In California, local residents were shocked after witnessing 'raining spiders' in the sky.
Along the Central Coast, residents have reported seeing webs with spiderlings descending from the sky.
Numerous online videos capture these white structures floating in the air, sticking to the ground and buildings. Some residents have compared them to the synthetic spider web decorations commonly found in Halloween stores.
Reports of this phenomenon have come from various locations, including San Francisco, San Jose, Danville, and Gilroy. A California resident even shared a video on TikTok, seeking public assistance to unravel the mystery of the falling webs.
In the footage, she said:
'It's sticky [and] silky and falling from the actual sky,'
She continued to explain that the webbing was all over the telephone poles.
'It is the weirdest thing,' she said.
While these occurrences may seem unusual, a biologist explained that the 'webbing' consists of silk threads spun by baby spiders to migrate to new habitats.
Fred Larabee, an assistant professor of biology at San Jose State University, clarified that these strands of silk are used by spiderlings to disperse from their place of birth. The silk threads are caught by the wind, which transports the young spiders to new habitats, preventing them from competing with their siblings.
He added: 'To get away from where they're originally born, they spin these silk strands and they get caught by the wind, which pulls the spiders to a new place to live, to new habitats, so they're not competing with their siblings.'
Additionally, many residents in the County of Monterey and the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District reported that they also spotted mysterious webbings. According to one local who spoke to Kion56, the webbing emitted a chemical odor and, when set on fire, ignited like plastic.
Professor John E. Banks from California State University, Monterey Bay, explained that what people are observing is a process called ballooning.
'Most spiders, as you imagine, have trouble walking around the ground and getting across barriers such as Highway 1 or some of the structures we built.' He added.
