Ten Surreal Stories of Things Falling from the Sky

There is a famous European folk story about a young chicken who somehow gets it into his head that the sky is falling and therefore the world is about to end. It is a tale of hysteria and paranoia. But the idea of bizarre things falling from the heavens is not as far-fetched as you might think.

The sky itself may not be falling, but all manner of surreal objects have hurtled down to Earth from the sky, including frozen iguanas, a befuddled alligator, and a mysterious black gloop. Experts have explained some of these strange falling items, while others remain shrouded in mystery. From Russian diamonds to purebred dingoes, here are ten freakish stories about things falling from the sky.

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10 Hammerhead Shark

On May 18th, 2025, stunned golfers in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, were taken aback as a hammerhead shark dropped from the sky. An osprey plucked the marine predator from the ocean for a tasty treat. Ospreys usually feast on fish that are less than 12 inches (30 cm) long. However, it seems this greedy bird fancied something a little bigger for dinner.

Sadly, the osprey bit off more than it could chew. As the bird swooped through the air, the shark fell from its bill and plummeted to the ground. The dead hammerhead landed near the 11th hole of Splinter City Disc Golf Course.

The osprey probably hauled the fish over half a mile (800 meters) from the ocean before its lunch slipped away. Witnesses say the bird got into some bother with two crows, who chased it into a tree where it lost its grip on the shark.^[1]

9 SpaceX Satellites

Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, is renowned for being at the forefront of experimental science. But experiments don’t always go to plan. On January 28th, 2025, a blazing fire soared over the skies of the Midwest U.S. as one of the company’s internet satellites crashed through the atmosphere. The flaming spectacle was filmed over southern parts of Wisconsin and Michigan, although reports say it could be seen from as far as Chicago.

Astronomer Jonathan McDowell soon identified the debris as SpaceX Starlink 5693. Starlink is a huge network of thousands of satellites whizzing around the Earth to provide the planet with high-speed internet coverage. The spacecraft swoop above us in low orbit for around five years. Once they have finished their use, they thrust themselves back into the atmosphere and let the Earth’s pull drag them down.^[2]

8 Russian Gold

Imagine looking up to the heavens and seeing gold bars and diamonds raining from the sky. Well, one Thursday in 2018, two tons of gold bars showered down on Siberia, along with platinum and diamonds. The treasures cascaded to Earth around Yakutsk Airport after the cargo hatch broke on a Cold War-era aircraft. The Antonov An-12 was loaded with some $378 million of riches from a private mining company.

Almost 200 gold bars spilled in total, most landing on the runway. However, the plane carried on for 10 miles (16 km) until it could make an emergency landing at Magan Airport. Reports claim cargo dribbled out all that way.

Thankfully, no one was injured, and police say most of the precious haul was soon recovered. But who knows, perhaps some lucky Siberians managed to grab an ingot or two on the day gold bars rained from the sky.^[3]

7 Wandi the Dingo

Now for the story of a young dingo who went from plummeting from the sky to the star of a children’s book. At five weeks old, Wandi was grabbed by a huge eagle and dropped in the highlands of Victoria, Australia. The lucky pup had very few injuries when he landed in a backyard in the town of Wandiligong.

DNA testing revealed that Wandi was 100% alpine dingo. Most similar creatures in the region are actually a hybrid mix of dingo and dog, so conservationists were delighted to find a purebred like Wandi. He was rehomed at the Dingo Discovery Sanctuary and Research Centre in Toolern Vale where he became a local celebrity. His Instagram account has thousands of likes and fans can now buy Wandi pins and plush toys.

Then in 2021, Wandi, by this point a father of six, became the star of a children’s book. Celebrated author Favel Parrett wrote Wandi to teach youngsters about the dingo’s plight. She hopes her work will help save the species from extinction.^[4]

6 Frozen Iguanas

In 2018, a vicious cyclone ripped across the East Coast of the United States, whipping up all sorts of havoc in its wake. One of the oddest impacts was frozen iguanas dropping from the skies. Or, more specifically, the trees. Suburban Florida was littered with unmoving reptiles as the cold-blooded critters struggled to cope with plunging temperatures.

“When the temperature goes down, [iguanas] literally shut down, and they can no longer hold on to the trees,” explained Ron Magill, a wildlife expert for Zoo Miami. “Which is why you get this phenomenon in south Florida that it’s raining iguanas.”

Experts say most of the lizards survived the ordeal. Iguanas respond to sudden drops in heat by slowing their metabolism and grinding all motion to a halt. Then, as things start warming up again, the reptiles thaw out and life continues as normal.^[5]

5 Hong Kong Dollars

How would you feel if it suddenly started raining cash from the sky? In December 2018, a man in Hong Kong poured hundreds of notes from the roof of a building worth 100 Hong Kong dollars each (around $13 in the U.S.). The bills showered down on Fuk Wa Street in Sham Shui Po, one of the most deprived areas in the region. People soon flocked to scoop up the scattered cash.

Reports say that the stunt was put together by Wong Ching-Kit, who styles himself online as Coin Young Master. “Does any one of you believe that money can fall from the sky?” he can be seen asking on video before the notes start dropping. Wong promotes digital currencies on social media through Epoch Cryptocurrency. Soon after the stunt, he was arrested by Hong Kong police.^[6]

4 Live Alligator

On July 11, 1843, the port city of Charleston, South Carolina, made headlines after a vicious storm caused an alligator to drop from the sky. A news report from the time claims the fierce winds plucked up the snappy reptile and carried him into the French Quarter. He plonked down at the corner of Wentworth and Anson Streets.

Locals described the gator as having “a look of wonder and bewilderment about him” after his unexpected voyage through the sky. But while his airborne adventure might have shaken him up a little, it left no lasting damage. The article concludes: “By the last accounts he was doing as well as an alligator could be expected to do after sailing through the air in such bad weather.”^[7]

3 Chunks of Ice

At the start of the new millennium, scientists were left baffled as strange blocks of ice came crashing down over southern Spain. In one week in the year 2000, nine blocks fell around the region, ranging in weight from a pound to nearly nine pounds (0.5 to 4 kg). A frozen chunk the size of a baseball plummeted in front of a moving car in Valencia. Another blasted through a windshield in Tocina in Seville province.

Scientists quickly wrote off the idea that the frosted wedges fell from airplanes. They wondered if the ice fell from comets, but tests into the makeup of the chunks ruled out that theory. In the end, geologist Jesús Martínez-Frías came up with the term megacryometeor. He says the mysterious blobs are similar to huge hailstones but form under certain atmospheric conditions. Global warming could be a driving factor, experts warn.

Since then, dozens more have continued to drop to Earth. One mammoth ice block that smashed through the roof of a Mercedes-Benz factory in Brazil was found to weigh 400 pounds (180 kg). Another 200-pound (90 kg) whopper left a three-foot hole in the ground.^[8]

2 Black Gloop

In February 2016, alarmed locals in Harrison Township, Michigan, woke up to find their town splattered with black gloop. A mysterious, oily substance rained down overnight on the homes and cars. Residents were bewildered to see the place littered with tar-like splodges. The local fire chief soon confirmed that the slime was not flammable. People pointed their fingers at nearby Selfridge Air National Guard Base, but the base denied that the droppings had come from their planes.

After a week of speculation, test results came in. Researchers at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality looked into the sludge and found traces of seed, leaves, and fruit skins. They confirmed that the town was covered in black, oily bird poop. One local, Paul Schlutow, told reporters his home and pickup truck were coated in splodges. He says “the odds are astronomical” as to how many birds must have been involved in creating such a foul mess.^[9]

1 Mysterious Stowaway

On June 3h, 2019, one London resident was left in shock after a man’s body crashed into his garden. A stowaway fell from a Kenya Airways flight as it prepared to land at Heathrow Airport. Experts believe he secreted himself in the plane’s landing gear. Sadly, he did not survive.

British and Kenyan authorities were then left with the job of working out who the poor man was. Sky News claimed he was a cleaner called Paul Manyasi who worked at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. Kenyan officials soon disputed this claim. The broadcaster also released photos that they said were of the stowaway, but the man in the pictures turned out to be still alive.

Years later, nobody is any the wiser about the man’s identity. Many wonder why he took such extreme risks to flee Kenya. The incident also raises concerns about the security at Kenyan airports. Experts question how an unknown man could pass through three levels of security checks and clamber onto a plane without anyone noticing. For now, the mystery continues.^[10]