6 things that can rain down on you from the sky

1. Alive organisms

We are already accustomed to rain, snow or hail. But sometimes heaven can throw surprises and more interesting. For example, arrange a shower of frogs, fish, birds and other living organisms.

So, on January 15, 1877, it began to rain in Memphis from snake - It was fixed in a major Scientific American publication. Some individuals were even measured - they reached a length of about 45 centimeters. In total, more than 15 rains from different animals fell in the United States in the 19th century.

September 7, 1953 in Massachusetts from the sky fell frogs, and in 1978 in New South Wales (Australia) - shrimp. Another similar rain occurred in 2007 in El Rebolledo in Spain.

And in January 2011 in Sweden fell out precipitation in the form of several hundred birds, mainly crows and jackdaws. In the same year, thousands of thrushes rained down on people in Arkansas, USA.

Were also in the history of science and rains of fish in Honduras, catfish in Singapore, bats in Norway and toads in England.

And in Australia in 2015, there was a downpour of spiders. Nightmare, right?

The reasons for such phenomena are not precisely established, but most likely there are several of them. Most popular explanation like this: waterspouts, tornadoes or storms pick up various birds and animals, carry them for some distance, and then, stunned and disoriented, drop them to the ground.

Another option: Sometimes flocks of birds can become disoriented and fall from the sky due to bad weather, strong winds or fireworks set off by people.

And finally, sometimes birds eat some low-quality fish, and then massively regurgitate it in flight on people's heads in a semi-digested form. The sad cost of living next to by sea.

2. Lava

It is not necessary to conquer the top of the volcano in order to get to know the lava better. She is quite capable not to wait until they come to her, but to get to you on her own, and not by land, but by air.

When a volcano pushes out viscous rocks during an eruption, it can set off explosions that send pieces lava in flight. Such fragments of molten rock are called volcanic bombs. They have simply destructive power, because they are able not only to set fire to objects in their path, but also tear them apart thanks to the colossal kinetic energy of the fall.

So, during the increased activity of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii, bombs provoked numerous destruction. Most of the residents evacuated, but some remained to put out the fires. One of the daredevils - named Darryl Clinton - also engaged in fire fightingwhen such a "gift" fell on him from the sky.

A volcanic bomb instantly deprived the man of his leg, hitting just above the ankle. According to Clinton, it was incredibly painful and burning.

3. frozen urine

American pilots have the expression blue ice, which they delicately call a mixture of human biological waste and liquid disinfectant frozen at high altitude. The color of the latter, in fact, gave this substance its name.

Exists bikethat pilots regularly empty their on-board lavatory tanks in flight. And in the end, "blue ice" falls on the heads of unsuspecting poor fellows, killing them outright. In fact, this is not entirely true: the pilots simply No the ability to empty tanks in the air. And there is no record of anyone ever being killed by such a biolde either.

But still, cases when sewage leaked from a faulty septic tank of an aircraft fell to the ground do happen from time to time.

For example, one woman in Amstelveen (Netherlands) the roof of a cottage struck a frozen piece of feces, which she at first mistook for a meteorite. The same It happened with a gentleman's house in Bristol. And a Canadian man and his car spattered not yet hardened by waste from the aircraft.

Most often, "blue ice" falls to the ground next to the runway. When planes descend before landing, their hull heats up and the contents of the ruptured septic tank, usually frozen, begin to thaw. So be careful when you give someone a lift airport.

4. "Bloody rain

There are many in history mentions about bloody rains. For example, in the Iliad by Homer and in medieval Anglo-Saxon chronicles, in the Bible (Exodus, 7:19) and in the writings of Plutarch and Al-Gazen - in a word, in many places. At all times it was considered bad omen and generally evidence of the proximity of the apocalypse.

red rain happen and in our days. For example, in 2011 - in Kerala (India), in 2012 - in Sri Lanka. And also such fell out in Austria and in Zamora, in the northwest of Spain.

So, is there really blood from heaven? Not at all.

Cause the color of the rain changes is microscopic alga of the species Trentepohlia annulata. Together with the evaporating water from the seas, it enters the clouds, and from there returns to the earth with showers. It is safe, serves as food for salmon and trout, which, in fact, gives the meat of these fish a reddish tint.

For that matter, the rain It happens not only "bloody", but also "milky" - this is observed in places where there are chalk rocks that color the waters with their dust.

There are yellow rains, which gives color pollen various plants like picta, alder and hemp. And also green - their color is influenced by bee excrement and mango pollen. One such spilled above the village of Sangranpur near the city of Kolkata in India. And finally, there are even black rains - they are colored by volcanic dust if a volcano erupted nearby.

5. meteorites

On November 30, 1954, a woman named Ann Elizabeth Hodges was hit by a meteorite. It was named Silakoga - in honor of the city in which, in fact, everything happened.

Meteorite was the most ordinary: weighing about 3.8 kilograms and the size of a grapefruit. He broke through the roof of the house, bounced off the radio and hit 31-year-old Ann, who was dozing on the couch. The victim suffered severe bruising on the arm and hips She was hospitalized but recovered.

Immediately after the incident, the military seized the meteorite for research: you never know, what if it is an alien spacecraft or a secret weapon of the Soviets.

Ann's husband was not at a loss and filed to the US Army in court, demanding the return of the meteorite. He hoped to sell it profitably. And the owner of the house, which the Hodges rented, sued them already, because she believed: since the meteorite fell on her property, it means that it belongs to her. She eventually gave it to Ann for $500.

The Hodges could not sell the heavenly guest, waved their hand and presented it to the Alabama Museum of Natural History. And Ann was so tortured by onlookers who came from all over America to look at the "world's first meteorite victim" that the unfortunate happened breakdown. Abandoned by her husband, she died at the Silacoga Nursing Home at the age of 52.

Another piece of the same meteorite found the day after it fell, local farmer Julius McKinney. He sold it to the Smithsonian and used the proceeds to buy a car and a house. Here's how it happens.

Another similar case happened already today, on the night of October 3, 2021. The meteorite crashed through the roof of a house in Golden, British Columbia, hitting a pillow next to the head of a sleeping woman named Ruth Hamilton. But he didn't harm her.

6. space junk

In 1997, a small fragment of a Delta II rocket hit in the shoulder of Lottie Williams, a resident of Tulsa (Oklahoma). And to this day she is the only person in history who suffered from space garbage. Usually, most of these fragments burn up in the atmosphere and the chances that they will harm someone are extremely small.

But there is also much more dangerous space debris. For example, January 24, 1978 to Canada fell Soviet spy satellite Kosmos-954 with a nuclear power plant on board. It covered more than 124 thousand square kilometers with radioactive debris, and the level radiation there reached 200 roentgens per hour.

Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the damage to the environment was severe. Canada presented The USSR was billed for $6,041,174.70 for the cost of clean-up after the accident, but the Union ended up paying only half of that amount.