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It's raining chickens

http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/st...toryid=2638548

Quote:

CHICKENS are falling from the sky over a city suburb – and nobody knows why – or where they come from.

Twice in the past six weeks plucked and probably frozen chooks have plummeted to Earth on to the roofs of two unsuspecting residents of Fletcher, in Newcastle.

On both occasions tiles have been smashed, leading experts to assume the birds fell from a great height.

Police have been called and the search is on for an answer to the strange phenomenon.

One theory is that someone is using a giant slingshot to launch the birds into the air.

After the first chicken fell with a thud on to the roof of Stephen Leung's house on January 2, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority thought it may of fallen from a plane.

The force with which the the bird hit the roof convinced experts it would have plummeted from at least 500m.

The obvious culprit was a low-flying light plane where it may have fallen from an external luggage locker.

That theory now seems less likely after a second chook came crashing on to Warwick Slee's house sometime over the weekend. Mr Slee lives less than a kilometre from Mr Leung.

The Slee family were away last week and returned home late on Sunday afternoon to be greeted by a foul smell.

Mr Slee was trying to find the source of the stench when he noticed three smashed roof tiles.

He climbed into the roof cavity and found the decaying remains of a chicken.

"I'd heard about the other chook hitting a house a few weeks ago but didn't give it much thought," Mr Slee said. "I'd be really interested to know where they are coming from."

Peter Gibson from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority described the incidents as "odd".

Mr Gibson said the odds of the chickens falling from a plane twice in the same area were extremely remote.

"There is a chance it could have happened once, but twice I'd say is impossible," he said.

"I think some ground-based explanation is more logical."

Professor John O'Connor, head of mathematics and physical sciences at the University of Newcastle, agreed it was more likely the chooks were being propelled from the ground.

"I can't think of any normal phenomenon that would be responsible," he said.

"It's been known to rain fish, frogs and even chickens but that is after they are sucked up by a cyclone or tornado.

"I think some bright sparks have come up with a method of propelling these chooks.

"They seem to be firing frozen chooks into the air to see how high they can go."

Professor O'Connor said the culprits wouldn't need anything too sophisticated – a large slingshot could propel them hundreds of metres into the air.

Re: It's raining chickens

Hm.... interesting.... but they shouldn't throw around with animals, dead or alive. :mad:

Re: It's raining chickens

Quote:

One theory is that someone is using a giant slingshot to launch the birds into the air.

That is just plain ridiculous and stupid! These theorists need to be evaluated.

Re: It's raining chickens

That would be funny if they found some kids with a fatty catapult who were just trying to have some fun with chickens. Sad....but funny.

Re: It's raining chickens

A giant slingshot? Unlikely. More likely it's a cannon powered by a high powered compressor. The wind-back on a slingshot would be too far to be practical (or invisible - if they're shooting the chickens up, they would have to pull their "slingshot" down, requiring it be very tall).

That's just me though. Hopefully they find who's doing it. A penny dropped from that height could kill somebody. A frozen chicken could be devastating.

Re: It's raining chickens

Quote:

Originally Posted by thatmariolover

A penny dropped from that height could kill somebody.

Actually, I've heard wind resistance makes pennies pretty harmless regardless of from where they're dropped. If this were case, rain would be lethal also.

Re: It's raining chickens

Quote:

Originally Posted by GameMaster

Actually, I've heard wind resistance makes pennies pretty harmless regardless of from where they're dropped. If this were case, rain would be lethal also.

Yep. An episode of Mythbusters proved that pennies are harmless regardless of the height they are dropped from.

Re: It's raining chickens

I think its a slingshot.

Think about it, my neighbours used to do this all the time. But not with chickens.

You tie a GIANT elastic band to opposite sides of your house, and a pole with a hook to grab it after you release. Make a basket so you can shoot projectiles.

You pull it back far, let it go, and the inertia will carry it far, according to the weight.

We would shoot water balloons, and they would land a 5 minute walk away. And thats a water balloon. So with a chicken, I honestly think you could EASILY shoot it high enough, and far enough to do what this said happened.

Re: It's raining chickens

You know what, it probably wasn't a catapult after thinking about it. It was probably just God.