Philadelphia Weirdness

Weird vapors, misty mists and blobby blobs!

We at Phillyist have often been intrigued by quirky reports of strange objects and things falling from the sky over the years, whether it's rains of fish, falls of frogs, a bombardment of tennis-ball sized hail, giant pieces of ice and even metal. Such events (bizarre items, forms and liquids vomited from the zenith) seem relatively common the world over.

On September 26th, 1950 two policemen were driving through Philadelphia when they saw something drop into a field. Unsure as to whether it was a piece of debris or indeed a small aircraft, they traveled to the spot with haste.

What they discovered was very peculiar indeed: a six-foot long 'thing' that resembled jelly and felt like jelly to the touch of one of the patrolmen. It also gave off an eerie, purple glow. Despite remaining at the scene, within half an hour the policemen could do nothing to stop the blob evaporating. Apparently no Martian attack was forthcoming!

Nine years earlier, showers of stones bombarded residents in an unnamed Philly location. But the strangest thing to descend from the sky took place on July 31st, 1904 when the Mohican steamship, traveling through Philly waters at night, became enshrouded suddenly in a magnetic cloud which played havoc with the compass, meaning the crew were stranded in the darkness without the ability to move. Then, the ship began to glow like phosphorous and as the weird vapor became heavier, the boat gave off the appearance that it was on fire.

After half an hour the cloud suddenly lifted and moved away as if it harbored some intelligence.

The case remains unsolved, as often happens when odd things loom out of the sky, tamper with our minds and then dissipate into folklore.

Image Credit: Flickr user Nesster

Source: Janet & Colin Bord - Modern Mysteries Of The World (1989 Grafton Books)