The whole fish/frogs falling from the sky thing - Theories!

Hey all. Perhaps you have heard stories of towns suddenly being flooded with bullfrogs or carp, all falling from the sky. I made this topic not to share stories or events, but rather to hear theories about why this might be taking place.

Water spouts?
Hurricanes that only pick up one species?
George Bush?
Aliens?

Gimme what ya got.

[Edited on 27-7-2003 by Megalodon]

well around here it would most likely be from a tornado that goes over a lake. so the water spout theory sounds plausible to me. however it could be from a species of frogs/fish that have wings and once they get airborne the wings disapear thus falling from the sky. Of course it could be Al Gore, what a better way to claim that the man that beat you to the white house is the anti christ, thus making frogs fall from the sky. rumor on the street is that the DNC bought a whole mess of red food coloring to get the rivers.

I dont know what to believe about those theories i think they're humouros theories, i heard 1 about frogs falling from the sky and also another bout raining coins,
if iwas there i would stay in doors ad then dash out and grab as many coins as poss when they hit the ground!

[Edited on 28-7-2003 by drunk]

It could be something to do with the whole "maybe they were on drugs "scenario thats all i can think of , again this sort of sighting or happening is probably a myth.

Yeah I am going with Hoax on this one. I mean how hard can it be to load a plane full of frogs and drop them? Any Redneck with a couple hundred dollars (to purchase the frogs) and a crop duster can pull this stunt off. I will be impressed when they start dropping monkeys.

1. Urban myth, discounted many times over.

2. Not impossible for microscopic organisms to be picked up in the evaporation process, and drop in a rainstorm at a later maturity level.

3. See "Magnolia" for demonstration of your Topic. You musn't have seen it if you made this post. It's Tom Cruise's best role, by the way.

I am actually offended by that. I mean I have seen Magnolia 4 times and cannot reason how seeing a fictitious piece of entertainment could greatly influence my belief in documented events.

That would be like seeing "Signs" and saying "Well if you have seen signs you know that the aliens breath toxic gas". It is a piece of fiction.

You guys could say that this is not true, but it is. I am not saying how these creatures fall from the sky, I am just saying that it has been proven that they fall.

And what was with #2? who said anything about microscopic organisms? Gravity would obviously rule that idea out right off the bat.

Basically, tell me why seeing Magnolia should have influenced me to not create this topic.

Signs was a terrible piece of crap.

MA, I'd really like to know how it is possible for 'microscopic oranisms' to be sucked up into the atmosphere ESPECIALLY through evaporation (in which water turns to GAS form and rises from the ground) and turn into frogs. Frog eggs (even the smallest ones) could NEVER be picked up into the air through evaporation.... DEFINEATLY by a tornado... but not evaporation. Not only that, but the average gestation period of a frog egg is 60 days, so the little bastard would have to stay up there for TWO MONTHS... Then, being dried out as hell and still managing to survive, it'll be born a tadpole at 60,000 feet... a terrible place for a water breathing creature. If not breathing durring the fall doesn't kill it, the impact surely will. NOW... since we have FULL BLOWN FROGS here, not just tadpoles... the tadpole would have to stay alive (remember the little sucker can't breathe this whole time) for at least TWO MORE MONTHS (we're up to 4 months here) until it completes metamorphosis and becomes a frog. All this time, it can't eat, can't breathe (untill it develops lungs about 1.5 months after hatching) and and is nowhere near liquid water.

I'd like to see the insane physics involved for the wind and air currents to keep a frog airborne for four months (AT LEAST).

I don't mean to sound caustic, but it's really bothering me.

[Edited on 29-7-2003 by Greyhaven]

Megalodon

OK, let me clarify my post that was composed in 20 seconds and leave you to debate the scientific merits.

I am suggesting to you that if you had seen Magnolia, you would have mentioned it in your post, not saying that you wouldn't have made this Topic.

You didn't mention it, so I did. I am surprised you have seen it four times, I could only sit through it twice.

I agree with you entirely that tadpoles could not be picked up by evaporation, but think about what organisms could be, and how knowledge of evaporation might have contribued to the 'urban myth'. Also relevant is the expression "It's raining cats and dogs" which was (as far as I remember) was not meant to be literal.

Scientific example of micro-organisms in evaporation:

.... Studies of ancient microorganisms inside crystals done in conjunction with sedimentological and geochemical characterization of the host rocks provides information on the timing (surface versus burial diagenetic) and physical setting (temperature and brine chemistry from fluid inclusions) of crystal growth and microorganism entrapment. An integrated geobiological approach has been used to study halites from the Permian Salado Formation, New Mexico, and the Silurian Salina Formation (F-Salt), Michigan.

New work on these Salado halite cements from the same location (depths of 569 m) shows that they formed syndepositionally by evaporation of seawater-derived groundwater brines at temperatures of 17º to 30º C ....

I am glad Magnolia did not influence you not to create the topic. Sorry if you are offended from interpreting this, it was not my conclusion at all. It was a suggestion to all readers so they could see exactly what a rainstorm of frogs might look like, which is a spoiler for the movie.

I see frog rain as an urban myth, along with the figurative expressions around many different types of rain (but not acid rain).

I'm interested in the documented accounts of this phenomenon that you refer to, as opposed to the "heard stories about" that you listed in your post. Don't know if you'll find where it has ever rained frogs anywhere in the world, but I will be glad to come back and see if you do!

Quote:
".... Studies of ancient microorganisms inside crystals done in conjunction with sedimentological and geochemical characterization of the host rocks provides information on the timing (surface versus burial diagenetic) and physical setting (temperature and brine chemistry from fluid inclusions) of crystal growth and microorganism entrapment. An integrated geobiological approach has been used to study halites from the Permian Salado Formation, New Mexico, and the Silurian Salina Formation (F-Salt), Michigan.

New work on these Salado halite cements from the same location (depths of 569 m) shows that they formed syndepositionally by evaporation of seawater-derived groundwater brines at temperatures of 17º to 30º C .... "

These rocks were formed AT SEALEVEL... probably less than a foot above the surface of the water... yeah... I can see the little micro organisms being lifted a foot.... but not up, up and away... and even then, they're not frogs... they're microscopic creatures that were born microscopic, and STAYED that way... Frogs falling from the sky can not possibly be explained this way. No one cares if microbes fall in rain... we all know they do. We're wondering how frogs, fish, and other MACROscopic organisms fall in rainstorms.

I don't believe that frogs fall in rain at all.

I believe that scientific knowledge of evaporation contributes to the urban myth that frogs fall in rain.

This from some frogophile site:

Throughout history, there have been tales of raining frogs. These stories, as crazy as they may seem, are actually real events! From Biblical tales of Egyptian storms to British towns suddenly finding themselves covered with frogs falling from the sky, such events are caused when a wind storm passes over a pond or lake teaming with frogs, picking them up and dumping them elsewhere!

The most recent story, from the Press Democrat news services, was in June of 1997.


"CULIACAN, Mexico- It rained toads in the town of Villa Angel Flores.
A small tornado whirled up a cluster of toads from a local body of water Saturday night and dropped them all the town in the Pacific coast state of Sineloa, the newspaper El Debate reported Tuesday.
Motorists reported the amphibians dropping from the sky around 11 p.m."


Toads, not frogs.

Mexico. Wonder how many???

This tantilizing debate leaves me feeling jumpy.

Just don't splat when you hit bottom, Big T.

I have ignored the fishes (usually carp) so far.

I will endeavor to stick to my frog specialization.

Except to mention that anyone who ever gets an opportunity to see the documentary, 'Cane Toads', should do so. First of a few by the same team who recently brought you 'The Natural History Of The Chicken', another gem in ignored 'wildlife' documentaries.

Because I actually did witness a small shower of a few frogs...

Mostly, it dealt with storms (tornadoes especially) picking up tadpoles and minnows, as well as adult frogs and fish). They are carried up into the clouds, and may rain down some time later, and far from the original site. I'll try and find some good links...

I cant beleive that theory that they rain down sometime later, imagine a skydiver falling from a plane, does he/she remain in clouds for sometime,no.

Quite a bit of weight difference between a skydiver and a frog or fish... Remember, at any given time, there is a lot of ice over our heads....

Yeah i know but weight is weight think of it like that.

It is a known natural phenomena.
And it does occur on rare occasions.
Where I live at, we have hurricanes and with such hurricanes comes tornado's and such.
The tornado will actually suck up objects, be they frogs, cows, trees, etc., and literally take them into the atmosphere only to have them be deposited or 'dropped' from the sky many miles away if not further.
This is not only exclusive to tornado's....
Its not a matter of believeing...its a matter of fact.

regards
seekerof


[Edited on 29-7-2003 by Seekerof]

Some simple information I found:
www.islandnet.com...

www.bbc.co.uk...

www.100megsfree4.com...

regards
seekerof