The sky is/was falling

[drdeng]

I noticed that Sidney Sheldon came up with a novel in 2000 entitled "The Sky Is Falling". The other day I happened upon a similar saying in John Grisham's book "The Runaway Jury":

"Added to the rumor mill was the delicious bit about the break-in of juror Easter's apartment. It was easy to assume the intruder was paid by the tobacco industry, and since they'd been caught or at least were highly suspected, things looked bad all around for the defense. They'd lost a juror. They'd got caught cheating. The sky was falling."

What's the exact meaning of this phrase, "the sky is/was falling," and is there a story behind it?

[heathfield]

See here.

[indie_chick5]

There is a children's book called "Chiken Licken" or something like that and it is about how the message of "The sky is falling" gets passed around various animals. I think the sky falling was snow or rain or something like that. It was also a song by Queens of the stonge age.

[BBWCHATT]

This has the story of Chicken Little:

http://www.eleaston.com/chicken.html

[drdeng]

Thank you all very much.

[mintytone]

Could be that or it could be a reference to ancient man thinking that thunder and lightening was the 'sky falling in' aka the end of the world.