April Showers Bring May...FROGS?

Tiny frogs are easier to be transported by 
air currents and deposited during rainstorms!
Photo Source

In a normal world, the old saying goes as follows: "April showers bring May flowers!" But, Theresa's Haunted History is NOT a place for the normal. Here, we cover all things ranging from the paranormal to the more mundane abnormal, and today, we're covering some abnormal weather. 

Usually when it rains, the only thing falling from the sky is, well...water. But, in rare cases, other strange things may descend from the clouds, including but not limited to fish, frogs, and even indistinguishable MEAT. Called 'Fortean Falls,' these strange weather phenomena were a favorite of Charles Fort, the king of documenting weird stuff. (Article on Fortean Falls by David Darling)

Over the years, West Virginia has experienced quite a few instances where FROGS or other small animals fell from the sky. Through a quick search, I was able to document six separate incidents between 1871 and 1964. May, June, and July seem to be favorite months for these strange falls to take place. Let's take a look...

Huntington Area (1898): A Guyan citizen reported to the Huntington Advertiser that there was a frog fall, resulting in so many frogs that it was impossible to walk without stepping on one. 

The Weekly Register (Pt. Pleasant, WV)
22 June 1898

Hancock County (1964): Dwarf frogs, believed to have been swept up by air currents, rained down during a rain storm in the Weirton area, with many citizens experiencing the strange phenomenon. 

The Weirton Daily Times
15 June 1964

Moundsville (1871):  Tiny frogs, again so thick that you couldn't walk, fell during a rain storm in Moundsville. 

The Wheeling Daily Register
22 June 1871

Fairmont/Morgantown (1906): The local citizenry was discussing a recent frog fall...but apparently the Parkersburg Sentinel had a snarky explanation for them!

The Fairmont West Virginian
9 July 1906

Mercer County (1909): The area of Camp Creek in Mercer County received a fall of 'good-sized' minnows during a heavy rainstorm. As these minnows were from a different variety of minnows native to the area, it was theorized that they had been carried by air currents from quite a distance away!

The Point Pleasant Register
21 July 1909

                                                 


Lake Shawnee Area (1926): Lake Shawnee may be known for its haunted reputation and being the site of a tragic massacre of early settlers...and now it's known for a rain of frogs! 

The Independent Herald (Hinton, WV)
13 May 1926

Hinton Furniture and UFO Craze of 1947!

It's finally Friday, and this week I've got a Friday Funny coming to you from Hinton, West Virginia! As we talked about before here on Theresa's Haunted History, people from Hinton definitely had a penchant for seeing flying saucers throughout the years, and it all started back during the 1947 UFO wave during July. After the nation was swept up with speculation as to just what exactly crashed outside of Roswell, New Mexico and if it was from another planet or not, people from all over the country began coming forward with their own stories.

One such woman was Lee Ramsey, a housewife living on Summers Street. On July 10, 1947 she witnessed a series of six unidentified flying objects over her Hinton home. The sighting was written up in one of the local newspapers, The Leader. (Read my blog post, Hinton Has Saucers, Too for more info). However, it wouldn't be until the following May (and after another sighting by a Hinton resident) that an enterprising employee working for the Hinton Furniture Company would come up with a clever, tongue-in-cheek way to incorporate the UFO craze into the company's advertising!

The advertisement above was published in the May 21, 1948 edition of the Hinton Daily News. It reads, "Flying Saucers: Those people who saw the flying saucers last year were a little behind the times. An astronomer in Italy saw a flock of flying saucers on November 30, 1880. You will be right up with the times if you purchase your furniture and home appliances from us." 

I'm not sure if it was Hinton Furniture's owner, Ray Walker himself, or another employee who was tasked with advertising, but I have to applaud whoever it was who came up with this ad! If my assumptions are correct, the author evidently was a fan of the OG Fortean Historian---Charles Fort! It was Charles Fort who collected the strange little story about an Italian astronomer's experience and brought it to the public forefront. But, I wouldn't necessarily call what was seen a flock of 'flying saucers.' Rather, it sounds like a flock of flying CREATURES! Here's what was published:

Signer Ricco, of the Observatory of Palermo, writes that, Nov. 30, 1880, at 8:30 o'clock in the morning, he was watching the sun, when he saw, slowly traversing its disk, bodies in two long, parallel lines, and a shorter, parallel line. The bodies looked winged to him. But so large were they that he had to think of large birds. Sig. Ricco's estimate is that these objects … must have been at least five and a half miles high. -Source

I'm not sure if the winged bodies observed by Signer Ricco were humanoid in shape, but even with the description of birds makes me automatically think of West Virginia's own favorite winged creature: Mothman. However, even I have to admit that three parallel lines of Mothmen flying around the sun (the greatest lamp in the solar system) is more than a little frightening! 

The Plumley Building
Later home to Hinton Furniture
Source: WV History on View