BATH CO., Ky. (LEX 18) — If you've ever heard of meat falling from the sky in Kentucky, then it's probably connected to the famous Kentucky Meat Shower from 1876.
Bath County is a small county east of Lexington. It's known for its beautiful outdoor scenery and rich history. However, it's also known for its meat shower that happened 149 years ago.
According to Transylvania University professor Kurt Ghode, the famous Kentucky Meat Shower happened the late morning of March 3, 1876. Chunks of red meat fell from the sky near Olympia Springs. A farmer's wife, Mrs. Crouch, witnessed the beefy phenomenon while making soup on her porch. It rained down so much meat it filled a horse wagon.
To this day nobody knows where it came from or what kind of meat it is, but it's celebrated and honored. A festival was held Saturday afternoon to educate people about the event and let them see the meat for themselves.
Organizers say nearly 500 people showed up. The event had food vendors, crafts, and a mystery meat chili cook-off. It also used the festival to showcase the Bath County museum and its decades of history.
"I hope people come out to Bath County, it's my hometown. I love it and I want to see more people come out," said Ian Corbin, the host of the KY Meat Festival. "When I was in school, it was a part of history class. You talked about things like that."
"I think that the meat shower festival and the whole incident is one of the lasting legacies of our county. It's one of the enduring mysteries of the world and to be known for something like that worldwide. You've even got celebrities to talk about it on TV," said Rob Kiskaden, the assistant curator of the festival.
Many theories about where the meat came from have been thrown around, so we asked some people what their theories were.
"The New York Times published an understanding because meteors are planetary fragments, than a meat shower could be animals from an exploded planet that rained in," said Ghode,
"I've heard the theories of the vultures dis-engorging themselves. I've even seen people talk about well it's Aliens or something, but I think it's probably something real natural. As far as what it was, I don't know," said Kiskaden.
"We had the Olympian springs hotel which was the natural springs and kind of a spa wellness place. That they- it actually didn't happen and they just used it to promote to bring out Olympia springs because it was on the railroad," said Corbin.
Despite which theory could ring true, Bath County will continue to honor the mystery meat and its unique fall to earth.
