sample of the explanations published regarding the 1876 shower of flesh

Sanitarian, July, 1876
Mr. Leopold Brandeis, author "a low form of vegetable matter" (Nostoc)

New York Times, March 11, 1876 & March 12, 1876
Prof Lawrence Smith, Louisville "dried spawn of babeachian reptiles" (frogs)

The Monthly Microscopic Journal (Great Britain), 1876
Seven tested samples (different sources) were proven to be animal flesh.
--A favorite explanation from the Bath County locals--
A flock of buzzards was flying overhead when they disgorged as a group.

Domestic Explosives and Sixth Column Fancies: (NY Times), 1877
William Livingston Alden, author "cosmic meat from space"

A theory (retold) by the coroners in Kentucky explains that the meat was indeed "finely-hashed citizens of Kentucky, who had been caught up in a whirlwind while engaged in a little 'difficulty' with bowie knives"

Additional and more detailed explanations at webpage created for this project