Slashdot Mirror
Black Blobs Appearing In Camden, NJ
Ieshan writes "Strange alien scares or just New Jersey Pollution? Occam's razor points towards the latter, but still, odd black blobs are appearing in a New Jersey city - no joke. CNN has the story - apparently, no one can identify them yet. Investigators say that they're not petrolium based, and that's about all anyone knows. On the plus side, at least they don't have stalks with green eyes?"
I go to school in Philadelphia, which is across the river from Camden, and grew up in southern Camden County, NJ, a comfortable 18 miles from Camden's state-leading crime rate and once close-to-nation-leading murder rate.
Anyways, I've seen this story on the local news. One suspicion is jet fuel falling from planes landing at Philly International, but I dont think that explanation holds much as why havent these blobs been there for however many years the airport has been there?
I personally would not be surprised if it's drug related. Philly started a huge crack down on drugs in recent weeks, causing many druggies to leave town. Camden then started their own crack down because that's where many druggies went.
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
from Bruce Springsteen's latest album.
--jdp Maintainer of VisEmacs
As a resident of NJ for the last 20 years, I can say that there is no way this could possibly happen. As my fellow residents can vouch, NJ is the cleanest place of all the places in the world. Where else in the world can you wake up to the the beautiful view of a smoke-stack filled skyline, emitting fluffy plumes of green tinged smoke. Or perhaps the placid lakes and ponds, that maintain their rainbow colored, slick surfaces all year around. No sir, you cannot be more in tune with nature unless you live in NJ.
"What can a thoughtful man hope for mankind on Earth, given the experience of the past million years? Nothing." -Bokonon
well, if its something falling from the sky then it should realisticly be on everything, including cars. Actually it should be getting on people also.
If ignorance is bliss, the world is full of blissful people
"Bob Lentine, assistant commissioner of the county health department, said he thinks the stuff might be ... discharge from the jets that fly directly overhead from nearby Philadelphia."
Ahhhh, so that's where they empty the toilets in planes.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge"
- Charles Darwin
A noticed the black blobs on new sidewalks right here in Chicago. I could see a lot of dots on the sidewalk below when I looked down from the 'L' platform. I figured that they were chewing gum but wondered how there could be so much.
It makes sense that it's tar that flows off of the roofs in the extreme heat. I saw a temperature of 106 degrees F on concrete a few weeks ago. Black flat roofs probably get a lot hotter.
Ever dream you could fly? Get up from the Flight Sim. I Fly
This reminds me of the Seattle Window Pitting Hysteria (about half way downb the page).
So these days we blame aliens instead of demons, but that is about the only thing that changes.
Idiocy is a universal constant...
People couldn't type. We realized: Death would eventually take care of this.
don't need to "take over" Camden, NJ - they can have it, for all I care.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
Boy, that makes me feel a lot better.
I find it supicious that these people claim that the blobs start out 6" accross, and then shrink way down to dry 1" spots, yet there are only pictures of the spots.
In a google image search of the word sidewalk, here are the first few pics that come up in which the sidewalk can be seen clearly enough to make out any potential spots:
spots
No spots (but close in)
2 small spots
no spots, but quite funny
no spots
small spots
small spots
Ok, so there is some background spotting on many sidewalks, which MAY explain the smaller ones. The yet unphotographed larger ones could be from public exaguration/hysteria. here are several examples of such events. In particular look at the seattle winshield pitting in 1954, and the school gas leaks in 88. I'd bet that those spots are usualy there, just that nobody paid attention until now.
Don't Bogart the fish sticks
Wait, there were two nuclear "tests" in Japan in 1945 also, right?
Do you have any sources for your theory? That is, researh which backs up the statements:
1) Nicotine does not increase cancer risk, and
2) Fallout from nuclear testing was spread over the US heavily enough to affect cancer rates.
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
Beware of The Blob, it creeps
And leaps and glides and slides
Across the floor
Right through the door
And all around the wall
A splotch, a blotch
Be careful of The Blob
Words and music by Burt Bacharach.
The black blob has been found to be very dangerous. A woman, Denise Crosby, 45, was killed mysteriously when trying to walk pass the blob. Police are warning New Jersey residents to stay away while scientists determine how the blob caused her death.
Veramocor
Article: A quick field test wasn't able to confirm that the substance was petroleum-based, said Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Fred Mumford.
Slashdot: It's roofing tar
Obligatory simpsons reference:
Lisa: I don't understand professor, why didn't your tests show that the skeleton was a fake.
Dr. Gould: I'm going to be honest with you Lisa, I never did the tests.
[Dr. Gould walks away]
I mean...it's Camden
So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
It was just reported on the local news here in Philadelphia.
They speculate it got there from candle-drippings from all the candlelight vigils they have for people getting shot to death, etc.
Did a satellite fall to earth in that town recently? If so, even if the town suddenly dies off, I wouldn't worry - it'll probably mutate to a harmless state very quickly.
--
Evan
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
They're wax.
It is all the falling dots from the dying dot-com's
Table-ized A.I.
I see splots in down-town L.A. and Frisco also.
I guess it to be gum too.
I figure there are plenty to test, so we should have an answer one of these days. Do I get mod points if I am right? (Slashdot Vegas)
Either that it is alien boogers.
Table-ized A.I.
(* Do you think that if they mapped the distribution of these in a Geographic Information System, it would point to the source? *)
Do you mean like crop circles being a secret message, or a trail left by a dripping machine?
Hey, that would be cool: if you plot them all, they make the shape of Elvis.
Table-ized A.I.
The pollution in the air starts settling out and eventually it's only possible to survive up sky scrapers.
Can't recall the name, but the collection I read it in was 'The Ghost Light'
-Yarn - Rio Karma: Excellent