WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Kentucky Meat Shower

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's Chuck and Jeers here too for Dave. So this

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<v Speaker 1>is short stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right, A rare episode where the title itself is

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<v Speaker 2>a band name. Not a good one though, No.

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<v Speaker 1>I guess maybe horror Bluegrass like a Bluegrass Misfits cover band.

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<v Speaker 2>Maybe Yeah, Kentucky meat Shower, I could see that.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to shout out Ben Fisher, who is a

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<v Speaker 1>listener who wrote in a while back to suggest this one.

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<v Speaker 2>So thanks Ben, Oh Ben, has that band registered? Is

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<v Speaker 2>a trademark?

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<v Speaker 1>Also hat tip to mental floss ifl Science, Scientific American,

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<v Speaker 1>The Lexington, Kentucky Herald Leader, and Atlas Obscura Atlas Obscure

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<v Speaker 1>great sights. But yes, the had you heard of the

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<v Speaker 1>Kentucky Meatchower before this, Chuck? Because I did. I didn't.

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<v Speaker 1>I hadn't. I'm just going to come out and say

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<v Speaker 1>it as badly as I want to say, like, of

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<v Speaker 1>course i'd heard this, I had not heard of it.

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<v Speaker 2>No, I think this is fairly ourcane.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, kid, you just made me feel a lot better. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>what we're talking about we should probably get around to saying,

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<v Speaker 1>is the Kentucky meat shower took place just over one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and fifty years ago. We just missed the anniversary

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<v Speaker 1>by two days. On March third, eighteen seventy six, a

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<v Speaker 1>Hope Stutter named Rebecca Crouch was outside her Well homestead

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<v Speaker 1>making soap with her grandson Alan when it began to

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<v Speaker 1>rain meat down on them.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right, we should point out because this will come

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<v Speaker 2>up later. That was a clear sky, so it wasn't

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<v Speaker 2>like it was rainy. And also meat came down right,

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<v Speaker 2>good point. This was just meat that came down, and

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<v Speaker 2>they were landing all over the yard, and over the

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<v Speaker 2>course of a few minutes it rained down over the

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<v Speaker 2>size of about a football field on her farm, these

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<v Speaker 2>smallish chunks of meat everywhere, even though she said one

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<v Speaker 2>of them was about the size of her palm, but

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<v Speaker 2>most of them were smaller than that.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Yeah, you could compare them to snowflakes. I think

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<v Speaker 1>it was the general idea I got. And so obviously,

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<v Speaker 1>as you would do if meat was raining on you,

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<v Speaker 1>missus Crouch and grandson Alan went indoors. The livestock and

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<v Speaker 1>the cat came to the yard instead, because they were like,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a bunch of meat. All of a sudden everywhere

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<v Speaker 1>in the yard. So we're gonna start eating it. And

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<v Speaker 1>as much as they tried, they couldn't eat at all,

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<v Speaker 1>because before I think, like the next day, a man

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<v Speaker 1>named Harrison gil He was the first sighted witness to

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<v Speaker 1>verify that, yes, there was meat all over their yard.

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<v Speaker 1>It was stuck to the fence. Mental floss put it

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<v Speaker 1>that the fences were flecked with tissue and stained with

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<v Speaker 1>what looked like blood. Thorny briars bore gobs of flesh

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<v Speaker 1>like Christmas trees from hell.

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<v Speaker 2>You know. A second again, when I thought very seriously

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<v Speaker 2>that you were going to say, they did what you

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<v Speaker 2>would do, and they went inside, and I thought you

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<v Speaker 2>were going to say, and got some hot dog buns. Gross, gross,

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<v Speaker 2>But thank god you didn't, because that's gross. And all

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<v Speaker 2>this stuff is gross because this was not just regular meat.

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<v Speaker 2>It's not like there were little pieces of tinderlin falling

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<v Speaker 2>from the sky. There was a local butcher named Frizz Frisbee,

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<v Speaker 2>believe it or not. Who of course he's the butcher.

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<v Speaker 2>So he's like, sure, I'll try it. So he put

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<v Speaker 2>it in his mouth, he spit it out. And this

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<v Speaker 2>was the butcher, and he said he spit it out

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<v Speaker 2>after chewing it a little, and he said it had

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<v Speaker 2>kind of a milky, watery fluid oozing out of it.

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<v Speaker 2>And other people also verified that it was oozy and

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<v Speaker 2>also described it as like a brown mucus, similar in

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<v Speaker 2>appearance to veal or mutton. But it was awful smelling

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<v Speaker 2>and tasting.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, they weren't like it tastes like veal or mutton.

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<v Speaker 1>They just said it kind of looks like cooked veel

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<v Speaker 1>er mutton. There was a guy who apparently found all

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<v Speaker 1>this quite enticing. He was a neighbor named Eli Willis.

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<v Speaker 1>He scooped up like a handful of stuff and took

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<v Speaker 1>it home to cook for dinner, and his family, of

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<v Speaker 1>being more sensible than he realized that he was going

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<v Speaker 1>to do this, tried to talk him out of it,

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<v Speaker 1>found they couldn't, and so some family members held him

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<v Speaker 1>down while other family members scooped up the meet and

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<v Speaker 1>ran outside and threw it away in a place he

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't find it.

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<v Speaker 2>That all smacks of eighteen seventies news reporting, doesn't it.

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<v Speaker 1>It definitely does, But that also smacks of twenty twenty

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<v Speaker 1>six podcast re reporting.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, for sure.

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<v Speaker 1>Should we take a break, I think we should sure, all.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, we'll be right back right after this, all right,

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<v Speaker 2>So people stopped eating this meat. They did think to like,

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<v Speaker 2>maybe we should find out what this is. So they

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<v Speaker 2>took some samples to Transylvania University which was close by,

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<v Speaker 2>as well as some other places, and eventually things kind

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<v Speaker 2>of got back to normal. But that wasn't the end

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<v Speaker 2>of it, because people, you know, people want to know

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<v Speaker 2>what the heck this thing was, So of course people

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<v Speaker 2>start surmising and hypothesizing what this meat could have actually been,

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<v Speaker 2>what animal this could have been?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and this being a gross event, some of the

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<v Speaker 1>theories that they came up with were gross too. One

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<v Speaker 1>of them was that it was rehydrated frog spawn, which

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<v Speaker 1>is frog ejaculate and eggs mixed together. So I described,

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<v Speaker 1>and the idea was that this had well, the spawn

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<v Speaker 1>had been spread, it dried out, got carried up in

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<v Speaker 1>the breeze into the sky, and then when it rained,

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<v Speaker 1>it rehydrated and fell down his glob. That was mistaken for.

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<v Speaker 2>Meat, that's right, but it wasn't raining, as we pointed out,

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<v Speaker 2>it was clear sky, so that doesn't hold much water.

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<v Speaker 2>There was a water sanitation expert named Leopold Brandi's who

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<v Speaker 2>analyzed the samples and said, I don't think this is

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<v Speaker 2>animal at all. He said, I think it's a cyanobacteria.

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<v Speaker 2>And he said, like a low form of vegetable existence.

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<v Speaker 2>And I you know, he called it a gnostic And

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<v Speaker 2>I've seen this stuff in lakes before, and I've also

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<v Speaker 2>seen it on like in forests. I've heard it called

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<v Speaker 2>star jelly. You know, it kind of looks like like

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<v Speaker 2>a a apple butter apple jelly. So you know, that

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<v Speaker 2>could have been a thing that came down in the rain.

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<v Speaker 2>But again it wasn't raining, no.

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<v Speaker 1>So just like the frog spawn theory, this one had

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<v Speaker 1>a hole in it and that it would require precipitation

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<v Speaker 1>to come back down. Also, that was kind of the

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<v Speaker 1>prevailing thought at the time that this stuff somehow it

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<v Speaker 1>up on the breeze and then rained back down because

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<v Speaker 1>you couldn't see it until it rehydrated on the ground

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<v Speaker 1>and it wasn't really in the sky anyway, So not

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<v Speaker 1>a good theory. Finally, I think in eighteen seventy six,

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<v Speaker 1>the same year chemistry professor named doctor ld. Cast and

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<v Speaker 1>Bind proposed what is now widely considered the correct explanation

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<v Speaker 1>for what exactly happened and what exactly happened Chuck.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, it doesn't make it any less gross to sort

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<v Speaker 2>of find out what it was. In fact, it probably

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<v Speaker 2>makes it more gross than mystery meat. In eighteen seventy six,

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<v Speaker 2>he wrote in the Louisville Medical News that he thought

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<v Speaker 2>it was a mass vulture vomiting incident. Not a bad

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<v Speaker 2>band name in and of itself, now that I think

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<v Speaker 2>about it, but yeah, vultures are known to vomit. Sometimes

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<v Speaker 2>it's to lighten their weight while flying, which would have

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<v Speaker 2>made sense in this case, or as a defense mechanism.

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<v Speaker 2>But yeah, he was like, you guys were eating vulture

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<v Speaker 2>vomit is what you were doing in God knows what

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<v Speaker 2>kind of meat it was to begin with, because they

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<v Speaker 2>were eating, you know, all manner of dead animals exactly.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so they ate what had been decomposing animal flesh

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<v Speaker 1>initially eaten by vultures and then thrown back up, and

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<v Speaker 1>then those guys tasted it. I just want to make

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<v Speaker 1>sure that that is fully clear, because that is what

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<v Speaker 1>happened in Kentucky when those locals put that in their

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<v Speaker 1>mouth and tried to see what it was.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, but people didn't stop there as far as poopooing

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<v Speaker 2>these hypotheses, because this guy named Kurt Goda, who's an

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<v Speaker 2>art professor, and he was like, hey, man, I've been

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<v Speaker 2>studying this thing for two decades. I guess I haven't

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<v Speaker 2>had a lot to do. And there's no way that

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<v Speaker 2>she would have missed this large group of vultures overhead

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<v Speaker 2>like raining down meat on her, because that was a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of meat. So it would have been a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of vultures. And for years and years, every time somebody

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<v Speaker 2>offered up this vulture vomit thing, it seemed like this

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<v Speaker 2>Kurt I was right behind him saying there's no way

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<v Speaker 2>she would have missed.

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<v Speaker 1>That, right, And then at some point someone told Kurt

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<v Speaker 1>that vultures actually can fly up to twenty thousand feet

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<v Speaker 1>in the air. It's crazy, and that yes, it would

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<v Speaker 1>have been quite possible for a flock. Actually, I think

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<v Speaker 1>they're called a volt a venue or a committee of vultures.

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<v Speaker 1>That a committee of vultures flying at twenty thousand feet

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<v Speaker 1>vomiting down kind of simultaneously onto poor missus Crouch in

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<v Speaker 1>her yard. She definitely would not be able to see

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<v Speaker 1>that with the naked eye. So it is entirely possible.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a mass vulture vomiting event.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and you know they're never going to solve this thing, obviously.

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<v Speaker 2>I think they did have tissue samples, but not the

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<v Speaker 2>kind of thing that's still around today to like test genetically.

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<v Speaker 2>So the weirdest part of this story maybe is that

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<v Speaker 2>later on that art professor said, Hey, maybe I can

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<v Speaker 2>a loize these flavor compounds and get it made into

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<v Speaker 2>a jelly bean. So he did that. He took it

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<v Speaker 2>to a jelly bean maker and they made Kentucky meat

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<v Speaker 2>shower jelly beans, and he gave him out as samples

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<v Speaker 2>at a state fair at the Court Days Festival and said,

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<v Speaker 2>just tell me what it tastes like, and you can

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<v Speaker 2>have one of these Kentucky meat shower jelly beans. And

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<v Speaker 2>people said, well, maybe bacon before it's cooked, maybe lamb

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<v Speaker 2>that's going rotten, or strawberry pork chops, which sounds like

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<v Speaker 2>the best thing out of all of.

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<v Speaker 1>Them for sure, But Gody told Atlas Obscure that he

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<v Speaker 1>just frankly finds them vile. Yeah, Kurt Gody, sounds like

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<v Speaker 1>a stuff you should know, listener, if you ask me. So,

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<v Speaker 1>if you are listening, Professor Gody bright In and let

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<v Speaker 1>us know how we did on this. Say it, Chuck?

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<v Speaker 2>Does that mean sure? Stuff is out? Stuff You Should

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