What is happening in this valley frightens the Europeans with its inexplicability, because here hundreds of birds fall from the sky to the earth, crashing to death. What is the reason for such a strange "bird fall" is still not known exactly, this phenomenon needs further study.
The first to describe this mysterious phenomenon with falling birds in his book "The Virgin Nature of India" was the professional tea grower E. P. Gee back in 1957. He visited India on his tea-growing business and accidentally became the first of the Europeans to witness a mysterious event that takes place annually at the end of August in the Jatinga Valley in the Indian state of Assam.
Mr. Gee saw with his own eyes birds falling from the sky, breaking to death, and satisfied Indians gathering birds, considering them a kind of "heavenly manna".
The description of the "birdfall" in the book by E. P. Gee was perceived by scientists as a successful invention of the author, the phenomenon was awarded only the condescending grin of most bird watchers. However, there were others like the Indian zoologist Sengupta, who decided to personally verify the reality of the phenomenon and at the end of August 1960 reached the Jatinga Valley.
He asked the local people to allow him to attend the festival of falling birds. Having received permission, he began to look forward to the beginning of the mysterious phenomenon.
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What was this phenomenon? The Jatinga Valley is a depression in the mountains that houses a small Indian village. Once a year, at the end of summer, its residents hold a big holiday, which is mandatory for the population of all the surrounding villages.
The peasants pile up impressive heaps of brushwood on the main street and set them on fire. Everyone is in high spirits and cheerful. Closer to midnight, hundreds of birds appear in the sky. They do not immediately rush to the ground, at first they circle at a low height above people, then rise higher and higher, and then dive down and crash on the ground.
"Birdfall" lasts for several minutes, then the peasants begin to collect the broken birds, pluck them and prepare festive dishes from the free game. They take this gift from heaven for granted, believing that they deserve it with their righteous behavior. Birds fall to the ground for the last three nights of summer, and this phenomenon has been regularly repeated for about 50 years.
Sengupta, who caught several birds during the holiday, noticed that they were somehow lethargic, inhibited and seemed to be in a trance state. They did not eat or drink, but after a while they completely recovered and flew away.
According to the Indian zoologist, the cause of the phenomenon is local geophysical anomalies and the special state of the atmosphere, which, when overlapped, affect the state and coordination of birds flying over the valley.
However, some scientists believe that the very precise periodicity of the phenomenon indicates its connection with some kind of cosmic processes.