Arctic Lamprey, Yukon River near Kaltag. (Randy Brown/USFWS)

The headlines are great. CBS News reports: Terrifying “vampire fish” falling from the sky in Alaska.  Huffington Post chimes in: Hellacious Eel-Like Fish Are Dropping From The Sky In Alaska. The Washington Post offered, Why these mysterious, blood-sucking fish fell from the Alaskan sky.

It seems that live arctic lampreys were found on shore in Fairbanks Alaska, having apparently fallen from the sky. A rain of live fish is strange enough, but lampreys, over a foot long, look like something out a horror movie. They have a sucker-like mouth with five rows of teeth which they use to attach themselves to larger fish and other marine animals.

How these strange fish happen to fall from the sky?  Alaska Department of Fish and Game information officer Nancy Sisinyak says that gulls likely picked up the fish in the nearby Chena River and then dropped them from their mouths mid-flight over the town.  “When the fish wiggles free, and the bill scrapes the gills off the fish, it leaves a V-shape on either side,” Sisinyak said.

And how may fish have fallen from the sky? A grand total of four lampreys have been found ashore so far.

Monster Like Lamprey Fish Falling From Sky In Alaska City Fairbanks