It started like any other day at the Pinedale Mall in Cincinnati. Shoppers bustled between stores, picking up last-minute Thanksgiving items. A crowd gathered in the parking lot for the promise of a free turkey. None of them knew the horror that would unfold before their eyes, sending them running for cover. It was a day they would never forget.
Things were tough in America in 1978, and Cincinnati was no exception. Jimmy Carter was the president, and the unemployment rate was the only thing higher than inflation. Gas prices were high, and lines to buy it were long. People were struggling, and a chance to have a free turkey was very enticing.
The event promoted a small, struggling radio station, WKRP. Station Manager Arthur 'Big Guy' Carlson was the events organizer. He had hoped the promotion would improve the station's ratings. He would instead become the scapegoat and shoulder the public blame for the infamous tragedy.
To the amazement of many, neither Carlson nor anyone else was held accountable for the event. He would remain the Station Manager until 1982, when WKRP went off the air for good.
Veteran reporter Les Nessman was on the scene as events unfolded. The award-winning broadcast journalist struggled to maintain his composure as he described the horrific scene unfolding before him. He would end his report with three infamous words that would forever define him.
'Oh, the Humanity!'
There were no reported human casualties, and the extent of the property damage was never publicly reported.
However, as many as 40 innocent turkeys would lose their lives that day. Yeeted, like communists, from a helicopter hovering at an estimated 2000 feet in the air. They never stood a chance.
Recommended
The indelible scars created on that fateful fall afternoon remain to this very day. Many are left looking for closure decades later.
More than anyone, the turkeys have not forgotten. They gather every year to protest Thanksgiving itself and demand justice for their fallen feathered foul.
Some, frustrated by the lack of action from their human counterparts, have vowed to take matters into their own hands.
Or, at least, they would if they had hands.
No charges were ever filed as a result of the incident and no official report has ever been released.
Shortly after the event, a visibly shaken Carlson offered this explanation.
'As God as My Witness, I thought Turkeys Could Fly.'
Those words hold little consolation to those affected by the WKRP Turkey Drop Tragedy. Today, we remember the fallen.
'Oh the Humanity'
Join the conversation as a VIP Member