In Volume 4, pp. 585-590, some literal applications of our Lord’s words “shall the sun be darkened . . . the stars shall fall from heaven” (Matthew 24:29) are suggested. One of these relates to the star shower of 1833, and some brethren recently investigating that event found some newspaper articles speaking of its impact over Alabama, where the display was very prominent. Below are selective quotes from those articles.

Title:  “Confessions and Flight Marked Night in 1833 When ‘Stars’ Fell on Alabama.” “The night of Nov. 12, 1833 … was the night ‘stars fell on Alabama’ – the great meteorite shower went on from about 11 p.m. until it was eclipsed by dawn, spreading astonishment, awe and terror. [Many] believ[ed] the Day of Judgment had arrived … One man acknowledged he had stolen a number of horses in his time, and at that moment was planning to rob the bank at Decatur … in Virginia a farmer had just robbed a hen roost when the stellar shower began. He was caught trying to sneak the stolen hens back into the coop.”

“For many years, Alabamians dated events from the night of the great meteorite shower … Astronomers today know that the rain of falling stars was caused by dust from Comet Tempel 1, which was discovered in 1866 and has a period of revolution about the sun of 33.36 years. Compet Tempel I will return to the neighborhood of the earth in 1999.” (Birmingham News, June 9, 1968)

Title: “Stars Fell On Alabama.” “… the strange shower of stars that fell on Alabama the night of November 12-13 in the year 1833 was a time of ‘great revival among Christians in the state who interpreted the falling stars as signs of approaching doom.”

“The great meteoric shower that night was one of the most brilliant displays known to man. It was seen, not only in Alabama, but over the eastern United States, from as far west as New Orleans and north to New England.. all the meteors seemed to radiate from a point in the constellation Leo.” (The Baldwin Times, Bay Minette, Alabama) The article also speaks of a book Stars Fell on Alabama, by Carl Carmer, which in 1934 inspired the song Stars Fell on Alabama, which some may remember. The book’s name derives from the 1833 shower.

Of course “the symbolic fulfillments are … even more interesting.” (Vol. 4, pg. 590)

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