Mystery fish from the sky causes power outages in Sayreville, NJ

⚡ Power outages in Sayreville are being blamed on a fish

⚡ More than 2,000 people were affected by the outage

⚡ It's believed a bird dropped the fish, now named Gilligan, on the transformer

SAYREVILLE — It's as if "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" had a spinoff book for pescatarians.

Residents in Sayreville experienced an unexpected power outage Saturday morning around 10:15 a.m., JCP&L spokesman Chris Hoenig said. There was no work scheduled but suddenly around 2,100 customers were plunged into darkness.

Work began quickly and power was restored within two hours. But amid the outage, a life was lost.

A fish had fallen from the skies and landed directly on top of a transformer, Sayreville police said. It's believed that a bird dropped the victim onto the transformer as it flew by.

The fish has been named Gilligan. Hoenig confirmed that Gilligan was the cause of the outage.

"Animal contact is a common cause of power outages. However, fish are not included on the list of animals most at risk of contacting power lines," Hoenig said.

As for Gilligan's accused killer, the bird is still on the loose. A sketch of the suspect was released by police.

"Please let us not forget the victim in this senseless death. Gilligan was a hard working family man. He was a father to thousands of children. The suspect was last seen flying South. If you see him do not try to apprehend him. Although he isn’t believed to be armed he may still be very dangerous," police said.

It's unknown if the suspect had any known accomplices. Photos of possibly connected individuals are below.

Report a correction | Contact our newsroom