A Weird Rain's Gonna Fall

Strange Phenomena

September 5, 2002

"In view of the compelling evidence from both historical and modern cases," writes unnatural historian Jan Bondeson, "it cannot be denied that little fishes, frogs and toads sometimes fall down in showers."

He won't get any argument from me. Far stranger things than frogs and fish have tumbled from the heavens, if news reports are to be believed. Why, just last year, along with humdrum reports of strange phenomena like the school of koi fish that pelted golfers at a British country club, we read that Wichita suffered showers of corn husks and an unsettling spate of tinted rains (green, yellow, brown and black) fell on the state of Kerala in southern India. But that's not the worst of it.

In his article, "Weird, Weird Rain," paranormal expert Stephen Wagner tells us that alligators, frozen squid, fresh blood, chunks of raw flesh, and even, God help us, a full-grown cow have been known to fall from the sky like rain.

Cowfalls aside, scientists say these phenomena can be explained as a side-effect of waterspouts, miniature tornadoes capable of sucking up objects in one place and depositing them in another -- which raises the interesting possibility that, with appropriate advances in technology, meteorologists may eventually be able to predict even the strangest of rainfalls.

I, for one, look forward to the day when a TV weatherman can say, "Expect scattered showers late this afternoon with a 20 percent chance of chunks of raw flesh. Time to stock up on windshield wiper fluid!"

Forewarned is forearmed, even in The Twilight Zone.

Further reading:

Weird, Weird Rain
From About.com Paranormal Guide Stephen Wagner

Is It Possible to Rain Frogs, Cats, Dogs, Etc.?
The Straight Dope by Cecil Adams

How Can It Rain Fish?
BBC News, 20 August 2004

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