diff --git a/libraries/particles/src/Particle.cpp b/libraries/particles/src/Particle.cpp
index 5cf5e9248d..a35d9fc8af 100644
--- a/libraries/particles/src/Particle.cpp
+++ b/libraries/particles/src/Particle.cpp
@@ -840,6 +840,8 @@ ParticleProperties::ParticleProperties() :
     _inHand(false),
     _shouldDie(false),
 
+    _id(UNKNOWN_PARTICLE_ID),
+    _idSet(false),
     _lastEdited(usecTimestampNow()),
     _positionChanged(false),
     _colorChanged(false),
@@ -925,6 +927,11 @@ QScriptValue ParticleProperties::copyToScriptValue(QScriptEngine* engine) const
     properties.setProperty("script", _script);
     properties.setProperty("inHand", _inHand);
     properties.setProperty("shouldDie", _shouldDie);
+    
+    if (_idSet) {
+        properties.setProperty("id", _id);
+        properties.setProperty("isKnownID", (_id == UNKNOWN_PARTICLE_ID));
+    }
 
     return properties;
 }
@@ -1118,6 +1125,9 @@ void ParticleProperties::copyFromParticle(const Particle& particle) {
     _inHand = particle.getInHand();
     _shouldDie = particle.getShouldDie();
 
+    _id = particle.getID();
+    _idSet = true;
+
     _positionChanged = false;
     _colorChanged = false;
     _radiusChanged = false;
diff --git a/libraries/particles/src/Particle.h b/libraries/particles/src/Particle.h
index 4f29b829f5..32b9ebedcc 100644
--- a/libraries/particles/src/Particle.h
+++ b/libraries/particles/src/Particle.h
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@ public:
     void setShouldDie(bool shouldDie) { _shouldDie = shouldDie; _shouldDieChanged = true;  }
     void setLifetime(float value) { _lifetime = value; _lifetimeChanged = true;  }
     void setScript(QString updateScript) { _script = updateScript; _scriptChanged = true;  }
+    
+    /// used by ParticleScriptingInterface to return ParticleProperties for unknown particles
+    void setIsUnknownID() { _id = UNKNOWN_PARTICLE_ID; _idSet = true; }
 
 private:
     glm::vec3 _position;
@@ -107,6 +110,8 @@ private:
     bool _inHand;
     bool _shouldDie;
 
+    uint32_t _id;
+    bool _idSet;
     uint64_t _lastEdited;
     bool _positionChanged;
     bool _colorChanged;
diff --git a/libraries/particles/src/ParticlesScriptingInterface.cpp b/libraries/particles/src/ParticlesScriptingInterface.cpp
index a494cc2dab..0641cdba7c 100644
--- a/libraries/particles/src/ParticlesScriptingInterface.cpp
+++ b/libraries/particles/src/ParticlesScriptingInterface.cpp
@@ -49,6 +49,22 @@ ParticleID ParticlesScriptingInterface::identifyParticle(ParticleID particleID)
     return particleID;
 }
 
+ParticleProperties ParticlesScriptingInterface::getParticleProperties(ParticleID particleID) {
+    ParticleProperties results;
+    ParticleID identity = identifyParticle(particleID);
+    if (!identity.isKnownID) {
+        results.setIsUnknownID();
+        return results;
+    }
+    if (_particleTree) {
+        const Particle* particle = _particleTree->findParticleByID(identity.id);
+        results.copyFromParticle(*particle);
+    }
+    
+    return results;
+}
+
+
 
 ParticleID ParticlesScriptingInterface::editParticle(ParticleID particleID, const ParticleProperties& properties) {
     uint32_t actualID = particleID.id;
diff --git a/libraries/particles/src/ParticlesScriptingInterface.h b/libraries/particles/src/ParticlesScriptingInterface.h
index 2ba7c509e0..9a3ceb51af 100644
--- a/libraries/particles/src/ParticlesScriptingInterface.h
+++ b/libraries/particles/src/ParticlesScriptingInterface.h
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ public slots:
     /// identify a recently created particle to determine its true ID
     ParticleID identifyParticle(ParticleID particleID);
 
+    /// gets the current particle properties for a specific particle
+    /// this function will not find return results in script engine contexts which don't have access to particles
+    ParticleProperties getParticleProperties(ParticleID particleID);
+
     /// edits a particle updating only the included properties, will return the identified ParticleID in case of
     /// successful edit, if the input particleID is for an unknown particle this function will have no effect
     ParticleID editParticle(ParticleID particleID, const ParticleProperties& properties);