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Camden Blobs: Mystery Solved

Posted by michael on from the stay-away-from-the-black-oil dept.

jeffy124 writes "Recently there was a discussion about blobs in the sidewalks of Camden, NJ. The mystery has been solved. It's paraffin wax, which is used in industrial processes and in candles, and poses no health risks whatsoever. Some residents suspect a coverup, but then again, this is Camden were talking about."

36 comments

  1. I coulda had first post... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...but I didn't want it.

    1. Re:I coulda had first post... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      unfortunately, you do have first post. be a little slower next time, and someone else will get it.

  2. How hard is it to detect Parafin wax? by Picass0 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So why was everyone so f'n baffled by simple candle wax? Is parafin wax somehow beyond laboratory chemical analysis?

    1. Re:How hard is it to detect Parafin wax? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because a fucking stupid story got posted to slashdot where the readers took it seriously. If this had been ignored for the stupidity it was, the confusion could have been avoided.

    2. Re:How hard is it to detect Parafin wax? by iamroot · · Score: 1

      I am not a chemist, but it probably isn't very hard. At least to test for parafin wax. But why would they be checking for parafin wax? The substance could have been any number of things, so they probably weren't testing specifically for parafin wax. Instead, they would test for various properties, which takes a while. Then they probably found that it was parafin wax because, if it looks like, has the same density, has the same chemicals, electrical properties, thermal properties, ..., as parafin wax, it probably is parafin wax.

      Plus, they probably had to send it to a lab, which takes time.

  3. i'm still wondering... by ceejayoz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    why it was falling out of the sky? Seems rather bizzare to me...

    1. Re:i'm still wondering... by jeffy124 · · Score: 3, Informative

      i live in the camden/philly area .... on the news last night they said it might be from candlelight vigils. Why residents didnt make a connection between vigils and the spots is beyond me, but like I said above, this is Camden were talking about.

      --
      The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
    2. Re:i'm still wondering... by ceejayoz · · Score: 2

      with black candles?

    3. Re:i'm still wondering... by andy@petdance.com · · Score: 1, Redundant

      I suspect that the wax absorbed dirt over time to become its current black color.

    4. Re:i'm still wondering... by ceejayoz · · Score: 2

      The original article stated that it started out 6 inches wide and shrank to the size of a half-dollar... didn't mention changing color either. I don't think it was from candles, somehow.

    5. Re:i'm still wondering... by jeffy124 · · Score: 1

      i know. it seems odd. usually they use white candles. one of the sites where the spots showed up was outside a church. it might be something like the candle drips, and maybe a few days later turns black from sunlight, but then again, IANAC (I am not a chemist).

      something the cnn article mentioned was use in industrial processes. there are a fair number of factories in camden, you drive past them on I-676 between the Whitman and Franklin Bridges. That's also the general area where these spots showed up.

      But something brought up in the first article -- why only recently? Those factories have been there for as long as I can remember, and planes have been landing at PHI airport (another suspicion was jet exhaust) from over South Jersey for a long time as well. For some reason, the candle theory just seems to fit.

      --
      The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
    6. Re:i'm still wondering... by Lars+T. · · Score: 2

      So the chewing gum stains on the streets only come from black chewing gum?

      --

      Lars T.

      To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

    7. Re:i'm still wondering... by clem.dickey · · Score: 2

      When I was a kid (about 1960) candy stores sold waxy figurines filled with juice. You would bite off the head and drink the juice. The sidewalks had black blobs and there wasn't any mystery.

    8. Re:i'm still wondering... by Thoth+Ptolemy · · Score: 1

      Ah..I remember those. I used to just chew them whole instead of bite-sip-discard. Was a good waxy-juicy chew.

    9. Re:i'm still wondering... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wasn't a big fan of the waxy, and juicy, chews. I used to get those marathon bars. Those stuck to my dentalwork really bad. I'd eat one and still find remnants of it in my teeth years later.

      "Was a good waxy-juicy chew."

      LOL.

  4. He's at is again.. by zulux · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Icarus has been flying around NJ again? I though the aliens told him to stay around Utah, or they'd 'probe' him again. Mormons don't seem to mind the wax and fethers - probably use them in their fertility rites.

    --

    Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.

    1. Re:He's at is again.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, you mean tar and feathers, and it's what shallow minded, mob-forming numbskulls such as you do to Mormons as part of your ignorance rites.

  5. Mystery Solved by one9nine · · Score: 3, Funny


    They're made of PEOPLE!!! Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!

  6. It poses health risks if... by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 1


    "poses no health risks whatsoever..."

    It poses health risks if it is in the air. How did it get there?

  7. Duh by andy@petdance.com · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I'm just amazed at how cynical people want to be, and how they find problems that just don't exist.
    Sanders said she thinks she still doesn't know the truth. "I believe they're covering it up. I really do," she said.
    "They"? Which "they"? There's a vast conspiracy hiding the truth of sidewalk wax? Does Sanders have nothing else in her life to provide interest? Did the subscription to the Star run out? Maybe turning off the TV and taking a trip to the library to find a good book would help.

    She doesn't believe the health department, so what will she believe? Is there any source that she'd give enough credence to? Is she going to be monitoring SidewalkBlobTruth.com for the REAL UNCENSORED STORY?

    We're so jaded as a society that we have to come up with exciting fables to explain the most mundane of phenomenon.

    1. Re:Duh by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 2

      Generally I tend to respect cynicism, but this is just downright stupid.

      No wonder our nation is so fucked up, if retards like this get news coverage. Can't wait til next week, when they'll have a "NASA Shuttle launches causing tornadoes in the midwest" story.

    2. Re:Duh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We're so jaded as a society that we have to come up with exciting fables to explain the most mundane of phenomenon.

      In some places, strange phenomena come in the form of dead people. Forget Monsanto already?

      We're jaded as a society because the world is barbaric in ways that go beyond imagination. If you're not jaded in 2002, you're neurotic.

    3. Re:Duh by Neon+Spiral+Injector · · Score: 1

      I thought the Shuttle launches were connected to earthquakes in third world countries.

    4. Re:Duh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, no, no. He was making a joke. We all know the shuttle doesn't cause Tornados, so it was a funny joke. On the other hand, the shuttle really does case Earthquakes, so that's not funny.

  8. VISUAL STUDIO.NET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone else see that block ad?? It appeared in this story!!

    Image:
    http://m.doubleclick.net/viewad/719490/vs_c1_b336x 280.gif

    No way am I providing the link.

  9. Blame Disney... by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 2, Funny

    Disney is coming out with a new movie called "Spots", which is about aliens who create mystious blobs on city sidewalks the world over.

    As part of the marketing campaign, Disney employees were going to paint spots on sidewalks in many major cities; to promote the movie via word-of-mouth.

    But since this is a low budget movie, they only made it to Camden...

    --
    "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
  10. Well Bonnie, get some paraffin... by 1qaz2wsx · · Score: 1


    "I believe they're covering it up. I really do"

    Well, get some paraffin, melt it onto your sidewalk, and let it age a few days. If someone else can't determine which blobs are which, it is probably paraffin....

    --
    --- I would prefer a prehensile tail....
  11. Parrafin WAx by xxcrackheadxx · · Score: 2, Informative

    I was wondering, anyone given the thought of skate boarders that use wax on curbs, leaving chunks around that melt? They use them to grease up curbs so th eboards slide on the edges of them. (this might be where the wax came from, kids on skatboards? just wondering)

    Any supermarket or shopping center, sidewalk neighbor hood has theses types of things all the time. And they all different collors, but its just simple candle wax or even zogs sex wav(like the surfers used to use)

  12. We need Mulder and Scully! by Numeric · · Score: 1

    This sounds like a plot for the X-Files sequel!

    --
    -- ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space!
  13. No health risk? by g4dget · · Score: 2

    Well, it's good that it isn't something worse. But droplets of dirty paraffin floating through the air might very well still constitute a health risk.

  14. Disappointing... by jzitt · · Score: 2

    Having grown up in Camden, I thought the idea of covering the city in black blobs was a distinct improvement.

    Now if this were New York City, the goverment would have immediately cut off funding to the city's museums. But this being Camden, it would require finding government officials who weren't currently in jail.

    1. Re:Disappointing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      i didnt grow up in Camden, but I do live in the Philly area. Your post is genuine humor, and only those who live around here will get it.

      To those who dont get the joke being made:
      • distinct improvement -- Camden NJ is one of the US's poorest cities. Crime rates are out of control, and once the murder rate was so high they had to call in the state police to provide reinforcements. If you own a home in Camden, a few years ago (before a huge crackdown) you would be lucky if it's still standing after Mischief Night (Oct 30). (Back during HS, I was in marching band, and we had to travel to Woodrow Wilson HS for a football game. The joke was to "hold on to your wallets")
      • government officials who weren't currently in jail -- The former mayor (Milton Milan) was removed by the city council hours after being convicted on corruption charge, bribery, etc., all of which is related to mob activity.
      To be fair, Camden has made a number of improvements over the past few years. Clean ups are going well. They now have a minor league baseball team (Camden Riversharks), the Tweeter Center (a partial indoor/outdoor ampitheater), the State Aquarium, and several business districts either fully established (like the L3 complex) or in development.
    2. Re:Disappointing... by nucal · · Score: 2
      Of course the Tweeter Center is not without its problems, including roudy suburban folk.

      By the time the night is over, drunk and high people will overwhelm the emergency rooms at Virtua-West Jersey Hospital, Cooper Hospital-University Medical Center, and Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center. Police will arrest or issue citations to 32 people on charges ranging from aggravated assault to urinating in public.

      This may sound like a typical night in an impoverished city with a reputation for drugs and crime.

      But it's not.

      This night, rapper Eminem is playing the Tweeter Center - and it's his fans who are wreaking havoc.