back to Mysterious Rains of Fish, Frogs, other Small Animals and Inorganic Substances
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Contents: .............................. London Times, April 14, 1837: "That, in the parish of Bramford Speke, Devonshire, a large number of black worms, about three-quarters of an inch in length, had fallen in a snow storm. [no original account found]
"Large number of worms found in a snowstorm, upon the surface of snow about four inches thick, near Sangerfield, N. Y., Nov. 18, 1850" [no original account found]
A letter from Bucharest [Rumania] reports a curious atmospheric phenomenon which occurred there on tie 25th ultimo at a quarter past 9 in the evening. During the day the heat was stiffing, and the sky cloudless. Towards nine o’clock a small cloud appeared on the horizon and a quarter of an hour afterwards rain began to fall when to the horror of everybody, it was found to consist of black worms of the size of an ordinary fly. All the streets were strewn with these curious animals. We trust there was some one in the town sufficiently interested in natural history to preserve some specimens, and that we shall hear something further respecting this phenomenon. — Levant Times, August 6. Source: Evening News (Sydney, Australia), 10 December 1872, page 3
A Shower of Worms. During the rain-storm on April 23, there wee showered down on and about the premises of Mrs. McDonald, near the corner of E and Washington streets, million of small worms of the ordinary angle-worm Species. These worms were from three to four inches Ii length and quote slender. They came down alive and wriggling. The shower of worms only covered an area of about fifty yards square, but within this place they covered everything. There can ho no doubt about these worms coming down from the heavens, as the balconies were so thickly strewn with them that they could be scraped up in handfuls. Buckets, tubs and pans placed udder the roofs of houses to catch the rain-water also caught great numbers of the worms. The side walks in the neighbourhood were covered with them. The worms present the same appearance as the common angle-worm, except that are redder in color and are marked from end to end with mall rings about one-sixteenth of an inch apart. A great number of persons visited the locality and examined and speculated upon the vermicular shower. The prevailing opinion appeared to be that the worms had been sucked up by a whirlwind from some swamp or pond and carried in the clouds to be finally deposited where they were found. Though fact that though worms seemed to be more at home in water than on the ground give some foundation for this theory. It is now said that a similar shower of worms fell in the western part of the city some years ago. From the Virginia (Nev.) Enterprlse. Source: The Rutland Daily Globe (Rutland, Vermont), 03 May 1876, front page
In Timb's Year Book, 1877-26, it is said that, in the winter of 1876, at Christiania, Norway, worms were found crawling upon the ground. The occurrence is considered a great mystery, because the worms could not have come up from the ground, inasmuch as the ground was frozen at the time, and because they were reported from other places, also, in Norway." [no original account found]
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
Shower of Worms. The Morrineville correspondent of a New Zealand paper writes: "A curious phenomenon occurred here one day last week, and was noticed on the farm of Mr. Turubull, who lives about a mile from the township. During a heavy squall there fell a shower of small red worms of bright colour, varying in size from an inch to an inch and a half in length. Vessels, such as milk dishes, dishes, etc., were filled to a depth of from one to three inches, and the worms lay nearly an inch thick upon the yard about the house and in the grass land about the vicinity. They were, however, soon dried up by the sun and unfortunately none were saved for transmission to the Auckland Society. Source: Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW, Australia), 10 January 1891, Page 9)
Snow Worms. A puzzling phenomenon has been noticed frequently in some parts of Valley Bend District, Randolph County, Va., this winter. The crust of the snow has been covered two or three times with worms, resembling the ordinary cutworms. Where they come from, unless they fall with the snow, is inexplicable. The snow is two feet deep, and the crust is too strong for them to have come up out of the ground. A square foot of snow can scarcely be found some days without a dozen of these worms on it. Source: Scientific American, February 21, 1891, page 116
During a fall of snow at Lancaster recently, accompanied by a violent wind, storm, great quantities of worms fell, being probably brought from some distant point by the wind. Some of the worms were the ordinary cut-worm, but there was a specimen unknown, a long, many-footed insect, with a horned head. A strange feature was the fact that the worms should, at this season of the year, exhibit so much life as did these remarkable visitors. The snow is some places was full of the worms, and ignorant people were not a little worried over this strange visitation. Source: Pittsburg Dispatch (Pittsburg, Pennsylvania), 05 March 1892, page 4
ON the night of April 13th, at Alliance, Ohio, during a severe rain storm, millions of angle worms fell, making it nearly impossible for people to traverse the sidewalks of that city. Now, the superstitious will have strange stories to tell. It furnishes good grounds for an awakening among a certain class of people, and may be the means of leading many from the error of their ways. Source: The Princeton Union. (Princeton, Minnesota), 18 April 1895, page 4
SHOWER OF WORMS. East St. Louis Visited by Strange Phenomenon. East St. Louis was visited by a shower of wire-worms during the rain of yesterday morning, says the St. Louis Republican. The wire-worms were of a small size, about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in length and very thin. Their heads were covered with a whitish substance. They died a few hours after the rain stopped. Several of them were caught and placed in alcohol to preserve them. Charles Merker, a druggist at Bader's drug store was one of the first to discover the peculiar worm. He had placed a shallow vessel in the rain to gauge the amount of rain fall. When he looked at the vessel for the purpose of gauging it, he was surprised to see it full of small wriggling objects. The objects were just about the thickness of hairs, which they resembled to a consider able degree. Merker called William Spannagle, a fellow-druggist, and they examined the worms through a microscope and discovered them to be wire-worms. It seems that the worms fell in other portions of the city also. People mistook them for thread fiber. The people who saw them were completely mystified. They can d not account for their presence on the ground. The wire-worm is known to live in pools and shallow ponds. It is supposed that ponds dried up in the extreme dry spell just passed and that the worms were picked up by the high winds that prevailed Sunday and were kept in the air and clouds until they were rained down upon the heads of East St. Loulsans yesterday. Not one of the worms could be found several hours after the rain ceased. All of them had found small holes, into which they crawled out of sight. Source: The Saint Paul Globe (St. Paul, Minnessota), 16 Nov. 1897, page 6
A perfect shower of small, white worms fell late one evening at the Malmo railway station. Their numbers were so great that they covered the depot platform and the ground like a layer of snow. The phenomenon was limited to a small area. Source: Warren Sheaf (Warren, Marshall County, Minnesota.), 11 July 1901, page 7
PORTLANDERS THINK IT RAINED WORMS Says last Friday's Portland Journal: "Residents of the district surrounded by Seventh, Columbia, Tenth and Clifton streets are firmly of the belief that the rain of last night did not consist altogether of water, for the pavement in that section this morning was covered with millions of slippery, slimy angle worms. Early in the day pedestrians experienced considerable difficulty negotiating the sidewalks on Park street. There are, in fact, many who are willing to testify that they saw the worms falling, mingled with the large drops of rain of the early morning fall... Source: The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Oregon), February 15, 1912, page 7)
Sees Shower Worms Bergen Point, N. J. - During a storm a shower of sand worms fell upon the deck of the ferryboat Bayonne City, Capt. William Duffy swears it's true. Source: Dakota farmers' Leader (Canton, South Dakota), 29 March 1912, page 3
Bushels of fish worms fell Wednesday night. The pavements were strewn with them. The fall of rain was nearly as great as worms. Source: Chariton Courier (Keytesville, Chariton County, Missouri.), 30 Jan. 1914, page 5
Strange Things from the Sky A correspondent writes that after a heavy storm recently he saw the pavement of a town sprinkled with many small earthworms, apparently lifeless, and looking as if they had boon drowned, and, since it was seemingly Impossible that they could, have crawled there in such numbers, he wishes to know if science can throw any light on their probably origin... Source: The Border Morning Mail and Riverina Times (Albury, NSW, Australia), 7 July 1914, Page 4)
Connella Vows He Saw Worms Fall From Sky Will now Believe That at Times It May Even "Rain Cats and Dogs: Worms which "fell from the sky" Thursday evening in the drenching downpour that succeeded the humid heat of the early afternoon, covered the sidewalks in several portions of the town and were the object of wonder to spectators. That the worms covered the sidewalk is known to a number of persons, and that they fell from the sky is vouched for by at least one man. Several others are said to have witnessed the phenomenon. J. W. Connella, deputy collector of internal revenue, is the man who declares he saw the worms fall from the heavens. "I was going home yesterday after noon," says Connella, "and luckily I had my umbrella with me. In the heaviest portion of the storm I suddenly noticed that the sidewalk all about my feet was alive with worms of all sizes varying from one-eighth of an inch to three Inches." "Wondering where they came from, I looked out, from my umbrella and found they were falling from the sky. I don't think I was mistaken. Several other persons along the sidewalk admitted that they had seen the same thing." Connella has traveled a good bit over various parts of the earth, and seen a good many interesting things, but he says that this is the first time he has ever seen a shower of worms. "I have heard that it rains cats and dogs,he says, and after seeing this I almost believe that too is possible." Mark Colburn, head janitor at the capitol grounds, is accredited with saying when Connella told him , the story, "Believe me, I'm going to be on the lookout to keep them from getting into the palm trees or into the capitol where they would ruin things by boring." Source: Honolulu star-bulletin. (Honolulu ,Oahu, Hawaii), November 13, 1915, page 8
SIX INCH WORMS RAIN IN ENGLAND LONDON, July 10. (NANA)- Worms rained on Brentford Gardens, London, England, during a recent thunder storm. Thousands of them were found afterwards. The worms were from four to six incher, long and almost transparent. Instead of keeping to the soil, they immediately invaded surrounding shrubs and the leaves of small plants. Source: Spokane Daily Chronicle - Jul 10, 1931, page25
Raining Worms in Jennings Like she's done so many times, Jennings Police Department employee Eleanor Beal crosses the street to go to work -- but Sunday afternoon was different. "All of the sudden things started falling from the sky," recalled Beal. It wasn't a bird. It wasn't plane. It was worms... Large tangled clumps falling on her and another female officer. "When I saw that they were crawling... I said it's worms get out of the way," said Beal. "I ran as fast as I could thinking I could get to shelter." Word that it was raining worms was so far fetched that Communications Officer Martha Amie had to see it to believe it. "And it was all over the street. And they had a few together, but they had a few globs. I looked in the sky, there was no clouds, we weren't under the poles and we weren't under the trees and I couldn't believe it! I just ran back inside because I didn't want any more to fall on my head," said Amie. As we all know, earthworms live in the dirt. They don't have wings. So just how did those slimy creatures become airborne? "I don't know where this could have possibly came from," said Amie. "I would think it's some kind of bird that regurgitated the worms. I don't understand how they were still alive," said Beal.... Source: KPLC7 local news, July 17, 2007
[Here, the children actually saw the worms fall out of a blue sky! Galashields is a town in the Scottish borders in England.] PE teacher and pupils left gobsmacked as it starts raining worms STUNNED schoolkids had to run for cover as WORMS rained down on their football pitch. PE teacher David Crichton told yesterday of the bizarre shower, which happened as he led a lesson for secondyear boys. The boys heard a "soft thudding" on the artificial pitch - then looked up to see dozens of worms plummeting from the sky. David, 26, said he and other teachers at Galashiels Academy were baffled by the incident. And they later found more worms spread across a school tennis court almost 100 yards from the pitch. He said: "We started hearing this wee thudding noise. There were about 20 worms on the ground. "Then they just kept coming down. The kids were laughing but some were covering their heads and others were running for cover. They just scattered to get out of the way." The bizarre occurrence took place at 9.15am on Tuesday. The teacher scooped up handfuls of the worms that had fallen from the sky as proof they had landed on his class. He and his colleagues eventually found around 120 worms in total after checking the artificial football pitch and tennis courts. David added: "Everyone was having a laugh at me about it until they went out and saw for themselves. "Everyone thought I was mad. They came back in and looked shocked. "I spoke with the science department here but none of them had any explanation for it. One of them thought maybe it was a freak weather thing. "But it was such a clear, calm day. And we are quite a bit away from any of the buildings so it's not like anyone could have been throwing them." Galashiels Academy head Kenny McKay said: "The event does coincide with a significant change in the weather in recent days and so could be the result of an unusual meteorological event. "None of the students will ever forget the day at school when worms fell out of the sky." Worms falling from the sky have been recorded in Europe and America, including one fall in Louisiana in 2007, blamed on freak weather lifting worms and water from a nearby river. (Daily Record, 2 April, 2011)
Suddenly it rained earthworms in Bergen [Bergen is the second largest city in Norway. As usual, scientists explain it away as wind that swirled up the worms from somewhere else. These earthworms were lying on top of the snow. Another article mentioned that the snow was half a meter thick (3 feet), so they didn't crawl up from the ground. Also the worm were alive. And no dirt, leaves or twigs, just plain worms.]
The biologist was on a mountain trip just a few kilometers from the center of Bergen when he got the surprise of his life. On the mountain Rundemanen it rained earthworms. The place is just under six kilometers' walk from Fisketorget. "Yes, of course I was surprised. As a biologist, I am out in the woods and fields a lot. This was no ordinary experience", says Karstein Erstad to NRK. He estimates that there were between 10 and 20 earthworms per square meter of snow over a large area. Each of the spots was five to six centimeters long. There were earthworms everywhere I went. There must have been thousands." Karstein Erstad, biologist International attention According to Bergens Tidende, the phenomenon in Bergens Tidende [one of Norway's biggest newspapers] is attracting international attention. The worms have probably been blown up by the wind, and come down together with the rainfall. Laboratory testing with wind machines shows that the earthworm takes off if they are swirled up. The phenomenon is not common, but has been described on a few occasions, including in Sweden in 1923–24. In 1957, the weekly magazine Allers wrote about something similar. Then there was talk of the discovery of earthworms on frozen water. - This is a phenomenon we know from the literature, but it is the first time in my time as a researcher that I have been notified that it has happened on snow, says senior researcher Trond Haraldsen at Bioforsk. He tells NRK that the fields, probably stubble earthworm fields, have grazed on leaves that have been blown into the air by strong gusts of wind. Then the fields have been thrown off and fallen down, perhaps from a great height. (nrk.no, April 14, 2015)
The day after, the same news site had a follow up article: Flying earthworm observed in half of Norway Flying earthworm observed in half of Norway Observations of flying earthworms are pouring in from all over southern Norway. Now the researchers are trying to find out how far the small arthropods actually fly before they fall down with the rain. Biologist Karstein Erstad was on a mountain trip in Bergen recently when he got the surprise of his life: On Rundemanen, earthworms rained down from the sky and landed on the snow over a large area. The place is just under six kilometers' walk from Fisketorget. After NRK and several other media followed up the news in Bergens Tidende, the phone of senior researcher Trond Haraldsen at Bioforsk in Ås has not been silent. Phones from all over the country We have received massive feedback about similar cases, including in Lindås, Suldal and Femunden. The latter place is 700 meters above sea level. A man with a sod roof in Northwest Norway tells how earthworms have inexplicably spread on the roof, says researcher Haraldsen. He emphasizes that flying earthworms that fall with the rainfall have only been observed after particularly mild winters. NRK.no has received tips from readers in both Molde and Bergen who believe they have experienced a similar phenomenon, namely earthworm rain. - Hundreds of fields were scattered neatly across Store Såta, a small peak in Helldalsåsen in Bergen. I wondered terribly what had happened, but they must have come from above since they were strewn across the rocky ground on a mountain top, tipster Sverre A. Stakkestad tells NRK. (nrk.no, April 15, 2015)
[The following is not a mysterious appearance of clumps of worms, neatly placed in one straight line in the middle of a road. This happened in Eisenhower State Park in Denison, Texas, after heavy rains, on May 29, 2015. Strangely, the worms stayed for two days before heading back into the soil and leaving behind their manure. Nobody had an explanation. In nature worms do not huddle together like that, so they must have come from someone who is breeding them in closed spaces. Also, worms will immediately dig into the soil to avoid being eaten by birds and to avoid to dry out in the open air. With some fish and frogs showers we also find that these have been dropped in a straight line.] "The deluge that flooded parts of Texas over the past week created a strange sight on a patch of the state’s highways: clumps of worms along the center line. Thousands of worms, initially mistaken for discarded spaghetti, were found in Eisenhower State Park in Denison, Texas. An ABC News article explained, “The piles in the middle of Eisenhower State Park were actually worms, Park Superintendent Ben Herman told ABC News. Rangers were checking the back roads of the park in Denison, Texas, found on May 29 when they found the piles lined up in a near-perfect straight line. “We’re still puzzled why they decided to line up in the middle of the road,” Herman said. “Even our biologist doesn’t know why they’re spaced so well and in the line.” (Source: ABC News and YouTube Video))
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