Since ancient times, people have recorded the bizarre phenomenon of fish, frogs, and other animals raining down from the skies. Yes, we are talking about it literally raining animals. This phenomenon has been recorded on nearly every continent and has been witnessed by thousands of people. The event often, but not always, takes place after a rainstorm and usually involves aquatic animals falling from the sky onto unsuspecting people. Sometimes only a few dozen animals will fall over an area of just a few square feet. Often, however, hundreds of creatures fall over a space of a few city blocks.
The community of Yoro, Honduras has been afflicted by falling fish so many times over the last century that they began hosting an annual celebration of the strange occurrence—Lluvia de Peces, or “Rain of Fish.”
The Greeks believed that these animals actually “grew” from the ground after heavy rains, which is not so illogical when you consider that worms do seem to grow from the ground after a rain. But we know more about science today and such a thing isn’t possible. So then, what is the science behind these occurrences?
Most scientists who have attempted to tackle this vexing problem point out that most cases involve aquatic or semi-aquatic animals and take place after a rain or thunderstorm. They argue that a whirlwind or tornado simply picks the animals up from a nearby body of water and then deposits them on some frightened, unsuspecting people.
This sounds like a plausible theory. But how does it explain spiders dropping from the sky in Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia in 2015, or the fact that many of these cases have taken place in locations where there is little to no tornadic activity?
It seems like this will be another mystery that will remain unsolved.