Observational arguments supporting the binary explanation of the long secondary period (LSP) phenomenon in red giants are presented. Photometry of about 1200 semiregular variables with LSPs in the Large Magellanic Cloud is analyzed using the MACHO and OGLE photometry. For about 5% of these objects, additional ellipsoidal-like or eclipsing-like modulation with the same periods as the LSP is detectable. These double-humped variations are usually shifted in phase compared to LSP light curves. I discuss the model of a binary system with a red giant as the primary component and a low-mass object as the secondary. The mass lost by the red giant through the wind follows a spiral pattern in the orbit around the primary star and obscures it, causing LSP variations.

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