back to Mysterious Rains of Fish, Frogs, other Small Animals and Inorganic Substances
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When fish fall on people's head, on the rooftops of houses, on the streets, people really pay attention, wondering where they come from. The fish (there are also falls of frogs, snails and worms) mostly fall during unusual heavy rains or violent thunderstorms. However, some fish rains happen with a sudden blast of high wind accompanied with a little rain. Sometimes the amount of fish falls over a large area, but mostly it is confined to a very small area. Most of the time the fish are alive and not hurt or damaged by the fall, so they could not have fallen from very high. Fish have been scooped up and put into buckets and ponds were they survived Sometimes these fish have been eaten without any ill effects. Sometimes the fallen fish are all dead and even dry! Occasionally, all of the fallen fish are dead or show signs of decomposition. Forget about the water spout or tornado theory. It just doesn't hold up. It also happens that fish fall from the sky on more than one occasion in the same locality. Some of rains of fishes are very unusual as the fish does not come down scattered about as one might expect but in a very narrow straight line. The following examples are taken from Rains of Fishes, by E. W. Gudger, 1921 (see chapter 4): With a rain of fishes in India in 1856 as, the fishes were not scattered over the country but were found in a long, narrow, and fairly straight row. "This brought with it so many fish that the ground was literally covered, and some were even found on the tops of haystacks." Not compatible with a tornado theory. In 1939, also in India, an Englishman reported a strange fish rain on his property: "The most strange thing that every stuck me in connection with this event, was, that the fish did not fall helter-skelter, everywhere, or ‘here and there’; but they fell in a straight line, not more than a cubit in breadth." In Scotland, year not given, many fish fell down in two rain showers ten minutes apart, and each lasting ten minutes. In the first one "They were jumping all about. They covered the ground in a long strip of about 80 yards by 12 yards, as we measured afterwards."
Content of this page: Rains of Fishes, paper by E. W. Gudger, 1921 ........................................................................ The oldest written record of a fall of fishes from the sky appeared in a work called The Deipnosophistae which is is the Latin title of an early 3rd-century AD Greek work. the title translates as "The Dinner Sophists/Philosophers/Experts", and it was written by the Greco-Egyptian author Athenaeus of Naucratis. It is a long work of literary, historical, and antiquarian references set in Rome at a series of banquets held by the protagonist Publius Livius Larensis for an assembly of grammarians, lexicographers, jurists, musicians, and hangers-on. It is sometimes called the oldest surviving cookbook. "I know also that it has very often rained fishes. At all events, Phoenias, in the second book of his Eresian Magistrates, says that in the Chersonesus it once rained fish uninterruptedly for three days; and Phylarchus, in his fourth book, says that people had often seen it raining fish, and often also raining wheat, and that the same thing has happened with respect to frogs. At all events, Heracleides Lembus, in the twenty-first book of his History, says: "In Paeonia and Dardania it has, they say, before now rained frogs; and so great has been the number of these frogs that the houses and the roads have been full of them; and at first, for some days, the inhabitants, endeavouring to kill them, and shutting up their houses, endured the pest; but when they did no good, but found that all their vessels were filled with them, and the frogs were found to be boiled up and roasted with everything they ate, and when besides all this, they could not make use of any water, nor put their feet on the ground for the heaps of frogs that were everywhere, and were annoyed also by the smell of those that died, they fled the country." Source: http://www.attalus.org/old/athenaeus8.html
Woodcut from Book XX, Ch. XXX, Albertus Magnus’s Description of the Northern Peoples (1555), entitled, “On falling fish, frogs, mice, worms, and stones.”
Letter from Robert Conny published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London in 1698: "On Wednesday before Easter, anno 1666, a pasture field at Cranstead, near Wrotham, in Kent, about two acres, which is far from any part of the sea, or branch of it, and a place where there are no fish-ponds, but a scarcity of water, was all overspread with little fishes, conceived to be rained down, there having been at that time a great tempest of thunder and rain : the fishes were about the length of a man's little finger, and judged by all who saw them to be young whitings. Many of them were taken up, and showed to several persons. The field belonged to one Ware, a yeoman, who was at that Easter sessions one of the grand inquest, and who carried some of the fish to the sessions of Maidstone, in Kent, and showed them, among others, to Mr. Lake, a bencher of the Middle Temple, who procured one of them, and brought it to London, The truth of it was averred by many that saw the fishes lie scattered ail over the field. There were none in the other fields adjoining: the quantity of them was estimated to be about a bushel." Source: in modern day English
"About Easter, in the year 1666, a pasture field in this parish, which is a considerable distance from the sea or any branch of it, and a place where there are no fish ponds but a scarcity of water, was scattered over with small fish, in quantity about a bushel, supposed to have been rained down from a cloud, there having been at that time a great tempest of thunder, hail, wind, etc. These fish were about the size of a man’s little finger; some were like small whitings, others like sprats, and some smaller like smelts. Several of these fish were shown publicly at Maidstone and Dartford."
"ChapterXXXI Various anecdotes, viz. fish falling in a shower of rain; deer bounding over soldiers heads in a line of march; a young woman carried of by a tiger in sight of the army. BEFORE I leave Madras, I will relate a few anecdotes, of matters, that occurred during any residence in the service. In a heavy shower of rain, while our army was on the march, a short distance from Pondicherry, a quanta small fish fell with the rain, to the astonishment of all. Many of them lodged in the men's hats; when General Smith, who commanded, desired them to be collected, and afterwards when we came to our ground, they were dressed, making a small dish that was served up and eaten at the general's table. These were not flying fish, they were dead, and falling from the common well-known effect of gravity ; but how they ascended, or where they existed, I do not pretend to account. I merely relate the simple fact."
II. Showers of Fish “In Prince of Wales Island, in the East Indies, the inhabitants usually catch the rain-water in tanks placed on the tops of their houses. Frequently these tanks are completely dry for weeks together. When the rainy season comes, they are speedily filled with water. Some fishes are found swimming about in this water, which gradually increase, and acquire the length of several inches. I have been told that the same thing happens in Bengal. These fishes must come down with the rain. It is a matter of some curiosity to be able to explain the source from which these animals are derived. . . . My information was obtained from an East India Captain, who assured me that he had seen the fishes frequently, though he was ignorant of their name, and could not describe their appearance with sufficient precision to enable us to make out the species.” Source: Annals of Philosophy, 1816. July-December, page 70
“. . . the testimony of many has enabled me to ascertain that a shower of herring fell in Lorn [Scotland], about the year 1796, yet I have not met anyone who could inform me of the particulars concerning it. “In the same district, and near the same place, on a small eminence above Melford House, a shower of herring fell in 1821, in every respect so large and good, that the tenants by whom they were found were induced to send some of them to their landlord, then residing in Edinburgh. In regard to the state of the weather, I could learn no more than that it was exceedingly boisterous; while the hill on which they were found is exposed to the southwest wind, which blows along Loch Milford, an arm of the sea in which herrings are frequently found. “In the month of March, 1817, strong gales of wind from the north were experienced in Appin. Upon the evening of the second day of their continuance, rain fell in abundance; and next day being very warm and sultry, some children observed a large quantity of herring-fry scattered over a moss a little to the northeast of the ferry of Shien. There might have been about three barrels or more of these, and measuring from 1½ to 3 inches in length. Now, the place in which they were found is only 300 yards north of Loch Creran, an arm of the sea running east and west, from which several supposed the fry must have been raised. The wind, however, being from the north, renders this a seeming impossibility; and it may, perhaps, be more safely concluded that they must have been ejected from the Linnhe Loch, another arm of the sea, extending southwest and northeast, about 3 miles north of the place in which they were found. A range of moorland, about 300 feet above the level of the sea, intervenes; but it is easier to suppose the cause which originally elevated these fry to be so powerful as to carry them this height and distance, than that they should obtain a course contrary to the general body of air. They exhibited no appearance of being bruised by the fall.” Source: Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for 1826, page 186-187
A rain of fish was recorded in Singapore in 1861, when during three days of torrential rain numerous fish were found in puddles. Rain of fishes, an earthquake in Singapore, letter of M. de casteneau. After an earthquake on the 16th of February, 1861, which was followed by heavy rains the following days. The 22nd it rained so hard that one could not see anything three steps ahead. “When the sun came out again I saw members of Malays and Chinese filling their baskets with fish contained in the pools formed by the rain. They told me the fish has ’fallen from heaven,’ and three days later, when the pools were all dried up, there were still many dead fish lying about. I found them to belong to the Clarias batrachus, which can live a considerable time out of water, and even move to some distance on dry land. As they lay in my courtyard, which is surrounded by a wall, they could not have been brought in by the overflowing of a torrent, nor is there any considerable one in the neighborhood. The space covered by these fishes might be about fifty acres. They were very lively and seemed to be in good health. I have particularly remarked the singular occurrence of the fish, having already, during my stay at the Cape of Good Hope, had occasion to mention to the Academy the fact of several new species of fish being found after an earthquake. Is it permissible to suppose that a waterspout, in passing over some large river of Sumatra, had drawn up the fish and carried them over? It is not without diffidence that I venture this hypothesis.” Source: Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences, January 1, 1861.
A Strange Sight in Alabama We have often beard of fish being rained from the cloud but have never seen an eye witness of the phenomenon until last week. N. P. Thompson, one of our leading prairie planter, assures us that on the twelfth of October last, he saw three fish of the perch variety fall into his front yard during a shower of rain. Mr. T. gathered up the fish, which were still alive, notwithstanding their long and rapid journey through space toward the centre of gravity, and after satisfying himself that they were only ordinary perch, placed them in no adjacent stream, where they swam of as lively as if terranean streams and not celestial vapors were their natural element. Mr. Thompson says that he is not a natural philosopher enough to explain this strange occurrence, but that he is absolutely certain that the fish did fall from the clouds. Source: Centre Democrat (Bellefonte, Pennsylvania), 23 Nov. 1882, page 4 and Juniata Sentinel and Republican (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pennsylvania), 15 Nov. 1882, page 2
A shower of fish, large and small. rained down on the farm of Geo. Knight in Knox county, Ind.. the other day. Mr. Knight gathered up near a wagon load of the fish as proof of the occurrence. Source: Northern Tribune (Cheboygan, Michigan), 07 May 1885, page 5
Extraordinary Showers From the Washington Star. On the 14th of June last the people of Harvard, a town in Clay county, Nebraska, were startled by a rain storm, which was accompanied by a fall of fishes, apparently from the sky. These fishes, which were alive, fell in large quantities. Many of them were picked up by residents of the place and preserved in aquaria or in alcohol. Mr. May, fish commissioner of the state of Nebraska, happening to be in the neigbourhood of Harvard, secured some of the fishes, and as he had business with Prof. Baird in this city, brought the fish with him to Washington for the purpose of having their identity fixed. A Star reporter inspected the fish in Dr. Tarleton H. Bean's laboratory next the Smithsonian. There were half a dozen young fish about an inch and a half in length each, preserved in alcohol. "We often hear of its raining fishes," said Dr. Bean, as the Star reporter examined the bottle containing the fishes. "This is a case about which there is no doubt, and which proves that the story about showers of fish are not mythical. I am glad that we have had opportunity, not only to prove the fact that fishes are rained down, but to investigate and explain I what appears to be out of the natur al order of things. These fish prove to be a common species of that region—the fat-head or black-head min now. ... Source: Little Falls Transcript (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minnesota.), August 20, 1886, Page 6; and The Bolivar Bulletin (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tennessee), September 03, 1886, page 4
Crawfordville, Ind., July 15. During a storm Sunday night a number of fish and angle-worms fell from the clouds. The fish were from two to four inches long, and many of them were eyeless, like those in Mammoth cave. Source: The Evening Bulletin (Maysville, Kentucky), 15 July 1890, front page
Rained Fish and Frogs. Leavenworth, Ind., Aug. 1. Minute fish and frogs fell hero Thursday in a regular shower. The fish were three fourths of an inch in length, and the frogs less than one-half inch. Many were preserved in alcohol by the citizens, to convince, skeptics that the phenomena really occurred. Source: The Evening Bulletin (Maysville, Kentucky), 01 Aug. 1891, page 4
For fifteen minutes fish rained on the farms north of Janesville, Wis., recently. When the rain storm with which they came ended the ground was covered with them. There were thousands, and the cattle tracks, pools, wagon ruts and wherever water could settle were alive with them. They were all the common "shiner." Source: The Anderson Intelligencer (Anderson Court House, South Carolina), 09 June 1892, page 2 and Pittsburg Dispatch (Pittsburg, Penssylvania), 01 June 1892, page 4
Fish Fell from the Sky. John S. Fogg, a cattleman and farmer, brought a dozen small fish to the city to-day and told in an interesting manner of finding them floundering about on the hot, dry prairie at noon, having apparently fallen from the sky, a black cloud appeared hiding the sun, and several bright flashes of lightning came from the cloud, after which the fish were seen glistening and lively, evidently much disconcerted by their surroundings. They are small specimens of the perch family, and Mr. Fogg's idea that they fell from the cloud is fully believed by men of experience. Mr. H. E. Amboid said it is no uncommon thing for a fish to fall out of a passing cloud. Source: Mexico Weekly Kedger (Mexico, Missouri), August 09, 1900, front page
A RAIN OF FISH. Jamestown Alert: R. E. Wallace and son took five barrels of different kind of fish from the water holes along side the road near the Mutz school last week and put the young fish in Spirit wood lake. Several of the varieties were sent to the fish commissioner at Washington, with an account of the circumstances. It is supposed that the young fish rained down as no other means of propagation are known to have been used. There are said to be millions of the fish left in the little slough. While the superintendent, in charge of the government fish car, was here last year he stated that there was no doubt that young fish, frogs and lizards were deposited in rain fall. Source: Bismarck Daily Tribune (Bismarck, Dakota (North Dakota)), August 20, 1902, page 3; and Jamestown Weekly Alert (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]), 21 Aug. 1902, front page
Rained Fishes and Frogs. KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 26. The report comes from Fort Scott that in one of the heaviest storms which ever visited that section of Kansas thousands of small fishes and frogs fell from the sky. The market place was covered and thousands of the fishes were taken from pools of water loft by the rain. Source: The Salt Lake tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), June 27, 1904, Page 11 ; and The Sun (New York, New York), June 22, 1904, Front Page
Shower of Fish Waco Oct 29. Small fish of several varieties rained from the clouds On the premises of Special Officer Curry a number of small catfish tumbled down from the sky during a brisk shower one weighing two ounces drop ping close to the front door. Source: Palestine Daily Herald (Palestine, Texas), 29 Oct. 1904, page 5
Rained Fish at Groom. The Groom correspondent of the Daily Panhandle reports a fish rain at that place on the evening of May 30th. He says: At 5 o'clock in the afternoon the clouds began to cluster in the northwest. They swirled together in an upward direction and banked in a confused mass for an hour before the rain began to fall. At about 0 o'clock the rain began to fall in perfect torrents. The clouds at the same time were moving south. In the cloud mass was a streak of greenish blue where the clouds seemed to shoot upwards and climb over each other. To one side of this dividing streak scarcely any rain fell and on the other, hardly a hundred yards away, the downpour was so violent that the air was as dark as in the densest fog. On J. M. Alexander's farm one mile from Groom, fish, some of them being almost a foot in length, fell during the storm. How far these fish came, or where they came from cannot be discovered, but it is supposed that they were sucked up into the clouds and carried a considerable distance before being let down out of the whirl. At any rate the fish came during the rainstorm. Source: Canyon City News (Canyon City, Texas), 07 June 1907, front page
A fish story Cripple Creek, Colo., Aug. 25. It actually rained fish here to day. During a short shower of rain and hail thousands of fish from one and a half to two inches long fell in the vicinity of Union baseball park. More than four bushels, of the finny downpour were swept up in and around the yard of John Peters, a carpenter. Some of the fish were taken to Mayor A. F. Hassenplug, who is considered an authority and he pronounced them full grown specimens of the Alesco family of the Pacific ocean and said they must have been drawn up by a water spout and carried thousands of miles in the clouds. He expressed the further opinion that the fish were alive when they fell to the earth. Source: The Morning News (Estancia, New Mexico), 29 August 1911, front page and Bisbee Daily Review (Bisbee, Ariz.), 27 Aug. 1911, front page and El Paso Herald (El Paso, Texas), 26 August 1911, section 2 page 10 [can you believe that 'authority' said "thousands of miles"?]
Chicago Has Minnow Shower Covering Two Blocks CHICAGO. In the 1200 and 1300 block of School street weather talk isn't the last resort of bored social victims. Weather is the one hot topic. Books and bets are being made on it. Not any of that easy phenomena like equinoctial storms or typhoons, either. It's a piscatorial shower that has fussed up the neighborhood. It rained fish in those two blocks. Citizens of impeccable veracity assert it And they produced between 60 and 70 tiny minnows plucked out of the snow after the morning's rain to prove it. The little fish were burled in the snow as if they bad fallen a considerable distance. Little Robert Hellwlg was the first to discover the "fish rain." He ran into the house with two or three children began to find minnows their hunt. In yards facing School street dozen of the small fish were found. Excited discussion developed as to how the minions made their appearance. It was pointed out that the fishing season is closed, hence the improbability of "the shower" being bait thrown away by some Izaak Walton. One man advanced the theory that the minnows were drawn up Into the clouds in some warmer clime and there held by density until their filmy conveyance was driven northward to dissolve in rain Others reminded that it was an that it rains little frogs. Prof. C. L. Mitchell of the United about it "Bunk!" said he. "It doesn't rain should say the fish got on School street just by natural finny affinity for schools eh? Source: The Spanish American. (Roy, Mora Co., New Mexico), 17 Feb. 1917, page 3 and Tensas Gazette. (St. Joseph, Louisiana), 09 March 1917, page 10
Rain Fish During Storm Out In Kansas Town Lawrence. Kan., June 27. — The champion "fish story" is told here by residents and verified by professor F. E. Kester of the University of Kansas that it rained fish during a storm. Following a heavy storm the other morning, a large number of minnows an inch or so long were found floating in the gutters. Their bladders were bursted. Professor Kester, in commending on the fact said that it was perfectly possible for minnows to be rained from the sky. He explained that they were carried into the air by water spouts, or whirlwinds over creeks. and held there by strong air currents in the same manner as clouds. The bursting of the bladders was due, he said, to the fact that the air pressure in the higher altitude is lower than on the earth or in the water. Source: El Paso Herald (El Paso, Texas), 27 June 1919, page 4
RAINED FISH AND EELS. Natches, Miss., April 27.-During an unusual heavy rain here Tuesday fish and eels fell from the sky and were picked up alive, according to a number of persons. Several of the fish and eels were brought to the office of the Natches Democrat and the occurrence has created much speculation as to how the finny specimens were drawn up into the clouds, although it is stated by old residents that the incident is not unusual. Source: Tensas Gazette (St. Joseph, Louisiana), April 29, 1921, page 2
MEAT FROM THE SKY. A British steamship sailing from Beira, East Africa, to Philadelphia. was recently the subject of a remarkable occurrence. When the vessel was in the Atlantic below the equator, many, miles from land, a school of fish flew over the vessel. Many struck the masts and fore-rigging, and, dropping to the deck, were killed by the fall, being gathered up by the bushel. The supply of salt meat was getting low on the ship, and the unlooked for godsend of fish, which were larger than the species found in Northern latitudes, was enough to furnish meals for the crew for several days. Source: Shepparton Advertiser (Victoria, Australia), 8 January 1925, page 5
The same event appeared in other newspapers, one of which had an interesting observation possible pointing to an effect of some intense energies associated with the event: "And it Happened on Friday; A remarkable occurrence is reported from Drumhirk, in Ireland: During a thunderstorm dozens of small fish are said to have fallen on the roof of a bungalow at the farm of Mr. James McMaster. Some were about two inches long, and they were of a reddish color. Hedges in the neighborhood were blackened as if they had been struck by lightning. There is no river in the immediate neighborhood, the nearest considerable stretch of water being Strangford Lough, about two miles away. Professor Gregg Wilson, of Queen's University, Belfast, interviewed on the subject, said that such occurrences had been reported not infrequently in Great Britain but so far as he knew this was the first of the kind in Ireland." Source: Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW, Australia), 8 July 1928, Page 6
The following news item appeared in the Northern Whig and Belfast Post on 30th May 1928 and caused considerable interest: "Dozens of tiny red fish were found on the roof of a bungalow on the farm of Mr. James McMaster, Drumhirk, near Comber, and on the ground in the vicinity yesterday morning, and the extraordinary occurrence caused considerable speculation. In the course of enquiries it was ascertained that just before the discovery of the fish there had been an exceptionally violent thunderstorm with heavy rain. There is no river in the neighbourhood, the nearest sheet of water being Strangford Lough, two miles distant, and the theory advanced by an expert was that the fish had been lifted from the sea in a waterspout."
RAINED JELLY FISH! MELBORNE, Friday. During a rainstorm at Frankston to-day, thousands of small jelly fish fell from the sky. Some were half an inch in diameter, and others smaller. The acting Commonwealth Meteorologist said that probably the jelly fish were raised out of the sea by short, lifting waterspouts. Source: Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia), Saturday 14 September 1935, page 2
FISH FROM SKY. The phenomenon of fish being rained down occurred in Adelong on Wednesday last with the last rain. Hundreds of little fish were deposited on the top of a hill, where no water other than rain water ever lodged. Workmen carting carting gravel for the roads from the top of the hill shoveled hundreds of the little fish into the drays. It was at first thought that the fish were trout, but experts declared them to be young carp. Source: The Gloucester Advocate (NSW, Australia), 5 November 1935, Page 3)
Fish From Sky. It rained fish last week at Nyngan, Byrock and Girilambone (N.S.W.). After 60 points at Byrock, thousands of fish, 5in. to 6in. long were found in the streets. Byrock is 48 miles from the Darling and 31 from Bogan River. There are no creeks nearby. Source: Albany Advertiser (Western Australia), Monday 3 April 1939, Page 2
FISH FROM SKY Thousands of small fish fell in a 10-acre field 10 miles from the sea near Hastings, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, during a shower last week. The fish, about four inches long, resemble snapper. Source: Worker (Brisbane, Qld., Australia), Monday 18 July 1949, Page 8
There is an interesting leaflet (FL 513. Rains of fishes, by Lola T. Dees. Apr. 1961) from the UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, BUREAU OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES, published in April 1961, giving an overview of fish rains. It gives the following fall: "An odd case occurred during a heavy storm at Essen, Germany, in 1896. A hailstone as large as a hen's egg fell ; it contained a frozen Crucian carp (Carrasius) about 1- 1/2 inches long ." This would indicate that it fell from very high in the atmosphere. Another fall it reports: A more recent rain of fish occurred on October 23, 1947 in Marksville, Louisiana (Bajkov, 1949). Between 7 and 8 o ' clock of that morning fish, raining from 2 to 9 inches long, fell on the streets, roofs of houses, and lawns. Two merchants were struck by falling fishes as they walked toward their places of business . There were areas on Main Street that averaged one fish per square yard. The area in which they fell was about 1,000 feet long and 75 or 80 feet wide, extending in a north-south direction, and was covered unevenly by fish. The fish were fresh-water species native to local waters: largemouth black bass, warmouth, two species of sunfish, several species of minnows, and hickory shad. The actual falling of the Marksville fish occurred in short intervals, during foggy and comparatively calm weather. The velocity of the wind on the ground did not exceed 8 miles per hour. The New Orleans weather bureau had no report of any large tornado, or updraft, in the vicinity of Marksville at that time In 1989, in Ipswich, Australia, Harold and Degen's front lawn was covered with about 800 "sardines" that rained from above during a light shower. In an otherwise clear sky in Chilatchee, Alabama in 1956, a woman and her husband watched as a small dark cloud formed in the sky. When it was overhead, the cloud released its contents: rain, catfish, bass and bream - all of the fish alive. The dark cloud had turned to white, then dispersed.
The following article originally appeared in the July 1992 issue of Old Rhode Island magazine. It is an event of fish fall in Rode Island in 1900, with a a lot of details. It was, as The Providence Daily Journal reported, "a day for the lightest of clothing, for the glorious outing shirt and for straw hats and long, cool drinks." It was the kind of day to lazily sit by a stream with a fishing pole and watch for the elusive fish or two to come popping up from the water—but it certainly wasn't a day for fish to come raining down from the heavens. But on that Tuesday afternoon of May 15, 1900, fish did rain from the sky at two places in Olneyville in Rhode Island. And so many fish rained down that people collected them in buckets, displayed them in their homes, and brought them into saloons to gawk at. Rhode Islanders have endured many strange ordeals, but none had ever lived through a rainfall of fish. To, er, go upstream a bit: The week before, temperatures had been near freezing and had ruined the state's early crops of vegetables and strawberries. But that turn-of-the-century day in mid-May had been an extremely hot one, with the mercury peaking at 93 degrees at 3pm and almost topping a then 20-year record-high temperature. The day was so hot, the rails of the recently constructed Washington Street drawbridge had expanded and the bridge would not go completely down. Despite the low humidity which made the day's soaring temperatures bearable, The Providence Daily Journal reported that there had been a land-office business in soft drink sales due to the weather and that thick woolen jackets were "an abomination." At about 4pm, though, the weather changed drastically: The temperature, then at 90 degrees, dropped in a few minutes to 73 degrees. The wind started blowing at gale force, the sky grew so dark it was as though an eclipse was happening; lightning flashed non-stop and hailstones fell from the sky. Horses were unable to move forward because of the wind; some carriages, along with their horses, were blown onto their sides. The heavy wooden top of a water tower at the Lederer Building on Stewart and Conduit Streets in Providence was flung into the air like a giant disk and landed in the front parlor of a nearby home (nobody was injured). A large billboard at 42 Exchange Place (apparently a bawdy entertainment venue) advertising a performance of "Sappho" or some other play, was, according to The Journal, "compelled to cease its wicked occupation" and ended up in the street. Some women became hysterical due to the wildly stormy weather. And in Olneyville, fish rained down—in a swirling motion—like manna from the heavens. "So far as reported," said The Journal, "the rainfall of fish occurred in two places. The better fishing ground was on Harris Avenue, near Grove Street railroad crossing. Here hundreds of pout, from 2 inches to 4.5 inches in length, fell on an area of about a quarter of an acre." "The other fishing ground was on Joslin Street, near Manton Avenue, on high ground, far above the tops of the mill chimneys situated on the lower level of Harris Avenue. Here the fall of fish was comparatively small. But there was a much better variety, for there were small perch as well as pout and a pail was half filled with them." As to how many fish did rain from the sky, it was hard to determine. Yet enough fish had rained that they were being found in the street as late as 10pm. As further testimony to their abundance, most Olneyville families living near the fish falls had at least one put on display after the storm. (For posterity, the downtown office of The Journal had one of these fish in its front window to show doubting readers the next day.) One "Policeman Sullivan," said The Journal, "whose sturdy character and reputation for veracity in his many years of service in that locality (Olneyville) has been considered as firm as a rock, was one who vouched for the truth of the declaration that it rained fishes on Harris Avenue and Grove Street, for he saw them fall and he secured one wriggling pout at least four inches in length..." Many boys gathered as many of the fish as they could and sold them for souvenirs. Some folk wouldn't go near these raining fish due to "superstitious dread." And at least one of these usually underwater creatures became larger than life. Reported The Journal: "A young man name Hanivan seized upon a lively pout as soon as it fell and took it to Corcoran and O'Garra's Saloon at the corner of Broadway and Valley Streets, where it was placed in a tank of water and spent the evening swimming about contentedly while customers sipped their beer and gazed at it and sipped and talked until some of them were inclined to go out and tell their friends that the tank was full of fishes with horns and other queer things. But they did see one of the remarkable fish that rained down on Olneyville and it was still alive at midnight. Before closing time many a man who had heard late of the phenomenon developed a great thirst and saw the one that was preserved alive." And as if the rain of fish was not strange enough for Olneyville to cope with in one day, several people reported that something else unusual rained from the sky while fish were pummeling everyone: ice-covered pebbles, which supposedly rained down in Olneyville Square. Perhaps because no ice-covered pebbles were preserved and because few witnesses of this event could be located, The Journal seemed to doubt the authenticity of this second phenomenon: "There are stories that this man or that man was prompt to gather hailstones and holding them in his hands was surprised to find when the icy covering melted away he still had a little white pebble such as are found on the shores of rivers or ponds. But no one has thus far been found who actually had hail melt in his hand and leave a shining white pebble." Source: Quahog.org
Fish rain down on Sri Lanka village Villagers in west Sri Lanka have said they have been surprised and delighted by an unusual rainfall of small fish. The edible fish fell during a storm and are believed to have been lifted out of a river during a strong wind. Villagers in the district of Chilaw said they heard something heavy falling and found scores of fish with a total weight of 50kg (110lbs). It is not the first such incident in Sri Lanka - in 2012, a case of "prawn rain" was recorded in the south. ... Villagers say that the "fish rain shower" took place on Monday with the creatures falling on the village green, roads and roofs. Some of the fish - each three to five inches (5cm-8cm) in length - were still alive and were put in a buckets of water by villagers who ate them later. This is the third time this has happened in Sri Lanka, but not from the same area. In addition to the reported "prawn rain" of 2012 in the south, there was yellow and red "meteor rain" the same year - a weather development that is reportedly still being investigated by US and British scientists. Fish is a valued commodity in Sri Lanka. Source: BBC News, 6 May 2014
Ethiopia: 'Fish Rain' in Dire Dawa By Girmachew Gashaw Unusually, fish-rain occurred on Sunday [January 31. 2016) at 11; 30 pm in Dire Dawa City Eastern part of Ethiopia for a few minutes both in rural and urban areas. According to Dire Dawa Agriculture, Water, Mining and Energy Bureau Public Relations Officer Hadera Yesuf the fish rain happened in Dechatu and Finfinne or 05 and 06 kebeles of urban areas as well as Eyawale Woreda, Adada kebele in rural Dire Dawa. People in these areas were stunned by the occurrence to the extent of referring it a blessing from Almighty God, she said. Source: The Ethiopian Herald, February 2, 2016
Winton's mysterious fishy tale amid Queensland drought (Australia) March 9, 2016 Tahnee Oakhill from Bernfels station said she was stunned to see a number of fish flapping on a gravel road in front of her home on Wednesday. The fish appeared after 75 millimetres of rain fell on the Oakhill's property, 70 kilometres north-west of Winton in western Queensland. "It's pretty crazy, getting that much rain was pretty shocking and then that happening after that ... it's been a weird week," Ms Oakhill said. Ms Oakhill said her husband found the fish and raced inside to tell her and their children. "If he tells me it's just rained fish I'm going to go out and have a look because he's either mad or it's [really] just happened," she said. Ms Oakhill said her children spent hours rescuing the fish. "They had a ball, they were going a little bit bat crazy in the house with the rain and the wet day," she said. "[Then] they were out there in the mud for hours after that, collecting them up and putting them in a container with some water and trying to figure out what they were going to do with these fish. "They were pretty amazed, I think it was very exciting for them." Ms Oakhill shared a video of the fish on social media, which prompted a storm of discussion, with many saying they had seen something similar before. She said her father was particularly delighted to hear about the fish. "When I told him about it he said 'You need to make sure you put that on the internet or Facebook because it happened to me one and no-one believed me!'" she said.
Tahnee Oakhill's daughter Hadley with one of the perch fish she discovered in front of the family's property in western Queensland. Source: ABC News Australia; original video of Tahnee Oakhill on Facebook
Mystery falling fish appear in Aberdeenshire garden An Aberdeenshire man has asked for help in identifying fish which have appeared outside his house. Kevin Bain found about 75 small fish in his back garden on Thursday. He believes their arrival is the result of a waterspout which sucked the animals from the sea and dropped them on his property. Mr Bain said he thinks the two-inch fish are sand eels but is trying to find out more. Speaking to BBC Scotland, he said: "To start with, I thought the fish had been dropped by birds but there were far too many. "It has been stormy for the past few nights, so it's possible that a water spout has lifted the fish from the sea during the bad weather. "It's a really strange phenomenon." Mr Bain lives around 500m from the sea in the Aberdeenshire town of Banff. He shared his discovery on video streaming app Periscope, in the hope someone would shed some light on the appearance of the fish. Source: BBC News, 12 August, 2016 Picture from the video he posted:
"It's raining fish" at an elementary school in Oroville (California) A very unusual incident this week left students and staff at an Oroville elementary school bewildered; they say that Tuesday, it "rained fish". There are plenty of witnesses to the aftermath ... but no one has actually claimed to have seen the fish falling from the sky onto Stanford Avenue Elementary. "We came out here and all the sudden the kids start yelling really loud, 'look at this'," said Campus Supervisor Liz Barber-Gabriel. It started out a typical Tuesday at Stanford Avenue Elementary school ... then just before noon, the campus was suddenly littered with fish. "The kids were so excited, we wanted to figure out where they came from ... We couldn't - they were in the playground, in the rubber, everywhere," said Barber-Gabriel. The campus supervisor says the entire playground area was covered. "They were small, and same color, and it looked like about 60 minimum, everywhere," said Barber-Gabriel. So was it a prank or a strange weather phenomenon? A custodian climbed up on the roof to learn more. Sure enough, he found dozens more fish on the rooftop. "My first concern was who was on the campus that we don't know about ... But the campus supervisors didn't see any adult, the custodians didn't see anything odd, so we kind of ruled that one out" said Principal Shannon Capshew. So if it wasn't trespassers ... could they have literally fallen from the sky? "Years back there was an account of raining Trout in Chico, so my thought was, 'did they come from the fish hatchery'?" wondered Gabriel. A good question .. So I gave them a call. But a representative for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife down the street at the Feather River Hatchery says there were no deliveries that day. Based on the photos we showed them, they believe the fish to be a type of carp - a warm water fish that may be found in the Thermalito Afterbay - but not in the nearby Feather River. One of their wardens has now joined in on solving this puzzle. "We called DWR to see what was going on because we hadn't seen parents with buckets of fish .. It was just very strange," said Capshew. Source: Action News Now (California), May 18th 2017 (https://www.actionnewsnow.com/ link is not active anymore))
Facebook post of Protección Civil Tamaulipas September 26, 2017 (Tampico is in Mexico) Curious case in Tampico (Col. Lomas de Rosales) where there was a light rain that included small fish that literally fell from the sky.
Winter storm delivers fish in Fulshear residents' yards FULSHEAR, Texas - Along with snow, sleet and ice, Tuesday’s storm left something else at Dana and Ryan Metz’s house. Fish. A lot of them. They turned up Tuesday afternoon as sleet was coming down. “We came back in. The dog wouldn’t come back in, she was playing with a leaf, and we found out later it was a fish instead of leaves,” Dana said. “I looked down and there it was laying there, three or four fish, and started walking around found about 15, found a few in the pool, so it was weird,” Ryan said. The family collected about 15 of them. Wednesday, when KPRC visited, there was still one in the pool and another on the roof. And the Metzes aren’t the only ones in the neighborhood who saw sleeting fish. A neighbor, Holly Gard, shot video of the fish she found littering her yard. In all, about 10 neighbors in the Cross Creek Ranch subdivision near Fulshear discovered fish had literally fallen from the sky. Source: KPRC Click2Houston, January 17, 2018
Paul Cropper, on his blog The Fortean, did an investigation in this case. He found that the fish fell in an area roughly three quarters of a mile by half a mile. He estimated that in total about 130 fish fell in the neighborhood; they were are alive. One fish was photographed on a roof and another on a windowsill. Others were found in front and back yards, on local walking paths and in backyard pools. A local Bernie, sent several of the fish he had found a week after the fall to the University of Texas. Ichthyology Collection Manager Adam Cohen said they were threadfin shad, Dorosoma petenense. Cropper also contacted National Weather Service in Houston, who said that “Radar shows no thunderstorms, really just stratiform precipitation (mostly sleet/ice pellets). Waterspouts, tornadoes would not make sense at all from the meteorology of the day, and no hint of any rotation or anything odd on radar. It remains a mystery as far as I’m concerned”.
Iranian Fish Fall, Golpayegan, Iran April 2018 from a YouTube video, uploaded on Apr 24, 2018 The fish were discovered on a Golpayegen roadway after rain. An accompanying video shows many small fish, some alive, distributed along a section of paved highway. People appear to have stopped their vehicles to collect the live fish. The video that appeared on YouTube shows hundreds of little fish on the road, and some people picking them up. The footage is from a cellphone recording. Also reported on Farda news website.
Rain of Fish at Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra, India, July 13, 2018 Monsoon rain with fish at Fatehpur Sikri Buland Darwaza. Subject of curiosity.
In Agra, fishes rained from the skies! Yes, you might be shocked on hearing this. When fishes rained from skies in monsoon rains at the tomb of Sheikh Salim Chisti, at Fatehpur Sikri in Agra the people present there were astonished. When fishes of 4 to 6 inches in size fell at Buland Darwaza along with monsoon rains, everyone was surprised. A few children even took these fishes to their homes. Everyone who heard this news was surprised.
Monsoon knocks at the door Monsoon has knocked in Agra. It rained heavily on Thursday in Agra. During the rains, suddenly a few fishes fell on the ground along with the rain water at Sheikh Salim Chisti Dargah, at Buland Darwaza. When people saw fishes of about 6” size they were surprised. A few children who were present there even took these to their homes. When their family members asked them, they told them that it rained fishes from the skies. People got curious on learning the news of fishes raining along with monsoon rains. These white fishes dropping from sky became a matter of discussion amongst people. People reached due to Curiosity. People thronged to Buland Darwaza. It is understood that due to the intensity of the monsoon, fishes from the nearby ponds came here. Assistant Archaeologist, ASI, Fatehpur Sikri Mr. Kalandar Singh said, he has been told that fishes were raining with water in monsoon near Buland Darwaza. Source: Patrika.com, July 12, 2018
Fish Rain in Amalapuram, India Various Indian media sources, including the Times of India, reported a rain of fish in Amalapuram, a town in the East Godavari district of the state of Andhra Pradesh. The event took place on 17 December (2018) at around 4pm, just as cyclone Phethai hit the coastline near Yanam, around 40km north-east of Amalapuram. The report stated that nearly 100 fish (known locally as Gidasalu in the Telegu language) had fallen onto land beside a canal and in front of a municipal school. The various news reports do not feature any direct witnesses to the Amalapuram fall. The Times’ report states the event was first shared in a WhatsApp group by a friend of the original owner of the video. Source: The Fortean
Queensland town of Yowah wakes to spangled perch flopping about in puddles after downpour The heavy rain from ex-tropical Cyclone Esther has been manna from heaven for the drought-stricken town of Yowah, 950 kilometres due west of Brisbane, but locals say it has been also been raining fish. Yowah caravan park owner, Rick Shiells, stumbled across the strange sight on his way to check the rain gauge. "As I'm walking along I saw a little fish, about an inch long, swimming in the puddle," he said. "I thought, 'geez, that's unusual'." Mr Shiells said he found more — alive and dead — along the way, with some up to 70 millimetres long. There is a bore drain behind the caravan park, but he said when it spouts onto the street the water is boiling hot. Mr Shiells said the bore could not have been the source of the flapping fish and that they must have rained down. "There's no way it could have come out of the water — it's obviously come from the sky," he said. "I've heard of it before, especially after a hurricane [cyclone] or tornado." Queensland Museum ichthyologist, Jeff Johnson, identified the Yowah fish as the spangled perch, a freshwater species common across the country. Source: ABC News Australia, March 4, 2020
Fish rain in Australia, published February 20, 2023 (there was another fish rain in the same area 40 years earlier!): Fish 'rained from the sky', outback community says, in freak weather event Locals in Lajamanu, a community 560 kilometres south-west of Katherine on the northern edge of the Tanami Desert, said they were stunned to see the fish drop during heavy rainfall. "We've seen a big storm heading up to my community and we thought it was just rain," Lajamanu local and Central Desert councillor Andrew Johnson Japanangka said. "But when the rain started falling we've seen fish falling down as well." This is not the first time the strange weather event has swept through the community. The same phenomenon occurred in Lajamanu in 2010, and was also reported in 2004 and as far back as 1974. Fish still alive when they fell Mr Japanangka said the fish, which were at least "the size of two fingers", were still alive when they fell. "Some are still hanging around in the community in a puddle of water," he said. "Children are picking them up and keeping them in a bottle or a jar." While it is not the first time he had witnessed the phenomenon, Mr Japanangka said it never ceased to blow him away. "We saw some free-falling down to the ground. And some falling onto the roof," he said. "It was the most amazing thing we've ever seen. "I think it's a blessing from the Lord." Similar phenomenon 40 years ago. Alice Springs local Penny McDonald said she was in Lajamanu in the mid-1980s when fish rained from the sky. "I got up in the morning, I was working in the school at the time, and the dirt streets outside my home were covered in fish," she said. "They were small fish and there were a lot of them around. It was just amazing." Ms McDonald said she was reminiscing to a friend just days ago about the strange weather event. "I said 'did that really happen?' And she said 'yeah it did', she remembered it as well." Lajamanu is not alone in experiencing the phenomenon. In 2020 the Queensland town of Yowah, 950km west of Brisbane, also claimed it was raining fish. Queensland Museum ichthyologist Jeff Johnson said the fish which fell in Lajamanu were known as spangled perch, or spangled grunters — among the most common freshwater fish in Australia. Source: ABC News Australia pictures taken by locals:
‘Fishy’ mystery: Utah family discovers 16 dead fish in their backyard FRUIT HEIGHTS, Davis County — It’s a mystery that literally came out of the blue in Davis County—more than a dozen dead fish that somehow found themselves in a man’s backyard and on the roof of his shed. Clark Jones said he initially thought Wednesday’s powerful thunderstorms—which featured high winds and copious amounts of rain—perhaps had something to do with the 16 fish his family discovered Thursday morning. “I knew it was going to be a big rain but I had no idea it was going to be, you know, biblical proportions,” Jones quipped during an interview with KSL TV. “I ended up sending an email to KSL Weather to see if maybe there was a funnel cloud or water spout.” KSL 5 meteorologist Kevin Eubank said that could be a possible explanation but he also believed it was unlikely. “We didn’t have a tornado,” Eubank said. “We didn’t have that type of a lifting event last night in that area that would be a likely cause to lift and distribute something like a fish.” Jones said there were also no bodies of water nearby that could have washed the fish into the yard and that certainly wouldn’t have explained the two fish on the roof of the shed. After reviewing photos taken by Jones’ family, biologists with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said they believed the fish were either carp or even a species of koi or goldfish from someone’s private pond. According to a spokesperson, the biologists believed it was possible birds like pelicans, herons or cormorants could have caught them and then dropped them in the wind and storm event. “There have been instances where animals that transport something get shocked by lightning,” Eubank added. “They do—they drop things that they’d picked up.” Still, Eubank questioned how all the fish would have wound up in one particular yard and not spread further across the area. When a KSL TV crew knocked the doors of multiple neighbors Thursday, nobody else had discovered dead fish on their properties. “I’ve never seen anything but water fall out of the sky,” Jones said. “(I’m) still trying to figure out how they got here.” Jones also acknowledged the possibility of a prank, but based on the size and the configuration of his backyard, he said neighbors or any other pranksters would have had to “catapult” the fish into his backyard. He hoped he would eventually be able to come up with answers or an explanation for what happened. “To me, it speaks to either a funnel cloud or maybe a flock of birds decided to purge themselves in my backyard,” Jones said. “People have been praying for rain. We got rain and fertilizer.” Source: KSL TV, Aug 4, 2023
.................................. Rains of Fishes, a paper by E. W. Gudger, 1921 One of the first scientists to address the strange phenomena of raining objects was E.W. Gudger, an ichthyologist at the American Museum of Natural History. Gudger published a paper in the journal Natural History, titled “Rains of Fishes,” in the November-December 1921 issue. He recorded 71 instances of rains of fishes from 15 countries all over the world. Here is the paper in full: Rains of FishesA compilation of the evidence that fishes occasionally fall from the skyBy E. W. Gudger , 1921 Do fishes fall in rain from the sky? To this question both the layman and the scientist are well-nigh unanimous in giving a negative answer. Recently a level-headed business man and experienced angler grew almost indignant at being asked such an absurd question, and at least one scientific man of my acquaintance has expressed himself equally strongly. My attention was first called to this subject about eleven years ago on reading De Kay’s account [elsewhere in] this article. It was again forcibly called thereto on my perusing McAtee’s excellent article [also quoted here], in which a considerable number of falls of fishes is recorded. And lastly, my work during the last two and a half years as associate editor with Dr. Bashford Dean of Volume III of the Bibliography of Fishes, now being brought out by the American Museum of Natural History, has, with the completion of the latter part of the synoptic index, brought to my hand all the known literature on the subject. This is herein set forth in the form of chronological excerpts, that the reader may have the evidence before him. The AccountsOur first and oldest account of a rain of fishes is found in The Deipnosophists or Banquet of the Learned of Athenæus of Naucratis in Egypt, who flourished at the end of the second and the beginning of the third centuries, A. D. This learned work, first published in 1524, is a compilation of extracts from more than eight hundred classical authors, most of whose works are no longer extant and would be forever lost but for the book of the Deipnosophists. It is written in the form of a dialogue, and in Volume II of Yonge’s translation, in a chapter entitled “De Pluvia piscium,” we read on p. 226: “I know also that it has rained fishes. At all events Phœnias, in the second book of his Eresian Magistrates, says that in the Chersonesus it once rained fishes uninterruptedly for three days, and Phylarchus, in his fourth book, says the people had often seen it raining fish.” The next account is contained in a letter from Robert Conny published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London in 1698. Conny did not see the phenomenon nor specimens of the fishes, but had his account from a person who seems to have had his confidence. The account in question is as follows: “On Wednesday before Easter, Anno 1666, a pasture field at Cranstead near Wrotham in Kent, about two acres, which is far from any part of the sea or branch of it, and a place where are no fish ponds, but a scarcity of water, was all overspread with little fishes, conceived to be rained down, there having been at that time a great tempest of thunder and rain; the fishes were about the length of a man’s little finger, and judged by all that saw them to be whitings, many of them were taken up and shewed to several persons; the field belonged to one Ware a Yeoman, who was at that Easter-Sessions one of the Grand Inquest, and carried some of them to the Sessions at Maidstone in Kent, and he shewed them, among others, to Mr. Lake, a bencher of the Middle Temple, who had one of them and brought it to London, the truth of it was averred by many that saw the fishes lie scattered all over that field, and none in other the fields thereto adjoining: The quantity of them was estimated to be about a bushel, being all together.” In Volume V of Hasted’s History of Kent, published in 1798, just one hundred years after the preceding, is found the following account of the same fall: “About Easter, in the year 1666, a pasture field in this parish, which is a considerable distance from the sea or any branch of it, and a place where there are no fish ponds but a scarcity of water, was scattered over with small fish, in quantity about a bushel, supposed to have been rained down from a cloud, there having been at that time a great tempest of thunder, hail, wind, etc. These fish were about the size of a man’s little finger; some were like small whitings, others like sprats, and some smaller like smelts. Several of these fish were shown publicly at Maidstone and Dartford.” Raphael Eglini, in the Wittenbergischen Wochenblatt for 1771, reports an alleged rain at Cotbus on the midnight of September 2-3, during a heavy thunderstorm. He did not see it, but a number of the fishes, 5-6 inches long, which were said to have fallen, were sent to him. Although the account was attested by various friends, Eglini was doubtful. He suggested that these fish, if identical with those found in the neighboring streams, might have been carried to Cotbus by a waterspout or an overflow. Here, in the third recorded account of a fall of fishes, it may be noted that the correct explanation of the cause of the phenomenon is alleged.
John Harriott in 1809 recounts, presumably from his own observation, the following phenomenon: “In a heavy shower of rain, while our army was on the march, a short distance from Pondicherry, a quantity of small fish fell with the rain, to the astonishment of all. Many of them lodged on the men’s hats; when General Smith, who commanded, desired them to be collected, and afterwards, when we came to our [camping] ground, they were dressed, making a small dish that was served up and eaten at the general’s table. These were not flying fish, they were dead, and falling from the common well-known effect of gravity; but how they ascended, or where they existed, I do not pretend to account. I merely relate the simple fact.” In the Annals of Philosophy for 1816 is found the following account, in a section presumably from the pen of the editor, Thomas Thompson: “I have been told that the same thing happens in Bengal. These fishes must come down with the rain. It is a matter of some curiosity to be able to explain the source from which these animals are derived.” “In Prince of Wales Island, in the East Indies, the inhabitants usually catch the rain-water in tanks placed on the tops of their houses. Frequently these tanks are completely dry for weeks together. When the rainy season comes, they are speedily filled with water. Some fishes are found swimming about in this water, which gradually increase, and acquire the length of several inches. I have been told that the same thing happens in Bengal. These fishes must come down with the rain. It is a matter of some curiosity to be able to explain the source from which these animals are derived. . . . My information was obtained from an East India Captain, who assured me that he had seen the fishes frequently, though he was ignorant of their name, and could not describe their appearance with sufficient precision to enable us to make out the species.” In Rees’s Cyclopœdia, Volume XXX, 1819, under the heading, “Rains—Preternatural,” it is stated that after a very heavy storm, which blew down trees, houses, etc., the streets of a town near Paris were found covered with fish of various sizes up to five or six inches long. Everyone agreed that they had fallen from the clouds brought in by heavy winds. It was noted later that fish ponds in the neighborhood were empty of all but large fish, the small ones having presumably been carried out over the city. We next come to the classical account given in 1823 by Alexander von Humboldt of the eruption of Mt. Carguairazo, north of Chimborazo, which in 1698 covered the surrounding country to the extent of about forty-three square miles with mud and fishes. Furthermore, he tells us that seven years before the event referred to, the volcano Imbaburu had thrown out so many fishes that these on decomposing caused a fever which devastated the town of Ibarra. The fish in question was a singular catfish to which was given the name Pimelodus cyclopum. The causes active here were, however, entirely different from those producing the other rains of fishes referred to in this article, the agencies being earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, which hurled the waters of lakes with their fishes high into the air. In the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for 1826 are found several accounts of falls of fishes in Scotland. The first is a reference to Andrew Symson’s “Large Description of Galloway,” which was written in 1684 but not published until 1823. Symson says that a shower of herring was seen to fall in Galloway some sixteen miles from the sea but not far from the water of Munnach. He did not see this himself, but says that it was reported by credible witnesses and that some of the fish were said to have been carried to the residence of the Earl of Galloway and exhibited to him.
“. . . the testimony of many has enabled me to ascertain that a shower of herring fell in Lorn, about the year 1796, yet I have not met anyone who could inform me of the particulars concerning it. “In the same district, and near the same place, on a small eminence above Melford House, a shower of herring fell in 1821, in every respect so large and good, that the tenants by whom they were found were induced to send some of them to their landlord, then residing in Edinburgh. In regard to the state of the weather, I could learn no more than that it was exceedingly boisterous; while the hill on which they were found is exposed to the southwest wind, which blows along Loch Milford, an arm of the sea in which herrings are frequently found. “In the month of March, 1817, strong gales of wind from the north were experienced in Appin. Upon the evening of the second day of their continuance, rain fell in abundance; and next day being very warm and sultry, some children observed a large quantity of herring-fry scattered over a moss a little to the northeast of the ferry of Shien. There might have been about three barrels or more of these, and measuring from 1½ to 3 inches in length. Now, the place in which they were found is only 300 yards north of Loch Creran, an arm of the sea running east and west, from which several supposed the fry must have been raised. The wind, however, being from the north, renders this a seeming impossibility; and it may, perhaps, be more safely concluded that they must have been ejected from the Linnhe Loch, another arm of the sea, extending southwest and northeast, about 3 miles north of the place in which they were found. A range of moorland, about 300 feet above the level of the sea, intervenes; but it is easier to suppose the cause which originally elevated these fry to be so powerful as to carry them this height and distance, than that they should obtain a course contrary to the general body of air. They exhibited no appearance of being bruised by the fall.” The last account in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for 1826 is from a man named Arnot, who told the editor, Robert Jameson, that in 1825 a shower of herring fell near Loch Leven in Kinross-shire, the wind at the time blowing strongly from the Firth of Forth. Hence it was concluded that they were blown out of the Firth, carried by the wind across Fifeshire, and let fall in the vicinity of Loch Leven. There is also said to be an account of a rain of fishes in the Inverness Courier of April, 1828, but it has been impossible to verify this. In 1828, a short account was published in the Gentleman’s Magazine of a rain in Ross-shire, Scotland. The full account follows: “As Major Forbes Mackenzie of Fodderty, in Strathpeffer, Co. Ross, was traversing a field on this farm, he was surprised to find a considerable portion of the ground covered with herring fry, of from three to four inches each in length. The fish were fresh and entire, and had no appearance of being dropped by birds, a medium by which they must have been bruised and mutilated. The only rational conjecture that can be formed of the circumstance is, that the fish were transported thither by a waterspout—a phenomenon that has before occurred in this county, and which is by no means uncommon in tropical climates. The Frith of Dingwell lies at a distance of three miles from the place in question, but no obstruction occurs between the field and the sea—the whole is a level stretch or plain—and waterspouts have been known to carry even farther than this. Major Mackenzie has forwarded a small quantity of the fish to the secretary of the Northern Institution.” Chronologically the next account is from America, namely Cambridge, Maryland. J. E. Muse tells in 1829 of a ditch dug one mile from the river and in land ten feet above water. This had no connection with any body of water and for ten days after being finished remained dry. Then came a week or ten days of heavy rain which filled the ditch and in the ditch were found hundreds of small sun perch and jack perch from four to seven inches long. The author has no explanation, but it would seem that a “rain of fishes” is the most reasonable supposition and hence the account is included here. The next account takes us to the South Sea Islands, and is recorded in the Polynesian Researches of that keenest-sighted of all the missionary observers of natural history in the South Seas, William Ellis. In the first edition of his invaluable work (1830), in Volume II, p. 285, is the following account of an observation made at some one of the Society Islands, probably Tahiti itself: “Connected with the fresh-water fish, a phenomenon is often observed for which the natives are puzzled to account. In the hollows of the rocks and in other places, to which they suppose that the sea and the river never gain access, and where the water collected is entirely what falls from the clouds, small but regularly formed fish are sometimes found. The people have frequently express their surprise at finding them, and appeared to wonder how they ever came there. They call them topataua, literally, rain-drop, supposing that they must have fallen from the clouds with the rain.” There are now to be recorded a number of accounts from India, where it would seem this phenomenon is not unusual. The first, published in 1833, is from the pen of James Prinsep, long the secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and a scientist of the utmost credibility. He states that concerning the phenomenon of fish falling from the sky, he was absolutely incredulous until “I once found a small fish, which had apparently been alive when it first fell, in the brass funnel of my pluviometer at Benares, which stood on an isolated stone pillar, raised five feet above the ground in my garden.” He then records a similar happening on a much larger scale, which was communicated by a Mr. Cameron, who took the pains to have the depositions of ten native witnesses taken and attested before a magistrate. The shower of fish referred to took place on February 19, 1830, near the Nokulhatty factory, Zillah Dacca, Jelalpur, India. All agree as to the place, month, day, and hour; the discrepancies in the individual recitals are such as are to be expected from ten witnesses who were not in collusion. These accounts, omitting all irrelevant statements, will now be given seriatim. Two of the ten witnesses reported jointly, their statement being embodied under 1:
In the following year a writer signing himself “S” records in these words a fall of fish at Futtehpur, India, on May 16 or 17: “At noon. . . a blast of high wind, accompanied with much dust, . . . came on; the blast appeared to extend in breadth about 400 yards. . . . When the storm had passed over, they [the zemindars and others, who reported it to him] found the ground, south of the village, to the extent of two bighas [a bigha is about one-third of an acre], strewed with fish, in number not less than three or four thousand. The fish were all of the Chalwa species (Clupea cultrata) a span or less in length, and from one to one and one-half a seer in weight; when found, they were all dead and dry. Chalwa fish are found in the tanks and rivers in the neighborhood. The nearest tank in which there is water is about half a mile south of the village. The Jumna runs about three miles south of the village, the Ganges 14 miles north by east.” The next account is found in the “Extracts from the Minute-Book of the Linnæan Society” of London. The account was read before the Society on June 15, 1830, but was printed in 1833, in Volume XVI of the Transactions. Verbatim it reads: “[There was] Read an extract of a letter from Mrs. Smith, dated Moradabad, July 20th, 1829, to a gentleman in Somersetshire, giving an account of a quantity of Fishes that fell in a shower of rain at that place. Many were observed by Mrs. Smith from the window of her residence, springing about on the grass immediately after the storm. The letter was accompanied by a drawing taken on the spot, which represents a small species of Cyprinus, two inches and a quarter in length, green above, silvery white below, with a broad lateral band of bright red.” At the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1840, Colonel Sykes read a letter from a Captain Ashton located at Kattywar, government of Bombay, India, referring to the fall of fishes recorded by Harriott in 1809.
In 1849, Thompson mentions a number falls previously referred to in this article and then records, without citing his source of information, that in Argyllshire, Scotland, in the little island of Ula, after a heavy rain there were found scattered over the fields a number of small herrings, all perfectly fresh, and some scarcely dead; furthermore, that a fish, ten inches long, together with smaller ones, fell at Boston, Massachusetts, on June 30, 1841, and that in July of that year a shower of fish and hail occurred at Derby, England; that in 1829 at Moradabad, India, numbers of a species of Cyprinus fell; that on September 20, 1839, a number of living fish about three inches long rained down at a place twenty miles south of Calcutta. Dr. Buist in the Bombay Times of the year 1856, after discussing rains of fishes in various parts of the world says that in 1824 fishes fell at Meerut on the men of Her Majesty’s 14th Regiment, then out at drill, and were caught in numbers. At Allahabad in 1835, there was a fall of fish during a heavy storm. No particulars were given, but it could not have been a case of æstivation or migration, since the fish were found dead and dry after the passage of the storm. Again at the Sunderbunds, about twenty miles south of Calcutta, on September 20, 1839, there fell in a heavy squall a number of small, live fish about three inches long. These were not scattered over the country but were found in a long, narrow, and fairly straight row. “This brought with it so many fish that the ground was literally covered, and some were even found on the tops of haystacks.” Buist records two other significant falls. In 1850, on July 25, there was at Kattywar, a tremendous deluge of rain: thirty-five inches fell in twenty-six hours; twenty-seven inches in twenty-four hours, and seven and one-half inches in one and one-half hours. This brought with it so many fish that the ground was literally covered, some were even found on the tops of haystacks. And two years later at Poonah, after a heavy rainfall, multitudes of fishes were picked up on the cantonment grounds, which were situated a full half-mile from the nearest stream. All these falls noted by Buist are alleged to have been accompanied by heavy wind and rainstorms. Boll in 1858 quotes a newspaper account of a heavy storm very like a waterspout that broke over Lake Plauer in Mecklenburg and the neighboring country. This storm tore great holes in the hills and filled these with water in which were found on the following day numerous small, living fishes and crustaceans. Boll also quotes the Monatsschrift von und für Mecklenburg of 1795 (p.310) to the effect that a similar heavy storm in the year 1795 passed over Lake Müritz, scattering fishes on the pasture and cultivated land adjoining. I have not been able to find the Monatsschrift in America and have not been able, therefore, to verify the citation. In the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History for 1859, Volume VI, there is noted a letter from Prof. O. P. Hubbard, of Dartmouth College, in which he gave an account of a fall of fish at a town in Vermont, that occurred during a sudden squall of wind accompanied by rain, and he furthermore stated that this was but the last of a number of similar instances which had come to his notice. Tennent in his Natural History of Ceylon, published in 1861, records a number of instances of falls of fishes in India and Ceylon. Some of these have been noted already. Broadly speaking, he says that in Ceylon it is the general belief that heavy bursts of the monsoon bring falls of fishes, since fishes of small size are frequently found in hollows along the roads and in depressions previously dry and sunbaked. Speaking specifically, he states that on one occasion he saw a violent shower fall on the road just ahead of him, and that when he got there, he “found a multitude of small silvery fish one and one-half to two inches in length leaping on the gravel of the high road, numbers of which I collected and brought away. . . . The spot was half a mile from the sea and entirely unconnected with any water course or pool.” Such evidence as this from so eminent a student of natural history as Sir J. E. Tennent is absolutely incontrovertible. Next he quotes a Mr. Whiting of Trincomalee, who claimed that he had often been told by natives of such rains of fishes and that on one occasion he was taken to a field “which was dry when I passed over it in the morning, but which had been covered in two hours by a sudden rain to the depth of three inches, in which there were seen a quantity of small fish. The water had no connection with any pond or stream whatever.” On another occasion a Mr. Cripps, of Galle, wrote him that he had seen fishes taken from hollows in the land which in the dry season were completely devoid of moisture. Since there was neither running water nor tank near by, Mr. Cripps was convinced that “either the fish or the spawn from which they were produced must of necessity have fallen with the rain.” As these fish were found immediately after the rain, it could not be claimed that either the fish themselves or their ova had been imbedded in the earth and had awakened from æstivation, moreover, the earth to a depth of from twelve to eighteen inches is ordinarily baked as hard as a brick, precluding the possibility of their being imbedded. Perhaps the most widely known and, because of the standing of its recorder as an ichthyologist, the most authentic case, is that made known by the Count de Castelnau in 1861. A careful translation of his account is given below. There was an earthquake followed by a tremendous rain at Singapore on February 20, 21, and 26, 1861. To this de Castelnau makes allusion and then continues: “When the sun came out again I saw members of Malays and Chinese filling their baskets with fish contained in the pools formed by the rain. They told me the fish has ’fallen from heaven,’ and three days later, when the pools were all dried up, there were still many dead fish lying about. I found them to belong to the Clarias batrachus, which can live a considerable time out of water, and even move to some distance on dry land. As they lay in my courtyard, which is surrounded by a wall, they could not have been brought in by the overflowing of a torrent, nor is there any considerable one in the neighborhood. The space covered by these fishes might be about fifty acres. They were very lively and seemed to be in good health. I have particularly remarked the singular occurrence of the fish, having already, during my stay at the Cape of Good Hope, had occasion to mention to the Academy the fact of several new species of fish being found after an earthquake. Is it permissible to suppose that a waterspout, in passing over some large river of Sumatra, had drawn up the fish and carried them over? It is not without diffidence that I venture this hypothesis.” An account of this phenomenon also appeared in the Zoölogist, 1861, Volume LI, and P. Harting gives the same data in Album Natuur, 1861. Both of these credit the data to Castelnau.
In his book published in 1864, Charles Tomlinson recounts a number of instances of falls of fishes. He gives at greater length the account of a fall near Calcutta in 1839, previously referred to by Buist. This is so circumstantial that it is reprinted in full. “About two o’clock P.M., of the 20th inst. (September, 1839), we had a very smart shower of rain, and with it descended a quantity of live fish, about three inches in length, and all of one kind only. They fell in a straight line on the road from my house to the tank, which is about 40 or 50 yards distant. Those which fell on the hard ground were, as a matter of course, killed from the fall, but those which fell where there was grass sustained no injury; and I picked up a large quantity of them, ‘alive and kicking,’ and let them go into my tank. The most strange thing that every stuck me in connection with this event, was, that the fish did not fall helter-skelter, everywhere, or ‘here and there’; but they fell in a straight line, not more than a cubit in breadth.” Tomlinson also gives without indication of source a detailed account of a fall of fishes in Scotland, which is reproduced in full. “Still more recently a fish shower happened near Aberdare. The following passage purport to be the evidence of John Lewis, a sawyer in Messrs. Nixon & Co.’s yard, as taken down by the Rev. John Griffith, vicar of Aberdare and rural dean:—‘On Wednesday, February 9th, I was getting out a piece of timber for the purpose of setting it for the saw, when I was startled by something falling all over me, down my neck, on my head, and on my back. On putting my hand down my neck, I was surprised to find they were little fish. By this time I saw the whole ground covered with them. I took off my hat, the brim of which was full of them. They were jumping all about. They covered the ground in a long strip of about 80 yards by 12 yards, as we measured afterwards. That shed (pointing to a very large workshop) was covered with them, and the shoots were quite full of them. My mates and I might have gathered buckets full of them, scraping with our hands. We did gather a great many—about a bucket-full—and threw them into the rain pool, where some of them now are. There were two showers, with an interval of about ten minutes, and each shower lasted about two minutes, or thereabouts. The time was eleven A M. The morning up-train to Aberdare was just then passing. It was not blowing very hard, but uncommon wet; just about the same wind as there is to-day (blowing rather stiff), and it came from this quarter (pointing to the S. of W.). They came down with the rain in a body like.’ “The Rev. Mr. Griffith adds, that ’such is the evidence. I have taken it for the purpose of having it laid before Professor Owen, to whom, also, I shall send to-morrow, at the request of a friend of his, eighteen or twenty of the little fish. Three of them are large, and very stout, measuring about 4 inches. The rest are small. There were some, but they are since dead, fully 5 inches long. They are very lively.’ A number of these fishes were exhibited for several weeks in the Aquaria house of the Zoological Society’s Gardens, in the Regent’s Park, London.” Boll records (1868) the following instances of fish falling at certain points in Mecklenburg: at Steuer on July 25, 1795; at Kratzburg, on May 28, 1828; and near Dölitz, Pomerania, June 9, 1868. He says that in each case numbers of small fishes were found, and in one case fairly large ones, and that in the first two instances the rain was accompanied by a waterspout. A similar occurrence is reported in 1873 by Franz Buchenau in the following words: “Bremen, May 24. About five o’clock day before yesterday afternoon in the vicinity of Eystrup a great number of fishes fell on and beside the railroad embankment during a storm. They were little so-called whitefish. The appearance of these unaccustomed guests is connected with a waterspout, which, as was later reported to the railway directors here, arose apparently at the same time from the Steinhuder See about four miles distant.”
The following account of an alleged fall of fish scales is given here because it is allied somewhat to the present subject, and because its omission might seem somewhat serious in view of the title of the article. The account and the disposal of it are given in Professor S. F. Baird’s own words (1875). "It is stated that during a heavy thunder-storm near Lake Providence, Louisiana, a number of small bodies were found on the ground, immediately after the shower, scattered along the shore of the Mississippi River for a distance of forty miles above the lake; as many as half a bushel being collected around one house. These, on being submitted to critical examination, proved to be the scales of the common gar-fish of the South (Lepidosteus). The species inhabits the shallow, muddy waters of the South and sometimes attains a length of five or six feet, and is especially characterized by being enclosed in an almost impenetrable coat of mail (the scales in question), so compact as almost to resist the penetration of a bullet." “It is very difficult to give credence to this story; as the gar-fish are not particularly abundant, and the method of aggregation of so large a number of detached scales would be a problem extremely difficult of solution. Perfectly authentic instances are on record of small fish, shells, etc., being taken up in storms and scattered over the earth; but when it comes to special portions of fishes which weigh from 5 to 50 lbs. each, the draft upon one’s faith is rather too severe.” An anonymous writer in Das Ausland for 1878 records, on the authority of the Toronto (Canada) Globe, a fall of fishes which is said to have taken place in Canada through the action of a tornado. The account was vouched for by a teacher, who reported that living young herring were found scattered over dry ground for a space of three-quarters of a mile. The next account, comparatively recent in date and very clear in statement, is by Thomas R. Baker, (1893). “During a recent thunder-storm at Winter Park, Fla., a number of fish fell with the rain. They were sunfish from two to four inches long. It is supposed that they were taken up by a waterspout from Lake Virginia, and carried westward by the strong wind that was blowing at the time. The distance from the lake to the place where they fell is about a mile.” Perhaps the most extraordinary case of all is that related by one Hermann Landois, whose narrative was written in 1896: “During yesterday’s hail storm there fell a hailstone the size of a hen’s egg, in which an enclosed fish was found frozen.” “Herr Joseph Grimberg in Essen on the Ruhr wrote me on July 27 as follows:—‘During yesterday’s hail storm there fell a hailstone the size of a hen’s egg, in which an enclosed fish was found frozen. The storm lasted about ten minutes. . . . The fish was picked up in my presence so that there can be no doubt of the fact. The fish is a crucian carp. . . ’ about 40 mm. Long. This fish has up to this time been observed in Westphalia only in enclosed waters. The fish must have been lifted up from a pond or pool into the clouds by a whirling storm and there frozen into a hailstone.” The Monthly Weather Review for June, 1901, contains the interesting account from Mr. J. W. Gardner, volunteer weather observer at Tiller’s Ferry, South Carolina, U.S.A., that “during a heavy local rain about June 27, there fell hundreds of little fish (cat, perch, trout, etc.) that were afterwards found swimming in the pools between the cotton rows in [an adjacent] field.” The last account but one to come to hand was given before the Berlin Society of Naturalists on July 20, 1841, but was not published until 1912. It is very detailed and is here given practically in full. “Herr August gave an account of a rain of fishes which occurred during a heavy thunderstorm on the night of June 29-30, 1841, in Uckermark on the estate of Herr von Holtzendorff-Jagow. . . . Suddenly at two o’clock in the night (30th of June), a heavy rain began to fall, and continued so violently for the best part of an hour that the place was flooded deeper than the oldest inhabitants could remember [ever having seen it]. On the evening of June 30 the shepherds brought back with them to their huts collections of small fishes to feed their ducks with. They said that a high, fallow field which was used for a sheep pasture was entirely covered with these fishes. [They said that] during the day more than sixty storks and an innumerable number of crows had eaten their fill there and that the new-formed rain pools were filled with large numbers of these fishes. The owner of the estate, who did not hear of this until July 1st, was not able to go to the place and see for himself until July 2nd. He found that there were still a great many fishes in the places indicated. The largest of these were five inches long. The little pools in which the fishes were happily swimming about, had apparently been formed during the storm and had no connection whatever with any other body of water that contained fishes. The extent of the surface on which the fishes were found covered a length of two hundred paces and was fifty paces wide. The length agreed with the conjectured course of the thunderstorm. “All investigations indicated that without any doubt these fishes were brought to this spot through the air. It is remarkable that such a whirling waterspout did not leave any other traces of damage done by the wind, especially as no particularly strong wind was noticed in the night; on the contrary, rain fell perfectly quietly, but in enormous quantity. In other low-lying places which were much more deeply covered with water and with meadow brooklets which connected them with ponds and lakes, no traces of fishes were to be found. “The fishes, for the most part young, which were sent in by Herr Holtzendorff at the same time that this account was written were of varieties often found in our country, such as: pike (Esox lucius), perch (Perca fluviatilis), Plötze (Cyprinus rutilus), and stickleback (Gasterosteus pungitius).” The last account, a brief notice, is from McAtee’s paper previously referred to. He quotes Mr. A.N. Caudell of the United States Bureau of Entomology, that on one occasion after a hard shower Mr. Caudell’s mother at her home in Indiana had found a live minnow in the rain water held in the hollow of a chopping-block at the wood pile.
Omitting Humboldt’s account of the fall of Pimelodus cyclopum in hot water ejected from volcanoes in South America, since that fall has an entirely different origin and causation, there are herein enumerated forty-four distinct accounts of rains of fishes. These phenomena, when grouped under the countries where they occurred, show the following distribution: United States, 7; Canada, 1; England, 1; Scotland, 9; Germany, 8; France, 1; Greece, 1; India, 10; Ceylon, 3; Malaysia, 2; South Sea Islands, 1. Surely such a large array of accounts from eleven different regions of the earth, ranging from the eastern part of North America, across western and southern Europe, touching southern and southeastern Asia, and ending in the South Sea Islands, should be credible on the bare setting forth of the facts. Another circumstance tending to establish the credibility of these accounts is the fact that they are published in books and journals differing greatly in character. The books include works on meteorology, travel, history, and natural history; the journals are mainly devoted to natural history, but published in widely separated parts of the world, and while some of them are well known, others are comparatively obscure. A perusal of the accounts given above (most of them verbatim excerpts) must convince the reader that those who made efforts to review the literature,—Thompson, 1849; Tennent, 1861; Tomlinson, 1864; and McAtee, 1917,—had only limited knowledge of the considerable literature devoted to this subject. This is plainly due to the fact that the accounts were published in widely scattered and little known books and journals and that even as late as McAtee’s paper no complete bibliography of the literature of fishes was available for any one desiring to weigh all the facts. “Now it cannot be maintained that all the accounts noted are of equal credibility. Some are here hearsay, some are hearsay pretty well attested and some are recorded by scientific men, who in certain instances apparently saw the fishes fall.” Now it cannot be maintained that all the accounts noted are of equal credibility. Some are mere hearsay, some are hearsay pretty well attested (i.e., matters of general knowledge in the community) and some are recorded by scientific men, who in certain instances apparently saw the fishes fall, in other instances found them immediately after a hard rain covering ground ordinarily dry,—that is ground far removed from swamps and streams. To proclaim disbelief in the phenomenon of rains of fishes, to refuse credence to accounts so widespread in time and space, so throughly corroborative, would in the mind of the writer be indicative of an inability properly to evaluate evidence. As a matter of fact but two authors have endeavored to deny the credibility of such phenomena. The first of these is Eglini (1771), who in his first account seems to have doubts, but on the whole accepts the fact on the assumption that it is the action of a waterspout. In his second account, written in the same year, he quotes a “scholar in Luckau who saw it,” and who sent him specimens of the fish. However, because these fish apparently were not such as occur in the neighboring streams, and because he received a negative report from a “learned gentleman of Lausitz,” he brands the reputed fall as a deception. The “learned man” in question was out on the evening of the storm until eleven o’clock (the storm occurred at midnight), sat at an open window almost all night, and finally was again in the open early in the morning, without seeing the least trace of fishes. “Therefore I may affirm with certainty that the whole proceeding said to have occurred with this storm is a lie.” However, he omits to say whether or not he explored the whole area of the track of the storm, and apparently he declares the matter a lie because he found no fishes in the vicinity of his own home. The only author who has endeavored to controvert some of the numerous accounts given is W. Sharpe (1875). After quoting Tennent’s personal experience given above, he endeavors to explain it away by alleging that the fishes are left stranded from an overflow, or are caught migrating from one point to another. He says that no scientific man has ever seen a rain of fishes, nor have fishes ever been caught in rain barrels, and finally that they are always found alive whereas, if rained down, the fall would kill them. In answer to this it may be said no scientific man has ever had a rain of fishes fall on him, nevertheless the testimony of Tennent, Castelnau, and others cannot be explained away. As to the second point, let us recall that Prinsep found a fish in his pluviometer standing on a pedestal five feet above ground, and that Mrs. Caudell found one in the hollow of a chopping block at least eighteen inches above the ground. As to the fact that fishes are commonly alive and are not killed by the fall, as Sharpe thinks they should be, the retort may be made that all fishermen know that fishes generally succumb slowly to falls and blows, and that if the fish fell on grassy lands, the shock would be much decreased. However numbers of those found were actually dead. The ExplanationOmitting Humboldt’s account of the fall of catfish in South America, for which an explanation has already been indicated, four explanations offer themselves for the appearance of fishes accompanying heavy rains. The first of these is that the fishes might have been migrating overland from one stream or pond to another. Now migratory fishes are of but few kinds, and are found only in a few countries. Of the countries noted above such an occurrence might take place only in India, Ceylon, or Malaysia. But the accounts of the falls of Indian fishes are so definite and circumstantial as to rule out this possibility. Again, many of the falls have taken place in northern countries, where there are no migratory fish, and finally many of the fish rained down are marine forms.
There is left to us but one other explanation,—the action of heavy winds, whirlwinds, and waterspouts. Practically all those who have described rains of fishes have noticed that these were the accompaniments of thunderstorms or monsoon rains with their heavy winds, or of waterspouts. One who has witnessed the activities of a whirlwind or who has seen the wreckage left in its path will have no difficulty in believing that such a whirlwind or even the heavy winds accompanying a hard storm could pick up and transport to some distance objects of such light weight as small fishes. Furthermore, anyone who has witnessed the tremendous power of waterspouts, such as are common for instance in southern Florida, will agree that such a spout passing over shallow water, would certainly pick up the small fishes swimming therein and, drawing them up into the clouds, would carry them over the country to drop them some distance away. This is the only explanation that can account for the Indian fall as a result of which fishes were found in a comparatively straight path only a few inches wide, extending over a considerable stretch of country. These fishes must have fallen from the whirling lower end of a funnel-shaped spout after the pillar had broken in two, as is often the case. Again, no other explanation can account for a fall concentrated on a comparatively small area, as was that noted by Castelnau at Singapore.
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