Stuff You Should Know – Short Stuff: Kentucky Meat Shower

Episode Date: March 25, 2026
Hosts: Josh & Chuck
Special Context: Celebrating 150th anniversary (March 3, 1876) of the Kentucky Meat Shower, suggested by listener Ben Fisher.

Overview

In this episode, Josh and Chuck delve into the bizarre historical mystery of the Kentucky Meat Shower of 1876—an event where chunks of meat inexplicably rained down over a Kentucky farm. The hosts explore eyewitness accounts, outlandish theories, and the most widely accepted explanation, all with their signature mix of curiosity and irreverence.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Actually Happened?

[02:19–04:04]

• The Kentucky Meat Shower occurred on March 3, 1876, in Bath County, Kentucky.
• Rebecca Crouch and her grandson witnessed pieces of meat falling from a clear sky onto their homestead while making soap outside.
• The shower covered an area about the size of a football field; chunks ranged from palm-sized to much smaller, like “snowflakes.”
• Livestock and a cat eagerly sampled the meat, but it was not to their taste—or anyone else's.
• First external witness: Harrison Gill confirmed the meat was real and noted it stuck to fences “with tissue and stained with what looked like blood,” and briars “bore gobs of flesh like Christmas trees from hell.”
  • Quote (Josh, 03:56): “Mental floss put it that the fences were flecked with tissue and stained with what looked like blood. Thorny briars bore gobs of flesh like Christmas trees from hell.”

2. Local Reaction & Sampling

[04:04–05:29]

• Local butcher Frizz Frisbee tasted the meat: “had kind of a milky, watery fluid oozing out of it.”
• It looked like veal or mutton but smelled and tasted awful.
• Neighbor Eli Willis wanted to eat the meat for dinner; his family had to forcibly stop him, “holding him down while other family members scooped up the meat and ran outside and threw it away.”

3. Early Theories: Frog Spawn & Star Jelly

[08:36–09:49]

• Some theorized it was rehydrated frog spawn—i.e., frog eggs and ejaculate swept into the sky and rained down, but it hadn’t rained.
  • Chuck (09:06): “But it wasn’t raining. As we pointed out, it was clear sky. So that doesn’t hold much water.”
• Water sanitation expert Leopold Brandes thought it might be “a cyanobacteria,” also called star jelly, but again it would require rainfall to appear.
  • The theory fell apart due to the lack of precipitation.

4. Most Accepted Explanation: Vulture Vomit

[09:49–12:43]

• Chemist Dr. L.D. Kastenbine suggested in 1876 it was “a mass vulture vomiting incident.”
  • Vultures vomit mid-flight to lighten themselves or as a defense, sometimes dropping recently consumed, partially digested meat.
  • “So they ate what had been decomposing animal flesh, initially eaten by vultures and then thrown back up and then those guys tasted it.” (Josh, 11:09)
• Objections from art professor Kurt Goede: if so many vultures vomited simultaneously, wouldn’t Mrs. Crouch have seen them? Later, someone pointed out vultures can fly at 20,000 feet—well out of sight.
  • Josh: “A committee of vultures flying at 20,000ft, vomiting down kind of simultaneously onto poor Mrs. Crouch in her yard. She definitely would not be able to see that with the naked eye.” (12:26)

5. Lasting Mystique and Modern Weirdness

[12:43–13:34]

• Scientific proof remains elusive; no samples survive for modern analysis.
• Kurt Goede, the skeptical art professor, eventually had artificial Kentucky Meat Shower–flavored jelly beans made and handed out at the Court Dates Festival, asking for flavor feedback.
  • Responses ranged from “bacon before it’s cooked” to “lamb that’s going rotten,” and “strawberry pork chops.”
  • Josh (13:34): “But Cody told Atlas Obscura that he just frankly finds them vile.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Thorny briars bore gobs of flesh like Christmas trees from hell.” – Josh, 03:56
• “He put it in his mouth, he spit it out. And this was the butcher. And he said he spit it out after chewing it a little. And he said it had kind of a milky, watery fluid oozing out…” – Chuck, 04:23
• “A mass vulture vomiting incident. Not a bad band name in and of itself, now that I think about it.” – Chuck, 10:36
• “So they ate what had been decomposing animal flesh, initially eaten by vultures and then thrown back up and then those guys tasted it.” – Josh, 11:09
• “A committee of vultures flying at 20,000ft, vomiting down… She definitely would not be able to see that with the naked eye.” – Josh, 12:26
• “Strawberry pork chops, which sounds like the best thing out of all of them for sure.” – Chuck, 13:30
• “But Cody told Atlas Obscura that he just frankly finds them vile.” – Josh, 13:34

Episode Timeline

| Timestamp | Segment | Summary | |-----------|----------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------| | 01:09 | Opening remarks | Shoutouts, title jokes, origins | | 02:19 | Introduction to event | Mrs. Crouch, clear sky meat shower | | 03:14 | Description of meat & witness accounts | Meat size, “snowflakes,” livestock reaction | | 04:16 | Local reactions & sampling | Butcher tries meat, neighbor Eli Willis incident | | 08:09 | Aftermath & seeking explanations | Samples sent to universities | | 08:36 | Early theories (frog spawn, star jelly) | Dismissed due to lack of rain | | 09:49 | Vulture vomit theory (widely accepted) | Dr. Kastenbine’s explanation | | 11:30 | Modern objections & clarification | Vultures at high altitude, visual invisibility | | 12:43 | Ongoing curiosity & jellybean tastings | Kurt Goede’s jelly beans, flavor feedback |

Conclusion

This episode offers an engrossing look at one of America’s strangest unsolved mysteries, the Kentucky Meat Shower, through vivid detail, a survey of scientific and fantastical theories, and the hosts’ trademark humorous banter. The horror-tinged absurdity of the event is matched only by the equally bizarre efforts to explain—and taste—it, giving listeners a satisfying, weirdly appetizing slice of historical curiosity.

Short Stuff is out!