The Rain of Fish in Yoro
Every year, after a great storm, the people of a Honduran town find the streets and fields full of live fish.
What was reported
In Yoro, in northern Honduras, residents say that once a year, usually in May or June, a violent storm brings a 'rain of fish'. Afterwards, hundreds of small, silvery fish are found flapping on the ground, and families gather them to eat.
The event has been reported for more than a century, and the town holds an annual Festival de la Lluvia de Peces. Local tradition links it to a Spanish priest who prayed for food for the poor in the 1800s.
Explanations offered
One idea is that waterspouts lift fish from the sea and drop them inland, but the sea is about 70 km away. Another is that the fish live in underground rivers and are pushed to the surface by flooding. The fish found are reported to be blind, which supports the underground idea, but it has not been fully studied.
- When
- Every year, in the rainy season
- Where
- Yoro, Honduras
- Witnesses
- Townspeople of Yoro
- Status
- Disputed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.