which would translate to altitude in that case.
Click to expand...
Even if the camera is pointed straight upward (zero deg), the purpose of fledgling spiders is to travel a distance. Winds and breezes will dictate the direction, and aloft areas may take them even farther.

The voice on the vid says "up in the clear blue sky", and I don't interpretate

that as "straight-up", though maybe possible perhaps....lol
In other words, it wouldn't matter if the video shot was "straight up", the ballooning method is what's being documented, not a chemical release.
 
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Many commenters on these YT videos state that they see it for the first time in their region. My reply is that only the wind determines the flight path and landing zone for the webs.

Anyway, when googling "ballooning spiders texas" it's obvious that these events are in no way unusual or rare there.
 
JFDee said:
A recent one from Texas, probably noteworthy because it shows the airborne webs:
Click to expand...


here is a follow up video claiming "scientific proof" they are not spider webs using an "optical" test:

Who is this HAARP Report guy anyway?

 
Many believers claim these "webs" are so toxic that they shouldn't be touched with bare hands.
If I lived in an area where these airborne webs are often found....I'd join a believer on a floating Web hunt, collect several Web bundles....and I'd eat them, on camera.
 
Prepare for a resurgence of the "chemwebs"

NatGeoSpiderwebs.jpg

Finally got this post to work :-)
 
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I'm not kidding.
I'd eat their collected "deadly" fibers.
Would eating spider silk or a few old tree silk fibers harm me ?
(maybe, I should check the suspicious tree, but I think spider silk - no.)
 
Leifer said:
I'm not kidding.
I'd eat their collected "deadly" fibers.
Would eating spider silk or a few old tree silk fibers harm me ?
(maybe, I should check the suspicious tree, but I think spider silk - no.)
Click to expand...
Can't find any references that say spider silk is in any way toxic, in fact it is high in vitamin K and has been used to aid healing of wounds
External Quote:
Peasants in the southern Carpathian Mountains used to cut up tubes built by Atypus and cover wounds with the inner lining. It reportedly facilitated healing, and even connected with the skin. This is believed to be due to antiseptic properties of spider silk[78] and because the silk is rich in vitamin K, which can be effective in clotting blood.[79]
 
In the glory days of UFOria it was called "Angel Hair."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_hair_(folklore)

External Quote:
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
An old Nuts and Bolts UFOlogist from a dying generation of such laments...

http://www.ufocasebook.com/2013/angels-hair.html

External Quote:
With few exceptions, angel's hair is a rare commodity today, but it was a large part of the UFO phenomenon in the 1950s and 1960s. "The UFO Evidence," compiled by my friend Richard Hall, now deceased, was for years a guidepost to UFO researchers; it features "the angel's hair" phenomenon as do old NICAP reports. It was as common (perhaps more common), as burned marks on the ground or radar returns from a UFO.

Two personal examples from the 1950s: A friend was riding with his parents on a 1950s Texas country road when 2 UFO whipped past them, low in the sky. Immediately afterward, angel's hair draped the fence posts, trees, and electric wires. Needless to say, my friend began a lifelong search for the UFO answer.

In my own second encounter by Eagle Lake, Ontario, where my family was vacationing, the book I was holding when the encounter began was covered in a substance which somehow got absorbed into the very molecules of the book. The book was "Toys in the Attic" about not being afraid of the unknown; I kept the book until I was 22 years old.

Sadly, it was lost in a move to the Virgin Islands. I was 4 or 5 at the time of the encounter and my mother asked later how my book got "lard" on it since we had no lard.

I don't aim to go into the details of this encounter at this time, but simply wonder if my book got "larded" (slimed) in some materialization process. The being appeared in our cabin while I was alone and thus a "beaming in" might have occurred.

That same day, my aunt and uncle were in a canoe on the lake and saw two UFOs; I did not learn about this sighting until many years later, and so it could not have influenced me or my encounter in any way.

Angel's hair these days after a UFO sighting is a scarce commodity. Why? Is there a different species of UFO occupants visiting these days with a different propulsion system? Or did the same species of ETs merely change its propulsion methods?

Perhaps there is a difference in the climate which does not help create the strange substance as readily. Or perhaps like the child in "Puff the Magic Dragon," UFO occupants do not wish to leave their souvenir as much today but preferred humans in a more innocent time and bestowed this disappearing gift.
Flying saucers used to be all the rage. UFOlogists were a thriving community. They thought they were on to something cosmically important. A new age!

[..]

Now the whole thing's as dead as the Twist and poodle skirts.

[..]
 
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Leifer said:
I'm not kidding.
I'd eat their collected "deadly" fibers.
Would eating spider silk or a few old tree silk fibers harm me ?
(maybe, I should check the suspicious tree, but I think spider silk - no.)
Click to expand...
Spider silk is mainly a protein called fibroin, which is actually being tested as a form of ultra-thin edible "shrinkwrap" for food: https://www.engineersaustralia.org....wrapping-may-revolutionise-food-supply-chains

External Quote:
The perishables supply chain may become much easier to manage, thanks to the development of a new type of ultra-thin wrap that is capable of keeping fruit fresh for more than a week, without refrigeration or plastic.

The fibroin-based wrap may play a part in reducing both the energy consumption and the waste generated by the food packaging and logistics industry, as farmers and companies seek to keep fruits and vegetables fresh between the farm and the consumers' shelves. Despite the plastic and refrigeration used, around 50 percent of the world's food is lost to spoilage before people can eat them.

Researchers from Tufts University in Massachusetts developed a new type of edible, spray-on coating from fibroin, an insoluble protein that forms the basis of silk's strength.

The researchers dipped perishable fruits like strawberries and bananas into a solution of fibroin, then exposed the fruit to water vapour under a vacuum. Depending on the amount of time spent there, the fruits developed different percentages of coatings. The thickest coating, at 58 percent was 35 microns thick, which is still invisible to the naked eye.
Eating spider silk shouldn't do you any harm, although, being quite sticky, it would likely pick up a fair bit of environmental dust, dirt and other gubbins.
 
There are some reports of long strands in the air as early as January, for example, in Texas.



The explanation I have come across, is that adult spiders will shoot (spin) long strands as a means of mobility within their habitat......to change or alter their current position for a better place to gather food, or as a means to escape a predator.
Here is an exhaustive list of spiders in Texas....and it lists when (what months) adult spiders are active...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4829797/
 
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Svartbjørn said:
Have these people never read or seen Charlotte's Web?
Click to expand...

haha! real funny! I guess that old Charlotte used to live up in the clouds huh? This web like substance can be seen on multiple videos falling from the sky! Not just floating sideways through the air! PLUS there are many that have done test on them and they ARE showing proof of petroleum /fuel products, aluminum, barium, and other metals. So you go ahead and make jokes about it if you want to, but you may be better off in the long run to investigate some more first. just saying........ Let me know if you are interested in learning the truth?
 
Leifer said:
I'm not kidding.
I'd eat their collected "deadly" fibers.
Would eating spider silk or a few old tree silk fibers harm me ?
(maybe, I should check the suspicious tree, but I think spider silk - no.)
Click to expand...
Go ahead! Eat enough of it then get back with me! That's if you are able to by then!
 
Chris Clayton said:
Ok so I finally found out that the little spidies shoot the webs out of their little abdomens and it can float for miles! WOW! Only problem is this only takes place in the fall in texas and I just watched a video you have posted on here that shows them all over the place in texas in JAN! Plus you can watch videos all over the place showing the webs in the dead of winter snow! So if I were you Mick i would take most of these videos down other than maybe the ones of the cob worm webs you posted. They are hurting your objective more than they are helping.

Tim Bryce with the Dallas Zoo says this process known as ballooning is a normal occurrence in North Texas in the fall.
"It is actually spider silk," said Bryce. "It's fairly common this time of year to have little spiderlings emerge and send out little strands of silk from their abdomens.
Click to expand...

You are failing to understand that ballooning can also take place during winter.

External Quote:

Ballooning is most often performed in spring and late fall by spiderlings, but adult dwarf spiders balloon during the winter, too.
From

http://bugeric.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/ballooning-spiders.html

External Quote:
This procedure is mostly used by spiderlings to disperse, but larger individuals have been observed using it.
From

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballooning_(spider)
 
JFDee said:
A recent one from Texas, probably noteworthy because it shows the airborne webs:

Click to expand...

There are so many problems with that video. I'm sure others can do a better job of casting doubt on the logic used than I can, but I'll make some comments for starters:

All through the video, he keeps referring to comparison of the subject samples to "natural spiderwebs". The most obvious problem with that is that natural spiderwebs come in tremendous variety. I think that's been mentioned in this thread already, but a VERY brief summary of this is provided in Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_silk#Types_of_silk

External Quote:
"Types of silk
External Quote:

Many species of spider have different glands to produce silk with different properties for different purposes, including housing, web construction, defense, capturing and detaining prey, egg protection, and mobility (gossamer for ballooning, or for a strand allowing the spider to drop down as silk is extruded). Different specialized silks have evolved with properties suitable for different uses. For example, Argiope argentata has five different types of silk, each used for a different purpose:[23][24]"

Some silk types and use/purpose as tabulated in the Wikipedia article (I edited this subtopic line slightly because the original table did not transfer properly for me)

"major-ampullate (dragline) silk Used for the web's outer rim and spokes and also for the lifeline. Can be as strong per unit weight as steel, but much tougher.

capture-spiral (flagelliform) silk Used for the capturing lines of the web. Sticky, extremely stretchy and tough. The capture spiral is sticky due to droplets of aggregate (a spider glue) that is placed on the spiral. The elasticity of flagelliform allows for enough time for the aggregate to adhere to the aerial prey flying into the web.

tubiliform (a.k.a. cylindriform) silk Used for protective egg sacs. Stiffest silk.
aciniform silk Used to wrap and secure freshly captured prey. Two to three times as tough as the other silks, including dragline.

minor-ampullate silk Used for temporary scaffolding during web construction.
Piriform (pyriform) Piriform serves as the attachment disk to dragline silk. Piriform is used in attaching spider silks together to construct a stable web."

This clearly is not a complete tabulation of types of spider silk, but it shows there's lots of variety. So, back to the video, it's just not logical to conclude that the cobweb samples that this guy collected are perfectly representative of all other kinds of "natural spiderweb", yet for some reason he thought it was okay to use just those samples to form his "base line" of comparison. It wouldn't be at all surprising to me if ballooning spiderweb were quite different than cobwebs, but obviously that possibility would surprise this guy. In fact, the ballooning webs that fell from the sky were almost certainly from a different species than the cobweb spiders from which he collected his base line samples of comparison, so there's that complication too. With no supporting evidence at all, he's clearly assuming that not only is there no variation between silk types, but no variation between species. And we're supposed to believe conclusions based on this random collection of uncontrolled observations? He would have been far better off to collect some bona-fide ballooning silk to compare to his mystery material. That would be such an obvious comparison to make. Why didn't he think of that?

Aside from the fact that he again provides no evidence, his pronouncement that natural spiderweb has a certain level of U.V. absorption so that flying insects won't see the webs ignores two obvious problems. Different spiders catch prey in different ways, with a great many NOT using their webs to catching flying insects at all, and that includes the cobweb spiders from which he collected his baseline samples. Cobweb spiders specialize in catching small arthropods that are walking on the substrate to which the lower part of the web is attached, most of which are just as blind as the cobweb spiders themselves. This is of no great consequence here, except to illustrate in yet another way how he leaps to conclusions without evidence.

He really steps off into major speculation with his final conclusion. There, he refers to "proteins such as DNA and RNA", which of course shows that he hasn't got the foggiest clue what any of those classes of compounds actually are, and then he makes the biggest leap away from any logical progression of logic so far in the video, basically saying that it only makes sense that this is a military experiment. Then, he includes his idea regarding the absorbtion of UV light as being a key component of the design of this man-made material, yet at no point has he related the level of measured UV absorption to that of any other material as a comparison. This whole video was so devoid of logic that I could hardly sit through it.

I'll add one other thing, and this is actually so basic it would trump all the other points, if in fact the other points could somehow be perceived as valid. The guy bases his analysis on samples which are not compiled via any kind of standardized method, and it's all done without replication. No actual scientifically valid evidence is ever based on a non-replicated study, and within such a study, all techniques must be standardized, not only for consistency within the project itself (how do you know what do the results even mean if you can naturally expect variation due to variable methods?).
 
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Chris Clayton said:
Do you people seriously think what this man is showing he collected is really just some frikn spider webs? REALLY? Have you not ever seen a spider web in your garage? That crap is NOT spider webs!
Click to expand...
Here you go comparing those flying webs to spiderwebs "in your garage" and thinking that's valid. Here you are, basically admitting and proving that you haven't seen mass-ballooning events with your own eyes and that you are unfamiliar with what it looks like, yet believing you are as qualified to make a judgment on the matter as anyone else.

To answer your question, yes, I do believe he's showing us spiderweb material, and you would too if you ever were out where a noticeable amount of spider-ballooning is happening. Last time I saw a mass-ballooning event, I was brushing little spiders off of me every couple of minutes. More than that, I was on a very large construction site with nothing but bare dirt, and yet adult jumping spiders of the genus Phidippus were all over the place, and they don't venture away from vegetation so I'm pretty sure they were ballooning just like the baby spiders were doing (this just happens to be a type of spider I'm very familiar with). The flying webs, and the little spiders themselves were everywhere, and the flying webs looked the same to me as what was pictured in video. Oh, I will add that I usually don't see the spiders associated with these flying strands, and I dare say that on the day when I saw little spiders on me, the average person would never have noticed. I pay closer attention to such things because spiders have always fascinated me.

What it comes down to, is that I see no reason to reach for comparisons between the floating strands that he illustrated and totally non-similar varieties of spiderweb when it makes a whole lot more sense to compare them to a variety of spiderweb that looks exactly the same.
 
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Chris Clayton said:
Go ahead! Eat enough of it then get back with me! That's if you are able to by then!
Click to expand...
Here again, be careful about jumping to startling conclusions about things which you obviously know nothing about. Nothing you have presented or quoted qualifies as even remotely conclusive evidence (by that, I mean presenting reasons supporting a conclusion which is more plausible than other possibilities). For what it's worth, I've watched spiders let loose a long strand of silk into the air, only to reel it back in and eat it! If that same line of silk were to blow in the wind to a distant location, the web material would still be the same thing as before (spider silk), something which is perfectly safe to ingest.
 
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Chris Clayton said:
haha! real funny! I guess that old Charlotte used to live up in the clouds huh? This web like substance can be seen on multiple videos falling from the sky! Not just floating sideways through the air! PLUS there are many that have done test on them and they ARE showing proof of petroleum /fuel products, aluminum, barium, and other metals. So you go ahead and make jokes about it if you want to, but you may be better off in the long run to investigate some more first. just saying........ Let me know if you are interested in learning the truth?
Click to expand...

Well.. if you knew anything about ballooning spiders you'd understand how and why the silk falls like it does. Take a couple days and go read up on them and come back... Share what you learned.
 
Just a minor point. If chemtrails and chemwebs are a recent phenomena, post 1995 if the chemtrail believers are to be believed, then why are there reports of this mass fall of spider silk and ballooning spiders dating back well over 150 years? This a book from 1930 that described the phenomena.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...L#v=onepage&q=ballooning spiders 1930&f=false
(sorry I can't copy and paste)

Here is another report, from Australia, dated 1904
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/35807366
External Quote:
Today the ballooning habit of spiders is
due so-called "gossamer showers." On
an early autumn morning when the dew
upon floating spider filaments betrays
their presence, one is surprised at the vast
amount visible. Later in,the day quantities
of this spinning-work will be seen
sailing ,through the air. A great excess
of tufts of filaments is known as a
gossamer shower. At times it has assumed
such proportions as ito ,win record as a
natural marvel.
And why has identical falls of gossamer been, in the days long before the chemtrail conspiracy, or even manned flight been associated with UFO's, apparitions of The Virgin Mary, the acts of fairies and many other such fancies? And why has nearly every scientifically studied samples, dating back to 1917 if not before been positively identified as spider or insect silk?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_hair_(folklore)
External Quote:
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 the 13th of September and 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...

...
  • 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]
 
Jay Reynolds and I would be willing to eat these silken strands and/or masses.

Worriers of these fibers are often afraid to even touch them.
Perhaps I (we) need to put this to bed, and demonstrate this on video.

How this could happen, is somewhat complicated, but not impossible.
Jay is from Arkansas, and I am from southern California......so perhaps there are two videos....with followup vids to prove we are still in good health.

Logistically, Jay and myself would have to personally witness the collection of such fibers, and eat them on (preferably) continuously recorded video. In other words, it's not a good idea to eat fibers anonymously sent through the mail.

Note....this is an extraordinarily extreme measure to prove something we are 99% sure of, but to only help dispel an unrealistic internet rumor.

 
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Here's a claim that the man-made fibers (aka, spider silk ) are somehow magnetized,
because she only sees them in a North/South direction.
I'm willing to guess that videos by others, show this N/S direction too (but make no such claim).



Ignoring for now, that the wind could be blowing them in a certain direction...
I think it's because the sun often low behind them, or directly in front of them...meaning that most of the noticeable fibers just happen to be perpendicular to the sun, and shiny.
When the sun is low and you want to see the grass-height horizontal fibers, people usually face East or West for the dramatic effect. Therefore, only the fibers suspended North to South are easily noticed......because they are long, they wave in the wind, and reflect the sunlight on their longer area (span).
Spider silk traveling away from the viewer, are greatly foreshortened and reflect less light.
Plus people don't usually see the silk, they see the reflection of the silk.

....as seen in this video of a spiral web. Notice that the part of the web seen the most, are the horizontal (shiny) silk segments, and it's hard to spot the vertical segments. (I'm willing to bet that's by evolutionary design.)

 
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