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As we're at the
height of the silly season, the event has had journalists reaching for copies
of the Bible in order to suggest what might be next. A
plague of frogs or locusts perhaps? Or maybe the River Teme will run red with
blood? Let's not get on to the deaths of the first born... Anyway,
the shower of fish was witnessed by members of a local writers' group. Member
Kevin Kell described to BBC Radio Shropshire what he saw.
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| ...and
in the Midlands expect sharp showers of fish, clearing later... |
Mr Kell
described how he was on his way to the meeting at the social room in St Edward's
Close, Knighton, at about 2.45pm on Wednesday, 18 August 2004. There
had been a thunderstorm and a heavy shower just before he left his home, but on
arriving at the meeting he was surprised to see other group members standing around,
looking at the pavement. Each
wore a confused expression, and as Mr Kell approached he saw why. "There
were at least a dozen small fish - like minnows - lying dead on the pavement,"
he told BBC Radio Shropshire's Shropshire Tonight programme. "We
were just puzzled, really." Yet
in an even more bizarre development, some of the fish were still showing signs
of life when they first landed, Mr Kell said. However,
those looking for a mystery (or miracle) of fish falling from the sky are likely
to be disappointed to learn that there is a rational explanation for it. Well,
sort of. Bob
Rickard is founding editor of the Fortean Times, the journal of strange phenomena
worldwide. He says that fish falling with rain, although unusual, happens quite
often.
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| OK.
We admit that raining three-headed frogs may be stretching a point, but it was
a good picture | He
said: "Fish have been observed to be sucked up from the sea by tornados,
but it usually only happens within a few miles of the coast." So
fish falling in Knighton - a good 50 miles from the nearest piece of coastline
- is rare indeed. The
Met Office says these occurences are not as uncommon as they may sound. In fact
they are reported quite often. Other
than rain itself, fish are the most common thing reported falling from the sky,
but rains of frogs, tomatoes and even lumps of coal have been known to fall too. Apparently,
given strong enough winds, such as found in the thunderstorms that lashed Shropshire
on the day the fish fell, small whirlwinds and mini-tornadoes may form. And
when they travel over water they can pick up small objects, such as fish and frogs
and carry them for a distance of a few miles. But
when the clouds open, the fish, frogs etc fall along with the rain. | 
