Students chattered because of earthworms

A group of second-graders at Galashiels Academy (Scotland) had to scramble after witnessing a battle to buy earthworms in the soccer field I was practicing.

Fitness instructor David Crichton (26) said that on April 1 while he was training kids to play football, suddenly there were dozens of worms falling from the sky.

' At that time I was extremely confused and didn't understand what was going on. At first the children laughed, but then when they saw the number of worms falling more and more, they ran off to escape the slimy animals' .

Physical education teacher David Crichton

After the incident, David informed his colleagues but they just laughed and did not believe until they witnessed the worms crawling on the grass. Some people appear dazed and bewildered when witnessing a strange phenomenon.

Conducting a round-trip review of the nearby football field and tennis court, the school's teachers picked up a total of 120 worms.

' I spoke with a number of scientists in the school but no one explained the reason. One of them thought that this could be a strange natural phenomenon. However, when he calmed down some other opinions suggested that he should check around nearby high-rise buildings because someone could have caused this "disaster ", David added.

Earthworm rains have also happened in the past, particularly at Somerville, Massachusetts (USA) in 1872, in Norway in 1877 and in Halmstad, Sweden in 1924.

Most recently in July 2007, a woman in Louisiana (USA) when crossing the street in Jennings was also extremely shocked when she saw a pile of worms falling in front of her.

The source of this horrifying 'rain' was determined by the fire hose that 'caught' water from a nearby river and swept the worms.