Weird KY History: 150 Years Ago, Chunks of Mystery Meat Fell From the Sky
The state of Kentucky has some pretty weird history. Stories of Little Green Men in Hopkinsville, blue people in Eastern Kentucky, and the Cocaine Bear, to name a few. But have you ever heard of The Kentucky Meat Shower?
As the daughter of a meat man, I was around a lot of it growing up. Making hamburger patties and cleaning up trimmings wasn't exactly the ideal job for a teenage girl. I was often grossed out and even declared that I was going to become a vegetarian. That only lasted about a week or so, because, well, bacon. However, if meat fell from the sky, I'd be seriously disgusted.
The Time Meat Fell From the Sky in Kentucky
OK, so it sounds pretty bizarre, but Once Upon A Time, in Bath County, KY, it actually happened! The New York Times reported that on March 3rd, 1876, the following series of events occurred:
" On last Friday a shower of meat fell near the house of Allen Crouch, who lives some two or three miles from the Olympion Springs in the southern portion of the county, covering a strip of ground about one hundred yards in length and fifty wide.
Mrs. Crouch was out in the yard at the time, engaged in making soap, when meat which looked like beef began to fall around her. The sky was perfectly clear at the time, and she said it fell like large snowflakes, the pieces as a general thing not being much larger. One piece fell near her which was three or four inches square."
"Mr. Harrison Gill, whose veracity is unquestionable, and from whom we obtained the above facts, hearing of the occurrence visited the locality the next day and says he saw particles of meat sticking to the fences and scattered over the ground. The meat when it first fell appeared to be perfectly fresh.
The correspondent of the Louisville Commercial, writing from Mount Sterling, corroborates the above and says the pieces of flesh were of various sizes and shapes, some of them being two inches square. Two gentlemen, who tasted the meat, express the opinion that it was either mutton or venison."
The Scientific Explanation of The Kentucky Meat Shower of 1876
I have so many questions. There has to be a reasonable explanation for this, right? The New York Times was sure it happened because Mr. Gill was a trustworthy source, but it really sounds too strange to be true.
Sure enough, seven samples were sent to various scientists to conduct experiments and find out what in the world the mystery "meat" was. I would have definitely done that before taste testing, like those two gentlemen in the story. Maybe they were the original inspiration for the show Fear Factor?
Anyway, it was determined to be a combination of lung tissue, muscular tissue, and cartilage. One of those samples was kept in a storage space at Transylvania University in Lexington for all these years. Here is an interesting interview with a professor there.
What Really Happened During The Kentucky Meat Shower?
The final nauseating piece of the puzzle was put together by Dr L. D. Kastenbine. After setting his sample on fire, the room smelled like rotten mutton. Considering the details of the story as well as the results from the other scientists, the only explanation was literally gag-worthy. Vulture vomit. Groooooossssss. Those guys ate that!
The cool folks at Kentucky for Kentucky came up with some fun and hilarious ways to commemorate this...special holiday. Preparing for the next Kentucky Meat Shower. AND you can see pictures on Facebook of the recent Kentucky Meat Shower Festival commemorating the 150th anniversary. They even dropped jerky from the sky!
As far as Kentucky history goes, I think I'd take my chances with the Little Green Men.
Source: Scientific American