#bloodfalls

"Usually these things of the accursed have been hushed up or disregarded—suppressed like the seven black rains of Slains—but, upon March 3, 1876, something occurred, in Bath County, Kentucky, that brought many newspaper correspondents to the scene."  -- From Charles Fort’s ‘The Book of the Damned’ c. 1919, Chapter 4

Description:

In our conclusion to our two-part series on American Bloodfalls, we dive deeper into the mysterious phenomenon that baffled witnesses across 19th-century America. Our special guest, Tom Maxwell, guides us through more perplexing incidents of blood and meat raining from the sky, from the famous Kentucky Meat Shower of 1876 to the final recorded event in 1902. We examine the scientific analyses of the time, which often identified the fallen material as animal tissue yet failed to propose any reasonable theories about its origins. Tom helps us navigate the theories proposed over the years and why they fall short when confronted with eyewitness accounts and the scale of events. We’ll discuss connections to biblical accounts and consider how these events might reflect their time's cultural and spiritual climate. Then, of course, we’ll get to the theories, even though the mundane ones have been tough to identify with this legend. But yes, portals and UFOs will probably make the scene.. Tom helps us grapple with how these occurrences challenge humanity’s modern, materialist worldview and why meat showers and bloodfalls seem to have ceased by the early 20th century. Even after all of this time, they continue to defy explanation. However, that won’t stop us from trying to figure it out.

Reference Links:

The Nat Turner Project

Clinton, North Carolina

“The Holy Tale Behind the Cedars of Lebanon”

Olympian Springs, Olympia, Bath County, Kentucky

“KENTUCKY MEAT SHOWER: A Documented Sample Found Is From An Animal’s Lung!”

Nostoc

Chatham County, North Carolina

Jordan Lake State Recreation Area, North Carolina

Joseph B. Stone House from the Chatham County Historical Association

William Lloyd Garrison

Gerard Troost

Joel 2, from the King James Version of the Bible

The Manna Machine book

Kingsway recording studios, New Orleans, Louisiana

“Mutilation of "Snippy" the horse”

“The God of Pity” by Tom Maxwell on Medium.com

Tom Maxwell’s essay, “"For the Scrutiny of Science and the Light of Revelation": American Blood Falls” an article from Southern Cultures 18:1, Spring 2012 from The University of North Carolina Press

Tom Maxwell’s website, TomMaxwell.com

The “Kentucky Meat Shower”

“The Great Kentucky Meat Shower mystery unwound by projectile vulture vomit” on Scientific American

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

“UFO legend: Horse found dead and mutilated 55 years ago in Colorado gets new life at roadside attraction” from The Gazette

Shakers – “a millenarian restorationist Christian sect”

Charles Fort

“Ep 230: Charles Hoy Fort – Our Supernatural Father Part 1” on AstonishingLegends.com

“Ep 231: Charles Hoy Fort – Our Supernatural Father Part 2” on AstonishingLegends.com

Lebanon, Tennessee

“Oakville Blobs: In 1994, Mysterious Gelatinous Goo Rained Down On Washington” on IFLScience.com

Blood Falls in Antarctica

Tom Maxwell’s book, “A Really Strange and Wonderful Time – The Chapel Hill Music Scene: 1989-1999”

Location:

Jordan Lake, Chatham County, NC - Approximate location of where New Hope Township would have been, which was the bloodfall that Frank Venable, Chemistry Professor and future President of the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), investigated.

Suggested reading:

Suggested Listening:

Click here:

From Tom Maxwell: shelved – a long-form documentary music podcast premiering on audible 12/12/24

Two Girls One Ghost Podcast

Would you believe there was a podcast that was haunted? It’s called Two Girls One Ghost. Hosts Corinne and Sabrina didn’t want to believe it at first, but seven years later and after hundreds of encounters submitted by listeners, they can no longer ignore it. Two Girls One Ghost is the most haunted podcast in America! We’re talking ghosts, EVPs in episodes, spirits making contact with listeners, orbs darting through their YouTube videos, and so much more. Paranormal enthusiasts, Sabrina and Corinne explore the deepest, darkest, spookiest places in the world, delivering doses of research, history and spine-tingling tales. If possessed kids crawling backwards up walls, campers entranced in fairy orgies, and creatures chasing drivers down back roads is your thing, tune in to Two Girls One Ghost wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes are released every Thursday, and Sunday. And now, you can join Sabrina and Corinne every Tuesday on Patreon and share your own haunting tale LIVE on their Campfire Stories. Join the summerween trend and satisfy your spooky itch with Two Girls One Ghost, but be warned, side effects might include a haunting or two, so listen at your own risk!

From the Astonishing Legends Network:

Find us on YouTube!

Click this text to find all Astonishing Legends episodes and more on our Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/Astonishinglegends

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Click HERE or go to patreon.com/astonishinglegends to become one of our Patreon members and receive exclusive offerings, like our bonus Astonishing Junk Drawer episodes (posted every weekend the main show is dark) commercial-free episodes, and more!

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"For millennia, showers of blood, known variously as blood falls, rains of blood, and blood rain, have been reported in sources both historical and literary. The earliest record comes from Homer's Iliad, in which Zeus makes it rain blood 'as a portent of slaughter."  -- Tonight's guest, Tom Maxwell

Description:

Bloodfalls and meat showers - phenomena that sound more like biblical plagues than historical events. Yet, reports of these bizarre occurrences peppered the American landscape for over a century. From Alabama to Massachusetts, Tennessee to California, eyewitnesses sometimes described small red clouds followed by downpours of blood, flesh, and viscera. Some were subjected to the red rain on entirely cloudless days. While many saw divine judgment, skeptics suspected elaborate hoaxes. Scientists proposed numerous theories ranging from vomiting vultures to atmospheric anomalies, while newspapers spread the stories far and wide. But what really happened during these grisly events? Were they connected or separate phenomena with similar descriptions? And why did they seem to stop abruptly at the turn of the 20th century? Join us as we delve into this bloody chapter of American history with our special guest, Tom Maxwell, former frontman of the Squirrel Nut Zippers and bloodfall expert, for Part 1 of this 2-part series. Together, we'll examine not just what fell from the sky, but what these incidents reveal about 19th-century America - its people, its science, and its struggle to make sense of a rapidly changing world. From the fringes of meteorology to the depths of human nature, this is the strange, gruesome, and utterly captivating story of America's reign of blood and meat.

Reference Links:

The “Kentucky Meat Shower”

“The Great Kentucky Meat Shower mystery unwound by projectile vulture vomit” on Scientific American

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

“UFO legend: Horse found dead and mutilated 55 years ago in Colorado gets new life at roadside attraction from The Gazette

Shakers – “a millenarian restorationist Christian sect”

Charles Fort

“Ep 230: Charles Hoy Fort – Our Supernatural Father Part 1” on AstonishingLegends.com

“Ep 231: Charles Hoy Fort – Our Supernatural Father Part 2” on AstonishingLegends.com

Tom Maxwell’s website, TomMaxwell.com

Tom Maxwell’s essay, “"For the Scrutiny of Science and the Light of Revelation": American Blood Falls” an article from Southern Cultures 18:1, Spring 2012 from The University of North Carolina Press

“The God of Pity” by Tom Maxwell on Medium.com

Tom Maxwell’s book, “A Really Strange and Wonderful Time – The Chapel Hill Music Scene: 1989-1999”

Lebanon, Tennessee

“Oakville Blobs: In 1994, Mysterious Gelatinous Goo Rained Down On Washington” on IFLScience.com

Blood Falls in Antarctica

Location:

Lebanon, Tennessee, the town near where a bloodfall occurred on August 17, 1841

Suggested reading:

Suggested Listening:

Two Girls One Ghost Podcast

Would you believe there was a podcast that was haunted? It’s called Two Girls One Ghost. Hosts Corinne and Sabrina didn’t want to believe it at first, but seven years later and after hundreds of encounters submitted by listeners, they can no longer ignore it. Two Girls One Ghost is the most haunted podcast in America! We’re talking ghosts, EVPs in episodes, spirits making contact with listeners, orbs darting through their YouTube videos, and so much more. Paranormal enthusiasts, Sabrina and Corinne explore the deepest, darkest, spookiest places in the world, delivering doses of research, history and spine-tingling tales. If possessed kids crawling backwards up walls, campers entranced in fairy orgies, and creatures chasing drivers down back roads is your thing, tune in to Two Girls One Ghost wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes are released every Thursday, and Sunday. And now, you can join Sabrina and Corinne every Tuesday on Patreon and share your own haunting tale LIVE on their Campfire Stories. Join the summerween trend and satisfy your spooky itch with Two Girls One Ghost, but be warned, side effects might include a haunting or two, so listen at your own risk!

From the Astonishing Legends Network:

Find us on YouTube!

Click this text to find all Astonishing Legends episodes and more on our Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/Astonishinglegends

Join us on Patreon!

Click HERE or go to patreon.com/astonishinglegends to become one of our Patreon members and receive exclusive offerings, like our bonus Astonishing Junk Drawer episodes (posted every weekend the main show is dark) commercial-free episodes, and more!

SPECIAL OFFERS FROM OUR SPECIAL SPONSORS:

FIND OTHER GREAT DEALS FROM OUR SHOW’S SPONSORS BY CLICKING HERE!

CREDITS:

The Primal Vampire

Some sneak peak to the battlefront of high end raiding. This monstrosity is waiting in the first Bloodfalls raid. This is going to hurt a bit I guess...