Kentucky Meat Shower

March 3, 1876 – It was on this day that chunks of raw meat reportedly fell from the sky in Bath County, Kentucky.

The strange incident occurred near Olympian Springs on the farm of a woman named Mrs. Allen Crouch. Witnesses said small red flakes, roughly 2 to 4 inches long, drifted down from a clear sky and covered an area of about 100 yards. The fall lasted several minutes.

Newspapers quickly picked up the story. Samples were examined by local physicians, who described the material as muscle and lung tissue. As was common at the time, a few locals even tasted it (Yikes!) and claimed it resembled lamb or venison.

The most widely accepted explanation is that a flock of vultures flying overhead simultaneously regurgitated partially digested meat — a known defensive behavior among the birds.

Decades later, writer Charles Fort included the Kentucky Meat Shower in his 1919 book The Book of the Damned, cataloging it as one of many strange reports of organic matter falling from the sky.

The meat was real. The sky was clear. The explanation remains debated.