That besides the usual rain, snow and hail fell from the sky in the XXI century.
People from different countries at all times reported unusual rains: colored water poured from heaven or some unexpected objects or even animals fell. Such stories could be considered legends, someone's fantasy or a joke, but similar reports continue to come in our days. For example, it recently rained spiders in Australia, which has a lot of evidence on the Internet. Scientists have long ago found a reasonable explanation for these strange phenomena. It is believed that a powerful stream of wind lifts and carries animals away from their familiar environment, and carries them over long distances.
We will tell you about ten of the most unusual rains of modern times that have received publicity in the media and have witnesses.
Silver and gold
Everyone dreams of money rain, and it does happen sometimes. On June 17, 1940, in the Nizhny Novgorod region near the village of Meshchera, silver and gold coins of the 16th-17th centuries fell from the sky - only about 1000 pieces. It turned out that during a thunderstorm the treasure with coins was washed away, the gushing hurricane lifted them into the air and, to the amazement and joy of local residents, threw them into the Meshcher area.
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Frogs
In 2005, in Serbia, in the village of Kaja Janovik, frogs fell from the sky. “Thousands of frogs fell on us along with the rain,” - said then a local resident Alexander Sayrik. His neighbors testified about a huge gray cloud and wondered if the reptiles could have fallen out of some exploded plane? Ecologist Slavits Ignatovich found a simple explanation: “A strong whirlwind pulled the frogs near a lake or other reservoir somewhere far away and brought them here, where they fell in the rain. This is a rare phenomenon known to science. In 2009, a shower of frogs was reported in Japan in several cities in Ishikawa Prefecture. In 2010, frog rain fell in the city of Rakoczifalva in Croatia.
Fruit hail
In 2011, residents of the English city of Coventry complained about apple rain - hundreds of fruits were falling from the sky. “It was so unexpected and incomprehensible that everyone was just numb,” said one of the eyewitnesses of the events. Fortunately, no one was hurt, although many cars were badly hit. Meteorologists blamed the hurricane wind. Some Britons also saw carrots and cabbages among the apples.
Colored rains
In the Indian state of Kerala, there was a blood red rain in 2001. It has been pouring for two months. Residents were scared and saw a bad sign in the colored rain. Scientists rushed to reassure the population: laboratory studies showed that the rain turned red due to spores of a local lichen. In 2012, bloody rain fell in Sri Lanka. Scientists note that red rains also occur in areas of high acidity or due to dust storms.
Colored precipitation is rare, but not unprecedented. In February of this year, orange snow fell in the Saratov region: it turned out that a cyclone that came from North Africa brought with it particles of sand from the desert. In 2006, pink snow fell in Colorado, eyewitnesses claim that it smelled like watermelon.
Blackbirds and Jackdaws
Birds falling dead from the sky are, of course, less surprising than marine life, but it all depends on the scale of such "rain". In Arkansas, thousands of blackbirds fell from the sky on New Year's Eve 2011. There were especially many of them in the city of Bib. Ornithologists who examined the corpses of birds in laboratories diagnosed bodily injuries in the thrushes - they died from impact, but not on the ground, but as if colliding with some objects.
Scientists have come to the conclusion that New Year's firecrackers and fireworks are to blame for everything. Another version was expressed: that the birds got into a thundercloud and lost their way, and since they have poor eyesight, they began to bump into houses, trees and fell, having died from their injuries. A few days later, a rain of dead jackdaws, ravens and forty fell on the Swedish city of Falkoping - the inhabitants then found 10,000 dead birds.
Earthworms
In 2011, a fall of earthworms was reported in Scotland. They fell from the sky onto the stadium of one of the schools, where a physical education class was just going on. Teacher David Crichton was forced to interrupt the lesson and send the children to shelter. Then the teacher and his students collected the worms for a long time to show them to colleagues and scientists: in total he found 120 worms within a radius of 92 m. Urban scientists put forward the idea that the worms were blown in by the wind, but that day the weather was calm and clear, so the explanation the phenomenon was never found.
In 2007, Eleanor Beale, a police officer from Jennings, USA, also reported a ball of swarming worms falling from the sky.
Sardines and shrimps
Fish shower in Honduras occurs every year at about the same time: between May and July. And in about the same place: near the city of Yoro. Sardines are falling from the sky, which locals are happy to collect. According to eyewitnesses, the phenomenon begins at five or six in the evening: a black cloud hangs over the ground, thunder rumbles, lightning flashes, puddles are filled with fish.
This phenomenon was described in Honduran folklore: “Where the fish rain will pass like a heavenly miracle,” is sung in an old song. The fact of fish rains was confirmed by Christian missionaries at the beginning of the 18th century and the scientist Alexander von Humboldt. Residents consider the sardine rain to be a miracle begged for them by the Spanish Catholic missionary Jose Manuel Zubiran in the middle of the 19th century. Scientists have their own explanation: strong winds and tornadoes bring fish from the Atlantic Ocean. Since 1998, the annual Fish Show Festival has been held in Yoro.
Isolated cases of precipitation from seafood occur in other parts of the world. In May 2014, there was a fish rain in Sri Lanka: residents collected 50 kg of catch, two years earlier, a shower of shrimp fell here. The Australians, Greeks, British, and peasants from the south of Ethiopia reported about fish rains: they were horrified when, during the field work, "the skies opened up" and half-dead, convulsing fish fell from there.
Precipitation from space
Tornadoes, tornadoes and hurricanes bring a lot of surprises to people: golf balls, nails, rubber galoshes, marbles, etc. But there are times when the wind has nothing to do with it. Meteorites, aircraft debris, space debris fall from the sky … Since the fall of the first satellite in 1957, more than 20,000 objects from space have fallen to Earth: on average, about 400 such debris fall a year. The last case took place in a suburb of Chita in April this year: a mysterious object fell from the sky and exploded, frightening eyewitnesses. After checking it turned out that it was a military apparatus, and not at all a UFO, as the locals thought.
If you also met with unusual precipitation, tell us about them in the comments.
Evgeniya Shmeleva