0:03 [SPEAKER_00]: It was a day like any other. 0:06 [SPEAKER_00]: The morning of March 3rd was pleasant, sunny, but not too sunny. 0:12 [SPEAKER_00]: Mary crowds was outside her home, in Bath County, Kentucky, making soap. 0:19 [SPEAKER_00]: With her hands immersed in the lie in water mixture, she was humming, a bliviest of where this day would take her. 0:28 [SPEAKER_00]: Just as she was engrossed in her task, something from above splashed into her bucket, spilling the mixture all over her apron. 0:40 [SPEAKER_00]: It was no rain drop or even hail. 0:43 [SPEAKER_00]: She looked up and saw something she could only describe as chunks of meat falling from the heavens. 0:52 [SPEAKER_00]: she ducked and ran into the house, closely followed by her husband, Alan Crouch, who likened the object to snowflakes despite the stark contrast of this macabre event to any winter's tail they'd ever known. 1:09 [SPEAKER_00]: The crutches weren't the only people to experience this event. 1:16 [SPEAKER_00]: The new spread like wildfire 1:19 [SPEAKER_00]: and by dawn the next day, Olympia Springs was a buzz with curious souls, locals, neighbors, and even travelers were drawn to this very surreal spectacle, with one Harrison Gel, treading the scene, inspecting the chunks of meat, embedded in fences, and strewn across the fields. 1:44 [SPEAKER_00]: is discerning eye, deduced the meat's freshness at the time it fell to the earth. 1:52 [SPEAKER_00]: Was this a sign from God or an experiment gone wrong by the American government or something that was somehow even more sinister? 2:04 [SPEAKER_00]: listener. 2:06 [SPEAKER_00]: In the ordinary canvas of life, there are moments so extraordinary. 2:12 [SPEAKER_00]: Even scientists cannot explain them. 2:16 [SPEAKER_00]: The morning of March 3rd, 1876, is such a moment. 2:28 [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to hometown history. 2:31 [SPEAKER_00]: Where today, we're examining the events of the Kentucky meat shower. 2:37 [SPEAKER_00]: Join me as we unravel the mystery and explore other instances where this event has occurred. 2:45 [SPEAKER_00]: Because this certainly wasn't an isolated incident. 2:53 [SPEAKER_00]: To Mr. and Mrs. Crouch, this bizarre event was nothing short of a divine sign 3:01 [SPEAKER_00]: an omen sent by the heavens above. 3:05 [SPEAKER_00]: And they weren't alone in their astonishment. 3:08 [SPEAKER_00]: Wurt quickly spread across the Atlantic over to Europe, and oddly enough, the crouches realized their little town wasn't the only one to experience this. 3:21 [SPEAKER_00]: esteemed publications of the time, including scientific American and the New York Times, couldn't resist delving into the mystery. 3:33 [SPEAKER_00]: Their columns meticulously described these peculiar samples. 3:39 [SPEAKER_00]: They reported that these pieces of meat were around two by two inches, all of them, with barely an irregularity between them, 3:50 [SPEAKER_00]: This puzzled readers, scientists and skeptics alike, the one March piece extended to 4x4 inches, peaking further interest. 4:03 [SPEAKER_00]: A local enthusiastic reporter scoured the small town, collecting accounts about the mysterious occurrence from every corner. 4:18 [SPEAKER_00]: When the sky began to rain-meat, Miss Crouch hurriedly took cover in doors. 4:25 [SPEAKER_00]: She estimated that a sizable amount close to four gallons of these strange meaty pieces had rained down. 4:35 [SPEAKER_00]: Later, when Mr. Crouch emerged from his house, he took a moment to assess the aftermath, 4:46 [SPEAKER_00]: the scene was eerie. 4:48 [SPEAKER_00]: Finces were splattered with what seemed like blood, and chunks of flesh clung to the thorny bushes, reminiscent of grotesque holiday decorations. 5:02 [SPEAKER_00]: Yet the Macop spectacle didn't deter the crowd's animals. 5:07 [SPEAKER_00]: Their pigs, chickens, cat, and even the dog were seen munching on the meat, seemingly enjoying their unexpected feast. 5:20 [SPEAKER_00]: The family dog, however, didn't seem to fare too well when he fell sick a few weeks later, but what was it? 5:35 [SPEAKER_00]: Mr. Crouch managed to collect a number of samples and hand them off to Harrison Gill, who preserved eminacle. 5:45 [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever remained of the chunks were consumed by unsuspecting locals, 5:51 [SPEAKER_00]: Like the 27-year-old Butcher, L.C. 5:54 [SPEAKER_00]: Frybe, who told the Harold Reporter, quote, several people told me it was a dangerous experiment, but I told them that my constitution could stand as much of it as a rooster's or a cat's. 6:09 [SPEAKER_00]: But even the steel stomach Butcher decided he had to spit out the meat. 6:15 [SPEAKER_00]: After chewing it, a little. 6:18 [SPEAKER_00]: Possibly because, a kind of milky watery fluid, oozed out of it, recording to him. 6:27 [SPEAKER_00]: A merchant named Joe Jordan also sped out his specimen, which smelled like a dead body, and leached brown mucus. 6:39 [SPEAKER_00]: Benjamin Franklin Elington, a trapper, swore it was bare-meat 6:45 [SPEAKER_00]: This frenzy got to the point, the Harold Correspondent tried to bribe a railroad worker, Jimmy Welch, to sample a bite. 6:57 [SPEAKER_00]: Welch agreed to do it for a dollar, but kept finding ways to put off the deed. 7:04 [SPEAKER_00]: First he asked for side dishes, then demanded whiskey, and finally claimed he just 7:14 [SPEAKER_00]: When the correspondent raised the reward to three dollars, Welsh abruptly remembered that he couldn't eat meat because it was lent. 7:25 [SPEAKER_00]: So, if butchers, preachers, and railroad workers couldn't solve the mystery, maybe scientists could. 7:45 [SPEAKER_00]: Leopold was a big name in the scientific community at the time, in his opinion, or his conclusions, would carry far more weight than anybody else's. 7:59 [SPEAKER_00]: He made a trip to Bath County to examine the substance, and he confirmed that it was 8:09 [SPEAKER_00]: This organism, when touched by rain drops, can transform into something with a clear, jelly-like consistency, often deceiving onlookers, and to believing it rained from the sky. 8:25 [SPEAKER_00]: But, this would only make sense if it had already been raining in Beth County, which it wasn't. 8:33 [SPEAKER_00]: It was a sunny morning, which investigated Charles Ford when it out to the community. 8:39 [SPEAKER_00]: But Lee-Apult wasn't shaken by this. 8:42 [SPEAKER_00]: Unwavering for his quest for truth, he handed over meat samples to the Newark Scientific Association. 8:51 [SPEAKER_00]: There are nows us. 8:52 [SPEAKER_00]: culminated in a startling revelation, a letter from Dr. Allen McLean Hamilton in the medical record revealed that the meat actually resembled long tissue, similar to that of a horse, or even a human infant. 9:11 [SPEAKER_00]: Further examination only confirmed these findings, revealing a medley of tissue 9:22 [SPEAKER_00]: With so many different answers going around, the townsfolk were convinced that phenomenon was something entirely different. 9:31 [SPEAKER_00]: Many believed that some bird of prey, like a vulture, were buzzard, regurgitated their meal, and other birds, seeing the act mimicked at two, just like humans would, when they see others, regurgitate. 9:48 [SPEAKER_00]: Dr. Louis D. Castemine endorsed this theory, given the variety of meat observed. 9:57 [SPEAKER_00]: It was known after all that Vultures had the unsettling habit of vomiting both as a means of swift escape and as a defense. 10:08 [SPEAKER_00]: But across the Atlantic, just nine days after the event over Kentucky, the sky over London was painted red with the falling corpussels. 10:21 [SPEAKER_00]: This time of a curious vegetable-like nature. 10:26 [SPEAKER_00]: Now this couldn't be linked to flying birds of prey. 10:34 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's journey back through time. 10:36 [SPEAKER_00]: As odd as it might seem, red rains were not uncommon. 10:43 [SPEAKER_00]: Over the centuries, countless tales have spun of otherworldly showers, milk-hued drizzles, kaleidoscope rain, and even terrains painted with the crimson hue of blood. 10:58 [SPEAKER_00]: The skies have wept peculiar tears and earthbound waters have changed their colors, narrating tales of nature's whims and wanders. 11:11 [SPEAKER_00]: Venture back to 1984 BC in Ireland, where stories speak of snow that bore the intoxicating taste of wine, painting the lands of blood red. 11:26 [SPEAKER_00]: for their back in time, in 715 AD, Ireland bore witness, to miraculous showers of gold droplets, tasting of honey, over a thin back, a shimmering cascade of silver, upon off and more, in an area rain of blood near the foss of legan, but it hardly ends there. 11:53 [SPEAKER_00]: Italy in 461 BC saw a phenomenon, you'd only ever hear of, in mythologies, a meat shower, not unlike the one in Kentucky. 12:07 [SPEAKER_00]: But in a curious twist, any piece that remained untouched by the birds remained fresh. 12:15 [SPEAKER_00]: For ever, and then Rome, the heart of an empire, in 183 BC, 12:23 [SPEAKER_00]: experienced a two-day long deluge of blood, casting a shade in the precincts of both Vulcan and Concordia. 12:34 [SPEAKER_00]: And, dear listener, this is only the tip of the iceberg. 12:51 [SPEAKER_00]: only four years later, leukemia experience a murky rain, while Luna was strange and blood. 13:00 [SPEAKER_00]: These incredible accounts sometimes intertwined with tales of peculiar flying ghosts and talking animals. 13:10 [SPEAKER_00]: With tipped the skeptical mind to dismiss them as mere folklore, 13:22 [SPEAKER_00]: But in a world where each country is still isolated, in its own culture, beliefs, religions, and fantasies, for there to be so much similarity between each other, points not to delusion, but a pattern. 13:39 [SPEAKER_00]: There have been over 80 tales of Ruby showers, about 20 instances of waters assuming a blood-red hue, and a plethora of other tales of mysterious rains, from colored droplets to dark downpours, and these stories don't just lie centuries in the past. 14:07 [SPEAKER_00]: known affectionately too many as God's own country, saw an ungodly phenomenon in 2001. 14:14 [SPEAKER_00]: As a blood-red rain showered, the local populace gazed in wonder, 14:23 [SPEAKER_00]: some concluded that perhaps desert dust or pesky fungal spores are the culprits. 14:31 [SPEAKER_00]: Yet, as scholars and scientists probe deeper into this atmosphere acquittal, they were met with an 14:44 [SPEAKER_00]: Microscopic investigations revealed tiny and identified crimson cellular entities dancing in the rain drops. 14:54 [SPEAKER_00]: These cells mimic human blood cells, but where do they come from? 15:02 [SPEAKER_00]: In a chilling discovery, scientists found that these menascural red particles, held from the vast expanse, the cosmos, 15:11 [SPEAKER_00]: birthed by a meteor's explosive eruption in our atmosphere on July 25th, 2001. 15:20 [SPEAKER_00]: This cosmic ballet in the skies occurred mere hours before the first droplets of the blood 15:32 [SPEAKER_00]: such a discovery back into question, could the endless void of space actually be home to objects that mimicked human cells? 15:44 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a vision so surreal, it borders on the fantastical. 15:51 [SPEAKER_00]: With such profound implications on the line, skepticism was inevitable. 15:58 [SPEAKER_00]: Arkham's Razor, the principal suggesting the simplest explanation, is often the correct one, whispered doubts into many an ear. 16:10 [SPEAKER_00]: Could the celestial origins of careless scarlet rain, merely be a twist to fate, a mere coincidence? 16:21 [SPEAKER_00]: For many, it was easier to question the experimental findings. 16:25 [SPEAKER_00]: rather than confront the ridiculous notion of extraterrestrial origins or the rain. 16:34 [SPEAKER_00]: So, does this finding hold the answer to the Kentucky meat shower? 16:40 [SPEAKER_00]: And in a similar sense, does the rains of honey and wine also come down from comments? 16:48 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a ridiculous idea. 16:50 [SPEAKER_00]: And if it is the theory we're going with, we would also have to admit 16:56 [SPEAKER_00]: that frogs and fish can also rain down from comments. 17:03 [SPEAKER_00]: June 2009, Japan's Ishikawa Perfecture, it's a serene morning, not unlike the 17:17 [SPEAKER_00]: But as the people were going about the routines, tat pulls, frogs, and fish, rain down from the heavens. 17:29 [SPEAKER_00]: The origin of this aquatic airborne parade was a mystery. 17:34 [SPEAKER_00]: A terrifying one. 17:36 [SPEAKER_00]: One particularly alarmed farmer, Inisha Kawa, found 13 crocheting carp. 17:43 [SPEAKER_00]: Each about the size of a finger, 17:49 [SPEAKER_00]: Those who are less terrified, theorized that perhaps a water spout, had scooped up these water dwellers, launching them skywards. 18:00 [SPEAKER_00]: Meteorologists, though, remained skeptical, citing the absence of any significant wind activity. 18:10 [SPEAKER_00]: A similar event happened in 2022, in Chihuahua, Mexico. 18:15 [SPEAKER_00]: Where security cameras captured the heart-stopping moment, thousands of yellow-headed blockbirds, descended in a dramatic and deadly plummet to the pavement. 18:27 [SPEAKER_00]: The sky had also generously gifted the land, with jellies and spiders. 18:34 [SPEAKER_00]: Further confusing, both the locals and scientists, 18:40 [SPEAKER_00]: So, what was the cause of the Kentucky meat showers? 18:47 [SPEAKER_00]: We now know it's not the only case of its kind, but it remains a mystery. 18:57 [SPEAKER_00]: Some whispers in Bath County entered that Miss Mary Crouch orchestrated the whole thing to get her husband to sell the farmland, 19:07 [SPEAKER_00]: The couple only laughed when the Harold journalist brought this up, because Mr. Allen Crouch had already been contemplating selling this land for a while. 19:19 [SPEAKER_00]: Another wild guess, from a local, suggested that the mysterious meat rain, was merely a balloonous slunch that had slipped away, mid-air. 19:31 [SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile, in labs, researchers came up with theories that were a tad less whimsical. 19:41 [SPEAKER_00]: J. Lawrence Smith, an esteemed chemist, speculated to the New York Times that the meaty downpour was dried frog eggs that had been lifted from ponds by strong winds. 19:55 [SPEAKER_00]: For those who had witnessed the downpour in the density of the material that fell, 20:01 [SPEAKER_00]: this theory which just as bizarre as the meat shower itself. 20:07 [SPEAKER_00]: The theory that remains strongest to this day is that of the vultures, having just migrated to Kentucky, regurgitating meat chunks from high altitudes. 20:20 [SPEAKER_00]: These birds, especially when under threat, have a nasty habit of throwing up 20:28 [SPEAKER_00]: This isn't just their version of a defense mechanism, a light and stomach, also ensures a swift or escape. 20:39 [SPEAKER_00]: The only inconsistency in this take is that Miss Crouch insists the skies were clear that day. 20:48 [SPEAKER_00]: She never noticed a swarm of soldiers big enough to blanket the sky and rain down regurgitated 20:57 [SPEAKER_00]: It seems though that vultures can cruise and altitudes as high as 20,000 feet, and have the ability to gobble down heaps of meat in no time. 21:11 [SPEAKER_00]: So it's possible that these feathery creatures might have been too high, too spot, but close enough to rain down their stomach contents. 21:24 [SPEAKER_00]: This theory might also explain why different people found that the different meat constituted different animals, leaving people unable to decide if it was beef, chicken, or something else altogether. 21:42 [SPEAKER_00]: They might have had various animals and their values. 21:47 [SPEAKER_00]: So what people tasted was a cocktail of different animals, stewed in the acidic juices of alter guts, undoubtedly a ghastly dish. 22:02 [SPEAKER_00]: But, as with many mysteries, no answer seems truly satisfying. 22:08 [SPEAKER_00]: The possibilities are as fast and 22:16 [SPEAKER_00]: listener, the tales I've told you today. 22:18 [SPEAKER_00]: Span centuries, across continents, they explore the complexities of our history, filled with bizarre events that defy understanding, and while we might now have more tools and knowledge at our disposal than our predecessors, the truth about events like the Kentucky meat shower 22:45 [SPEAKER_00]: such mysteries remind us of our humble position in this universe. 22:51 [SPEAKER_00]: They beg us to constantly question, to wander, and to marvel, at the strange intricacies of our world. 23:01 [SPEAKER_00]: And so, I invite you to speculate, 23:05 [SPEAKER_00]: Watch your theory. 23:08 [SPEAKER_00]: Watch strange connection or cosmic play might have been at work on that sunny day in Path County, Kentucky. 23:19 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for joining me on this journey today. 23:22 [SPEAKER_00]: And for delving into these agnomatic chapters of our shared hometown history, I look forward to our next exploration together. 23:33 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening.
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