Fish and meat are falling from the sky?! Can I pick them up and take them home to eat?

In the movie "The Angry Sea" released not long ago, there is a scene where huge fish fall from the sky. Can this really happen?!

It's not uncommon for it to rain, but have you ever seen frogs raining , fish raining , or even meat raining ? Are these unusual rains gifts from nature or strange supernatural phenomena? Today we're going to talk about those strange rains.

“Meat rain” from the sky?

On March 3, 1876, an "unusual rain" fell in Kentucky, USA. According to the description of a local farmer's wife: around noon, she was making soap in her yard, and then she saw a piece of meat falling from the sky, followed by more pieces of meat, and the whole process lasted for several minutes. This is the famous " Kentucky Meat Rain Incident " in history.

Get rich? Image source: James Fosidke

This story seems absurd, but many publications at the time, including The New York Times and Scientific American, reported this phenomenon, which also deepened the credibility of the incident.

So where did these pieces of meat that fell from the sky come from? Leopold, a bystander at the time, got a sample of the "meat" and after analysis, he concluded that it was not meat, but ground fungus that had swelled up after absorbing rainwater, also known as ground fungus, a type of algae.

They can’t be said to be exactly the same, but they can only be said to be completely unrelated? Photo: Lairich Rig

However, some people pointed out that there was no rain in the area at that time, so there was no possibility that the ground ivy absorbed rainwater.

In order to verify, Brandis sent the samples to a scientific institute for analysis. The results were shocking, because these samples were not only meat, but also cartilage or lung tissue from horses. At the same time, as more samples were identified, the sources of meat also included cattle, sheep, deer, bears and even humans.

The identity of the meat was confirmed, but the source was still unknown. Gradually, some bad associations emerged in the minds of the people. In the end, it was the locals in Kentucky who gave a seemingly reasonable explanation. They said that the meat falling from the sky was actually the vomit of the vultures , because they had seen vultures vomit more than once, and other vultures liked to follow suit.

A swooping bald vulture. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

It sounds incredible, but the pieces of meat found came from different tissues, and the "meat rain" covered a wide area, a bit like throwing something from the sky to the ground (and airplanes had not yet been invented at that time).

Dr. Kastenbing, who participated in the research, roughly restored the scene at that time: a group of vultures felt that they had eaten too much when flying over Kentucky, so they vomited while flying. The "vomit" was scattered everywhere by the wind, and finally formed a strange "meat rain".

It is worth mentioning that there are vultures in Kentucky, including the black vulture (Coragyps atratus) and the red-headed vulture (Cathartes aura). In order to reduce their own weight or for defense during flight, these two vultures will choose to vomit out undigested food in their stomachs . This may be the origin of the "Kentucky Meat Rain".

"Blood rain" from the sky?

"Blood rain" is a phenomenon in which "blood" falls from the sky in the form of rain . In the 8th century BC, the ancient Greek poet Homer recorded this phenomenon in "Iliad", and later stories about "blood rain" were recorded all over the world.

The "blood rain" that occurred in Germany in 1554. Source: Hans Glaser

In ancient times, unusual events such as "blood rain" were often considered to be ominous signs, and some writers used it to predict bad things to happen. According to the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", in 685 AD, a "blood rain" fell in Britain, and milk and butter were dyed red. Not long after, the then King of Kent, Lothar, died.

However, in history, the reason for the death of King Lothar of Kent was that his nephew Edric launched a war, in which he was defeated and died. The "blood rain" happened to appear during that period, and was regarded as a prophecy by later generations.

In Germany, "blood rain" was also seen as one of the several omens of the Black Death in the 14th century. During the Renaissance in the 16th century, this phenomenon was considered by religious people to be a punishment from God, using the miracle of "blood rain" to warn humans of their immoral behavior.

In the following hundreds of years, more than 300 cases of "blood rain" appeared in Europe , which also attracted the attention of some naturalists, but due to lack of research, it did not receive much attention. After the millennium, a "blood rain" fell in Kerala, India, which attracted international attention. In 2012, "blood rain" appeared again in Sri Lanka near India.

Red floods in Kerala Source: YouTube

In 2015, a study confirmed that the cause of the bloody rain in Kerala, India was actually the spores of an algae species (Trentepohlia) in the Chlorophyceae class that merged into the rainwater, causing the color of the rainwater to change.

This algae lives on tree trunks and stone surfaces and coexists with fungi, which is our common lichen. As the name of its genus suggests, the algae of the genus Citrus algae did not continue the family color scheme dominated by "green", but changed into "orange" or even "red". This is because they contain a large amount of carotenoids, which mask the green color of chlorophyll.

Spores in a sample of Kerala's "blood rain" Source: Wikipedia

What's more interesting is that researchers analyzed the DNA sequence of spores in the blood rain samples in Kerala and found that the spores came from Austria, more than 6,000 kilometers away . They rode the wind and clouds across the ocean to India, and then were affected by the southwest monsoon. The raindrops in the clouds carried the spores and fell together, forming the "blood rain".

As for the earlier "blood rain" events, some people believe that it is a combination of rain and red dust, while others link it to sunspots and auroras, believing that ripples of sunlight affect the color of rain. However, more evidence shows that the composition of "blood rain" is formed by the fusion of suspended particles or microorganisms in the air.

Rainwater dyed red by algae. Image credit: Joaquin Perez

Fish falling from the sky?

The previous "journey of flesh and blood" may be somewhat magical, but the "animal rain" from the sky may happen right next to you.

This kind of "strange rain" is also very common in history. The earliest record can be traced back to the first century AD. The Roman naturalist Plink the Elder recorded a rainstorm in his book, which was full of frogs and fish.

Medieval stone carving of frogs and fish Source: Olaus Magnus

In 1794, French soldiers saw toads falling from the sky during heavy rain in Larans, near Lille, France; in 1861, Singapore had a "rain of fish", and after three days of heavy rain, a large number of fish appeared in the puddles on the streets. More recently, a "rain of fish" occurred in a small town in northern Australia in 2010, and the local residents were very lucky that it was not a "rain of crocodiles".

However, the most famous "fish rain" occurs in a small village in Yoro, northern Honduras. From May to July every year, with the arrival of the rainy season in Honduras, there will be a "fish rain" here, which usually lasts for two to three hours . After the heavy rain, the villagers will bring basins or buckets to collect the lively fish on the roadside.

Children picking up fish Photo credit: christian baide figueroa

According to local legend, the "rain of fish" was caused by a Spanish missionary who prayed to God for three days and three nights to give food to the hungry people in the area. God was moved by his sincerity and sent down the "rain of fish". Since then, this miracle has been happening every year.

As human beings’ understanding of nature progresses, although the “halo” of God still shines, the “light” of truth is also blooming. The first scientist who tried to explain the phenomenon of “animal rain” was the French physicist Ampere, yes, the “electric current unit” we are familiar with. At that time, he had not yet achieved results in the field of electromagnetism.

French physicist Ampère diagram source: Ambrose Tardieu / wikipedia

In a speech before a natural science society, Ampere proposed that a hurricane first blew the frogs high into the sky, and then when the wind dissipated, the frogs fell from the sky like rain.

Ampere's speculation is not without reason, because nature's "transporter" is more or less related to wind. However, the explanation that most scientists currently accept is " waterspout ".

This is a special type of tornado that forms over warm water. Like tornadoes on land, waterspouts have a strong suction force that can sweep away animals such as fish, frogs, crabs, etc. and give them a short flight on a whim.

Waterspouts on the sea Source: WH Drake / loc.gov

After flying for a while, as the power of the waterspout gradually weakened, the animals that were carried to high altitudes did not even have parachutes and fell directly to the ground and became boxes.

Compared with Ampere's conjecture, the advantage of waterspouts is the presence of water, which makes the appearance of water-related animals such as fish and frogs reasonable. Secondly, the appearance of animal rain is usually accompanied by heavy rainstorms, which is also inseparable from the addition of water.

This is probably why most "animal rain" occurs.

Fishing Source: YouTube

Finally, I need to remind everyone that it is best not to pick up and eat fish, frogs or other unidentified objects that fall from the sky , because we do not know where they come from, and we have no way of knowing whether their living environment is polluted or whether there are any unknown parasites. Don't cause a disaster because of greed for "free" food.

References

[1]https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1876/03/10/81687268.

[2]https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/the-great-kentucky-meat-shower-mystery-unwound-by-projectile-vulture-vomit/

[3]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273124757_European_Species_of_Subaerial_Green_Alga_Trentepohlia_annulata_Trentepohliales_Ulvophyceae_Caused_Blood_Rain_in_Kerala_India

[4]https://gizmodo.com/when-it-rains-animals-the-science-of-true-weather-weir-5895116

[5]https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/meteorology-climatology/item/can-it-rain-frogs-fish-and-other-objects/

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Source丨Bowu (ID: bowuzazhi) Author丨Yuyu Original Editor | Weimo

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