A Kerala scientist claims that the presence of alien life may have been the cause behind the red rain that occurred in the state in 2001.

Dr Godfrey Louis from the Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam revealed this fact in a research paper.

Dr Louis collected samples of rain and examined them and his results have the world of astrophysics very excited.

"It was not desert dust, but some cell-like matter of extraterrestrial origin. It could have been due to a meteor shower," he said.

What makes this finding fascinating are reports of a cell-like structure noticed during examination under an electron microscope.

Dr Louis explained interplanetary seeding and how it could have led to life on earth. He also pointed out that the red rain in Kerala could be one such example of interplanetary seeding.

His findings will now be published in a report in the journal Astrophysics and Space Science.