Description. Chunks of ice that fall from the sky that are substantially larger than the largest recognized hailstones; that is, more than five inches in diameter or weighing more than 2 pounds. The ice pieces may fall from a clear sky or they may descend after a powerful stroke of lightning. The chunks may be clear ice, or layered structures, or aggregations of small hailstones. This diversity of structure and meteorological conditions suggests that ice falls may have several different origins.
Background. Today, the fall of large ice chunks is usually blamed on aircraft passing overhead. Certainly, aircraft constitute a likely source, but there are many pre-Wright examples of this phenomenon. Furthermore, aircraft can be ruled out in some modern cases. Nevertheless, it seems that most people are satisfied with the aircraft explanation — perhaps because other origins are difficult to imagine.
