Couple’s Tesla Windshield Shatters After Fish Falls from Sky

Cynthia and Jeff Levine were startled to discover a huge spiderweb-like fissure on the windshield of their Tesla after hearing the vehicle’s alarm go off in their driveway.

The couple from New Jersey saw blood and fish scales in the glass but no fish. They checked their garage camera but saw nothing. Then Jeff played back the Tesla’s dashcam footage. He saw that a one-pound bluefish had smashed their Tesla, seemingly having fallen from the sky.

But where was the fish?

Cynthia and Jeff Levine live in the Atlantic Highlands, almost one mile from Raritan Bay, the closest body of water.

At first, they suspected that someone with a grudge against them had thrown the fish at the vehicle, like a message in “The Godfather.”

But Jeff thinks he has unraveled the mystery.

Levine said the bluefish, which is frequent along the Jersey Shore, appeared to have talon markings, which might indicate that a huge bird, like an eagle, dropped the fish from above.

Residents in the area have reported seeing birds swooping about with fish in their beaks. As far as the Levines are concerned, a bird must have dropped its dinner.

Marine life has collided with vehicles before. In 2021, a city employee’s car in Neenah, Wisconsin, was struck by a carp, creating a massive dent in the hood. While searching for the perpetrator, city building inspectors discovered the fish in the parking lot, only a few feet away.

In August 2023, a falling fish struck a transformer in Sayerville, New Jersey, causing a power outage for hundreds of households. According to the police, a gray eagle sitting on a limb was the most probable culprit.

Experts in meteorology say that sometimes powerful updrafts, such as tornadoes, can lift marine life into the sky only to fall back to Earth in unusual places. Bill Evans, a meteorologist, said that various animals, including fish and snakes, plummet from the sky about 40 times every year.