Objects falling from the sky!

During the reign of Charlemagne an enormous block of ice, 990 cubic feet of it, fell from the sky. (Camille Flammarion, The Atmosphere, p.398)

In Bergen, Norway, 1578, there was a fall of yellow mice, and in 1579 there was a fall of lemmings. (The Journal of Cycle Research, 6:3, January 1957)

A fibrous substance resembling blue silk fell in great quantities at Naumburg, Germany, on March 23, 1665. (Annals of Philosophy, New Series 12:93, August 1826)

In June 1642, lumps of burning sulphur the size of a man�s fist fell from the sky onto the roof of Loburg Castle, 18 miles from Magdeburg, Germany. (Report of the Forty-fourth meeting for the Advancement of Science, 1874, p.272)

During the reign of Charlemagne an enormous block of ice, 990 cubic feet of it, fell from the sky. (Camille Flammarion, The Atmosphere, p. 398)

Procopius, Marcellinus and Theophanes, record a fall of black dust in the year 472BC, during which the sky seemed to be on fire. The location is uncertain but may be Constantinople.

At Acle, a village in Norfolk, England, small toads fell from the sky in such vast quantities that the local people were greatly inconvenienced. In October 1683 it was reported that the villagers had to sweep them up by the bucketful for burning.

A burning object fell into Lake Van, Armenia, in AD 1110, turning the waters red.

TextA luminous meteor was seen to fall in Italy in 1652 and near its landing site �star-jelly� was found.

On the Wednesday before Easter in 1666 a two-acre field at Cranstead, near Wrotham, Kent, England, was found covered with numerous fish the size of a mans little finger. They were believed to have fallen during a violent thunderstorm and were agreed by all who saw them to be young whiting.

Seeds of ivy berries were found inside hailstones that fell on Wiltshire, England, in 1687.

the metor style objects probably dont take much explaining but what about the others and whats "star jelly"

Two phenomenas seem to be at play:

1. Meteors - Rocks from space on a trajectory course with earth. My favorite movie on it was Fifteen Minutes to Impact on Sci-Fi which was done in kind of a news format.

2. Tornados/Waterspouts - They've been known to carry fish, animals, plants, etc. miles from the location of the incident. I don't have examples but there are plenty of books out there.

Given the frequency of these events, I see no need for a steel umbrella.