Post by hi224 on Apr 22, 2021 1:18:51 GMT
Great Sheep Panic
On November 3rd, 1888, tens of thousands of sheep across the entire English county of Oxfordshire were for an unknown reason struck by a wave of extreme panic that caused masses of sheep to break away from their farms, destroying fences and wreaking havoc. Tens of thousands of sheep were affected across an area of 200 square kilometers at the exact same moment. Events like this are unknown to zoologists and cattle farmers, but it happened again, in the same area, five years later. People or other animals were not affected.
Sources:
The event was described in detail and researched in two contemporary scientific journals:
Full text of "Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England" (archive.org)
Science Gossip Journal: Untitled-1 (nature.com)
All the facts and theories are summarized in this Youtube video:
The Great Sheep Panic of 1888 - YouTube
Theories:
Human Behaviour
People that would be scaring sheep on purpose - there is no way people could scare that many sheep across such large area simultaneously.
Earthquake
No residents felt even the slightest earthquake, but it is possible that the sheep were able to sense an earthquake that was below the sensory threshold of humans. However, it is unlikely that such a small earthquake would scare so many sheep across the large area - and if the sheep were so sensitive, how come this would not be happening regularly across the world?
Meteoric blast
A meteor that would fall and explode in the area could probably sufficiently scare the sheep, but as with the earthquake, no meteor was seen by any residents in the area.
Unidentified dark cloud
The contemporary scientific research conducted and published in the 1890s in the Royal Agricultural Society of England collected interviews with a number of local residents. The residents apparently agreed that just before the event a large dark cloud touching the ground covered the area plunging the entire area into complete pitch-black darkness. The researchers conclude that the cloud and the pitch-black darkness probably induced mass hysteria in the sheep. However, the "dark cloud" phenomenon that they describe does not fit any known cloud type or any meteorological phenomenon we know.
On November 3rd, 1888, tens of thousands of sheep across the entire English county of Oxfordshire were for an unknown reason struck by a wave of extreme panic that caused masses of sheep to break away from their farms, destroying fences and wreaking havoc. Tens of thousands of sheep were affected across an area of 200 square kilometers at the exact same moment. Events like this are unknown to zoologists and cattle farmers, but it happened again, in the same area, five years later. People or other animals were not affected.
Sources:
The event was described in detail and researched in two contemporary scientific journals:
Full text of "Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England" (archive.org)
Science Gossip Journal: Untitled-1 (nature.com)
All the facts and theories are summarized in this Youtube video:
The Great Sheep Panic of 1888 - YouTube
Theories:
Human Behaviour
People that would be scaring sheep on purpose - there is no way people could scare that many sheep across such large area simultaneously.
Earthquake
No residents felt even the slightest earthquake, but it is possible that the sheep were able to sense an earthquake that was below the sensory threshold of humans. However, it is unlikely that such a small earthquake would scare so many sheep across the large area - and if the sheep were so sensitive, how come this would not be happening regularly across the world?
Meteoric blast
A meteor that would fall and explode in the area could probably sufficiently scare the sheep, but as with the earthquake, no meteor was seen by any residents in the area.
Unidentified dark cloud
The contemporary scientific research conducted and published in the 1890s in the Royal Agricultural Society of England collected interviews with a number of local residents. The residents apparently agreed that just before the event a large dark cloud touching the ground covered the area plunging the entire area into complete pitch-black darkness. The researchers conclude that the cloud and the pitch-black darkness probably induced mass hysteria in the sheep. However, the "dark cloud" phenomenon that they describe does not fit any known cloud type or any meteorological phenomenon we know.