Things What Done Fell from the Sky: 16 Cattle Stricken Down

At neighbors' behest, Jim McDougal and his daughter went to the field to find 16 cattle dead. "They were all either sitting or lying where they had fallen in a regimented row. I have never seen anything like it in my life. The cows were singed and we could smell it in the air when we arrived."

Experts believe one cow was stricken and the electricity was transferred to the other cattle standing in the puddle. Another possibility is that all the cows were touching and so all were effectively hit. Whatever the case may be, forensics proved the cattle were struck by lightning.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009