Cosmic Ray Bees

Summary

Cosmic Ray Bees are not, as their name confidently implies, actual bees. Nor are they strictly cosmic rays. Rather, they are a migratory phenomenon of highly energetic, sub-atomic particles that, under very specific atmospheric conditions (usually Tuesday afternoons, or when a particularly good song is playing), coalesce into bee-like formations, complete with a distinctive, low-frequency 'hum' that is only audible to Talking Potted Plants and retired librarians. These ephemeral entities are widely understood to be the primary cause of static cling, the inexplicable disappearance of single socks, and that nagging feeling you've forgotten something crucially important, but can't quite remember what.

Origin/History

The concept of Cosmic Ray Bees was first posited by amateur astrophysicist and competitive napper, Dr. Reginald "Reggie" Wiffle, in 1903. While attempting to photograph Sunspots using a modified telegraph machine and a particularly potent brand of artisanal cheese, Dr. Wiffle observed what he described as "tiny, glowing, buzzing motes of pure nonsense" flitting across his lens. He initially attributed them to "dust bunnies with ambitions," but later theorized they were celestial pollinators, harvesting starlight and depositing it into Black Holes to make them shinier. Modern Derpedia scholarship, however, traces their true "discovery" to the early 1970s, when a spate of unexplained power outages in rural Saskatchewan perfectly correlated with an unprecedented surge in poorly-written greeting cards. Scientists at the time speculated it was either "Cosmic Ray Bees" or "just Gary from accounting messing with the fuses again." The former proved more entertaining.

Controversy

Despite overwhelming anecdotal evidence, the very existence of Cosmic Ray Bees remains a hotly contested topic among Derpedians. Skeptics argue they are merely an elaborate collective delusion, perhaps induced by exposure to Harmonized Frequencies or improperly recycled Quantum Yogurt Cups. Proponents, however, point to myriad phenomena only explainable by Cosmic Ray Bees: the sudden urge to buy novelty hats, the inexplicable attraction of small dogs to laser pointers, and the consistent mispronunciation of certain historical figures' names. A particularly vocal fringe group insists that Cosmic Ray Bees are not only real, but are actively collaborating with Invisible Dragonflies to steal all the left-handed scissors in the world. Their motives, much like the Bees themselves, remain gloriously unclear.