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On 3 March 1876, flakes of meat fell out of a clear sky onto a farm near Olympia Springs, Kentucky. The Short follows Hattie, a fictional farm wife next door, through the hour it happened. This is the history behind it, and the arguments it started.
The sky over Bath County was, in the New York Times' words, perfectly clear. There had been no rain.21
In one hour, it will rain meat on this farm. The sky is perfectly clear.
Late morning
Soap day
Mrs. Crouch, a farmer's wife, was outside making soap, a farm job done with fat and lye from wood ash.13
HATTIE
Soap today, pickles tomorrow. Nothing goes to waste on this farm!
About 11 am
Something hits the roof
She heard a "snapping-like noise" as something began to strike the ground around her. She later said it was "snowing meat".1
WILLIE
Ma! Something is slapping the roof!
11 am to noon
The meat shower
For several minutes, flakes of meat fell over an area about 90 by 45 metres. Most were about 5 cm across; they looked like beef and hung on the fences.12
OLYMPIA SPRINGS3 MAR 1876 11:02
That day
A taste test
Two men tasted it and guessed mutton or venison. A local grocer said it smelled terrible.21
Pieces up to 10 cm wide covered the yard. Two men tasted it: mutton or venison, they said.
1876 and after
The arguments
Samples went to scientists in three states. A chemist called it Nostoc, a jelly-like bacterium; microscopists found lung, muscle and cartilage; Dr. L. D. Kastenbine proposed vultures disgorging as they flew. In 2004 a professor found a surviving vial in storage at Transylvania University.123
Experts blamed algae, then lung tissue. Best guess: vomiting vultures.
Samples went to scientists in Kentucky, Ohio and New York.
A jar of it still survives at Transylvania University.
Hattie is fictional. The meat shower is real.
Every line, checked
Each line from the Short that makes a historical claim, beside what the record says.
On screen · opening
In one hour, it will rain meat on this farm. The sky is perfectly clear.
The record
The shower came between about 11 am and noon, from a sky the New York Times called perfectly clear.12
High
On screen · life
HATTIE
Soap today, pickles tomorrow. Nothing goes to waste on this farm!
The record
Mrs. Crouch was making soap when it began.13 Hattie and her pickles are our invention.
High
On screen · the omen
WILLIE
Ma! Something is slapping the roof!
The record
Mrs. Crouch described a "snapping-like noise" as it hit.1
High
On screen · shrug-off
HATTIE
Can't be hail. There's not a cloud up there.
The record
There had been no rain, which is why later writers rejected the rain-swollen Nostoc theory.1
High
On screen · the event
OLYMPIA SPRINGS3 MAR 1876 11:02
The record
Between about 11 am and noon; the exact minute is not recorded.1
Pieces up to 10 cm wide covered the yard. Two men tasted it: mutton or venison, they said.
The record
Most pieces were about 5 cm, at least one about 10 cm; two unnamed men tasted it and guessed mutton or venison.12
High
On screen · aftermath
Experts blamed algae, then lung tissue. Best guess: vomiting vultures.
The record
Nostoc, lung tissue and vulture vomit were all proposed in 1876; the vulture explanation is the most accepted today, but it is not proven.123
Medium
On screen · fact card
Samples went to scientists in Kentucky, Ohio and New York.
The record
Material went to chemists and microscopists in Kentucky, Ohio and New York.1
High
On screen · fact card
A jar of it still survives at Transylvania University.
The record
A sample in a small vial labelled "Olympia Springs" is kept at the Moosnick Medical and Science Museum, Transylvania University.13
High
Open question
Open question
What was it?
In 1876, Leopold Brandeis called it Nostoc, a cyanobacterium that swells into a jelly in rain; critics pointed out it hadn't rained. Microscopists identified lung, muscle and cartilage. Dr. L. D. Kastenbine argued that vultures, which can throw up their meals to lighten themselves or in defence, disgorged it as they flew.12
Modern DNA tests on the surviving vial were inconclusive: too old and contaminated, though closest to goat.13
Contested
Think about it
Witnesses, chemists and doctors all looked at the same flakes and reached different answers. Why?
Two men tasted it. What would you have wanted to know first?
The vulture theory explains a lot but can't be proven. When is an explanation good enough?
A single vial survived 128 years in a storeroom. What else might be sitting forgotten in museum collections?
Glossary
Lye
A strong alkali made by soaking wood ash in water, used to make soap from fat.
Nostoc
A cyanobacterium that forms jelly-like blobs when wet, once called a blue-green alga.
Vulture
A large bird that eats dead animals; black and turkey vultures both live in Kentucky.
Microscopist
A scientist who studies samples under a microscope.
Hattie
Willie
WILLIE
OLYMPIA SPRINGS3 MAR 1876 11:02
