The Day It Rained Meat

    March 3, 1876, was a cold, clear day in Bath County, Kentucky. There wasn’t a cloud in the bright blue sky. 

    And yet, something was falling from above. 

    A woman named Mary Crouch looked up from her chores. For a second, she thought it might be snowing. But the stuff collecting on the ground around her wasn’t snow. It wasn’t hail or rain either.

    It was meat.

    Chunks of slimy animal flesh were dropping from the sky.

    March 3, 1876, was a clear day in Bath County, Kentucky. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. But something was falling from above.

    A woman named Mary Crouch looked up. At first, she thought it might be snowing. But the stuff landing on the ground wasn’t snow. It wasn’t hail or rain either.

    It was meat.

    Chunks of animal flesh were dropping from the sky.

    March 3, 1876, was a cold, clear day in Bath County, Kentucky. There wasn’t a cloud in the bright-blue sky. 

    And yet, something was falling from above.

    A woman named Mary Crouch looked up from her chores and thought briefly that it might be snowing—but the stuff collecting on the ground around her wasn’t snow. It wasn’t hail or rain either.

    It was meat.

    Chunks of slimy animal flesh were dropping from the sky.

    Believe it or not, Crouch wasn’t the first person to see weird objects raining from the sky. She wasn’t the last either.

    In the 1700s, French soldiers spoke of toads dropping from the clouds. In 2005, thousands of frogs fell on a town in Serbia, a country in Eastern Europe. People in Yoro, Honduras—a city in Central America—say it rains fish at least once a year. 

    What’s behind these odd events?

    Over the years, scientists have suggested many explanations. Some say the creatures aren’t actually raining from the sky. They only seem to be. 

    For example, strong rainstorms can make rivers overflow. The small animals that live there are forced out of their homes. 

    Flooding then sweeps the animals to far-off towns and villages. The floods dry up, and the creatures are left behind. It looks as if they’ve fallen from the sky.

    Tornadoes are another possible explanation. If a tornado forms over water, it can act like a giant vacuum cleaner. It sucks up everything in its path, including animals. When the tornado loses energy, the creatures drop to the ground below.

    Crouch wasn’t the first person to see weird things raining from the sky. She wasn’t the last either.

    In the 1700s, French soldiers spoke of toads dropping from the clouds. In 2005, thousands of frogs fell on a town in Serbia, a country in Eastern Europe. People in Yoro, Honduras—a city in Central America—say it rains fish at least once a year.

    What’s behind these odd events?

     have many ideas. Some say the creatures don’t really rain from the sky. They only seem to.

    Rainstorms can make rivers overflow. The small animals that live there are forced out of their homes. Flooding sweeps the animals to far-off places. The floods dry up, and the creatures are left behind. It looks like they’ve fallen from the sky.

    Tornadoes could be to blame too. If a tornado forms over water, it can act like a giant vacuum cleaner. It sucks up everything in its path,   including animals. When the tornado loses energy, the creatures drop to the ground.

    Believe it or not, Crouch wasn’t the first person—or the last—to see weird objects raining from the sky.

    In the 1700s, French soldiers spoke of toads dropping from the clouds. In 2005, thousands of frogs fell on a town in Serbia, a country in Eastern Europe. People in Yoro, Honduras—a city in Central America—report that it rains fish at least once a year.

    What’s behind these unusual events?

    Over the years, scientists have suggested several explanations. Some say the creatures aren’t actually raining from the sky—they only appear to be.

    For example, strong rainstorms can cause rivers to overflow, forcing the small animals that live there out of their homes. Flooding then sweeps the animals to far-off towns and villages. Later, when the floods dry up, the creatures that are left behind look as if they’ve tumbled from the sky.

    Another theory is that tornadoes are responsible for showers of animals. A tornado can form over a body of water and suck up everything in its path, including animals, like an enormous vacuum cleaner. Later, when the tornado loses energy, the creatures drop to the ground below.

    So what happened in Kentucky back in 1876? There were no floods or tornadoes. Scientists have a far more disgusting explanation: vulture vomit.

    Vultures are birds that eat dead or dying animals. They can’t be sure when they will find their next meal. So they often stuff themselves with more food than they need. If they fly away quickly, they puke up their lunch. Chances are, Mary Crouch got stuck under a flock of overstuffed vultures.

    After that weird day in 1876, there were no more meat showers around Crouch’s farm. She was probably happy about that. But her cat may have been disappointed. The pet helped clean up by eating the delicious mystery meat.

    So what happened in Kentucky in 1876? There were no floods or tornadoes. Experts have a grosser idea: vulture vomit.

    Vultures are birds that eat dead or dying animals. They can’t be sure when they’ll find their next meal. So they often eat more than they need to. If they fly away quickly, they puke. Mary Crouch probably got stuck under a flock of puking vultures.

    After that day, there were no more meat showers around Crouch’s farm. She was probably glad about that. But her cat may have been disappointed. The pet helped clean up by eating the mystery meat.

    So what happened in Kentucky back in 1876? There weren’t any floods or tornadoes. Scientists have a far more disgusting explanation: vulture vomit.

    Vultures are birds that eat dead or dying animals. They can’t be sure when they will find their next meal, so they often stuff themselves with more food than they need—and if they fly away quickly, they sometimes puke up their lunch. Mary Crouch probably got stuck under a flock of overstuffed vultures.

    After that bizarre day in 1876, there weren’t any more meat showers around Crouch’s farm. While Crouch was probably happy about that, her cat may have been disappointed. The pet helped clean up by eating the delicious mystery meat.