Dozens of blackbirds similar to this one apparently fell from the sky on the Route 22 median Friday afternoon, according to state police and multiple witnesses who drove through the area.
That's where dozens of black birds apparently fell from the sky Friday afternoon, according to state police and multiple witnesses who drove through the area.
Terrence Haynes and his wife were driving east on Route 22 Friday when suddenly traffic slowed near the Route 512 exit. At first, it looked like shredded tires scattered all over the road, Haynes said. As they drove closer, it became clear that the black objects were birds. Haynes estimated that there were at least 20.
"I'm not kidding when I say it was one of the most terrible things I've ever seen," Haynes said Monday.
David Godiska of Whitehall came upon a similar scene around 1:45 p.m. while driving east near what he thought was the Fullerton Avenue exit. Traffic slowed suddenly, he said.
"I thought maybe there was an accident and then I saw something fall from the sky," he said. "There were some fluttering on the shoulder of the road. I couldn't avoid hitting them, and I thought that is really strange."
Godiska estimated that there were dozens of birds. They covered the road and nearby embankments, he said. Godiska said he saw at least five fall from the sky.
Pennsylvania State Police in Bethlehem confirmed that they dispatched a trooper Friday after someone reported the birds. An officer responded to see whether the birds needed to be cleared, but they were not blocking traffic, according to an official who answered the phone in the Bethlehem office. State police counted about 30 birds on the road. No one was injured, police said.
State police said it was possible that the birds were hit by a tractor trailer. But if the birds fell from the sky, it wouldn't be the first time in recent memory.
In December, residents in southern New Jersey reported a shower of as many as 200 red-winged blackbirds in a housing development surrounded by farm fields, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Three weeks before that incident, a couple dozen dead birds were found in the same neighborhood. Earlier in 2016, a similar situation was reported in a North Jersey farming area, the Inquirer reported.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection conducted tests on the dead birds but was unable to determine what made them fall from the sky, the newspaper said.
It is not known what type of birds were killed in the Lehigh Valley incident. Witnesses and state police described the birds as small and black. Godiska said the birds were the size of Starlings.
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