According to Time, reports of the plummeting birds were first received at 11:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve, and Beebe residents awoke to find the carcasses of more than 2,000 of the creatures strewn across their lawns, roads and rooftops -- all within a one-mile stretch of town. While the cause of death is pending autopsies that will be conducted today (January 3), reports of trauma to the birds' skulls suggest a weather-related anomaly, such as lightning or high-altitude hail.
In an unrelated incident, a tugboat operator reported finding some 20,000 dead drum fish along the Arkansas River on December 30. Though the cause of their death is likely disease, the bevy of animal casualties in Arkansas over the past few days reminds us of the sort of thing that happens in apocalyptic disaster movies just before, you know, the disaster. Are dead birds dropping from the sky an indication that an Arkansas-centric apocalypse is nigh? Fingers crossed the answer is no. But while we're waiting for the answer, check out our list of five movies in which birds wreak havoc, portend disaster or generally spell doom for a handful of people or, in some cases, all of humanity.
"The Birds" (1963)
The seagulls and crows falling from the sky in this Alfred Hitchcock suspense classic aren't dead; in fact, they're bloodthirsty little buggers with a penchant for turning houses -- and humans -- into Swiss cheese. What had two wings and lust for human blood before Jaws was a glimmer in his mother's eye? These guys!
"The Seventh Sign" (1988)
This Demi Moore flick kicks off with some pretty bad omens: Rivers run red with blood, the sea boils, the desert becomes a frozen tundra, the earth quakes and, yes, birds drop dead from the sky. Sounds like they've got a full-blown apocalypse on their hands for this one, folks.
"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989)
Birds actually are a good omen for Henry Jones (Sean Connery) and his son Indiana (Harrison Ford): With bomb-dropping Nazi fighter planes pursuing the father-son duo along the Austrian coast, Henry uses his umbrella to coax a flock of seagulls to fly directly into the Nazi aircraft, resulting in its fiery end. Birds: 1. Nazis: zip.
"The Day After Tomorrow" (2004)
In this "be kind to our planet or it will turn on you" disaster flick from Roland Emmerich, the first sign people get that Earth is about to pay the piper for global warming is hundreds of thousands of birds getting the hell out of New York City. Tidal waves, earthquakes, snowstorms and fake-looking CGI wolves ensue.
"Angry Birds" (TBD)
The ridiculously popular iPhone game hasn't been turned into a movie yet, but one is in the works. And when it does arrive, it'll be chock full of the titular angry birds exacting kamikaze-style revenge on the vile green pigs that stole their eggs. If it's half as addictive as the game, we're in for a true avian treat.
Do you think the birds falling from the sky means anything other than that they got caught in a really bad hail storm? What are your favorite movies in which birds wreak havoc?
Read More... [Source: Top Stories - Google Blog Search]
No comments:
Post a Comment