24 July 2006
India When dark clouds burst on Thursday noon people of the sleepy village of Manna (20 km north of Kannur), never thought it would be a real manna from heaven: It rained fish and many collected live ones straight from the sky. Sounds bizarre, but it’s true.
Two experts, who rushed to the area, have confirmed the celestial dropping did carry live fish. “We have collected the fish from locals. Almost the size of a small pencil, they carry two narrow stripes,†Prof Khaleel Chuva, a teacher in Taliparambha, explained. Prof Chuva and his colleague K I Mathew are studying the specimen.
Scientists argue it can happen during high-velocity winds, which may sweep the earth surface and catch light objects in the wind. The objects are released when the wind speed weakens.
But what is baffling scientists is the live nature of the fish. Many incidents of animal and crab raining were reported from different parts of the world. But ‘live rains’ were rare, experts admitted.
