Scientists yesterday reported startling new evidence of an atmospheric phenomenon which they've named the Tropospheric Staircase.

Experts from St. Teresa Fordson University have identified a key mechanism by which objects traverse the atmosphere, overshadowing other atmospheric phenomena such as the jetstream, which is caused by solar heating. The Staircase seems to be unaffected by temperature or solar activity, researchers say.

First observed in 1978, the Staircase involves the horizontal and vertical movement of objects through the troposphere, the lowest atmospheric layer. Groups of objects move horizontally one direction to a specific identifiable point, then drop down through the troposphere, and repeat the migration the opposite direction until they reach the Earth's surface.

Experts say they are unsure of the exact location of the objects' initial migratory starting point but report it could be somewhere past our own solar system.