On Sunday, something strange happened in the outback town of Lajamanu, Australia: it began raining fish.
Residents were initially confused by the rainfall but soon realized that it wasn’t ordinary rain, but rather fish. Andrew Johnson Japanangka, a local, said the fish were at least “the size of two fingers” and that they were still alive when they hit the ground.
“We’ve seen a big storm heading up to my community and we thought it was just rain,” resident Andrew Johnson Japanangka said. “But when the rain started falling we’ve seen fish falling down as well.”
“Some are still hanging around in the community in a puddle of water. … Children are picking them up and keeping them in a bottle or a jar,” Japanangka said.
The Australian outback town of #Lajamanu was shocked when it rained fish. However, this phenomenon called ‘animal rain’ is real and not a joke #fishrain #rainingfish https://t.co/6VTgXSzPuw
— Firstpost (@firstpost) February 23, 2023
This isn’t the first time the town has experienced this phenomenon. In 2010, 2004, and 1974, fish reportedly rained down in Lajamanu. Penny McDonald also claims to have seen fish on the streets of Lajamanu in the mid-1980s.
One explanation weather experts give is that strong updrafts, like tornadoes, can suck fish and water from rivers before dumping them as far as hundreds of miles away. Michael Hammer, curator of fishes at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, offered another possible explanation: that fish have simply burst through with a local flood from a waterhole. He added that it is “not unusual” for live fish to rain down from the sky, provided they were not lifted up too high and frozen in mid-air.
While unusual, fish raining from the sky is not unheard of. In 2020, another Australian town reported fish falling from the sky. In 2017, it was reported that a small fishing village in India was hit with a sudden shower of fish. And in 2015, a town in the United Kingdom experienced a similar event.
Though it is certainly strange, a phenomenon like this is not entirely impossible. It is possible for strong weather systems to pick up fish and drop them in other locations. It is also possible for local flood waters to cause fish to burst through and rain down on a town.
No matter the explanation, it is clear that Lajamanu has experienced a unique event. In the words of Japanangka, “It was the most amazing thing we’ve ever seen. I think it’s a blessing from the Lord.”
