Aussies remain mystified by the mystery of a strange red ‘blob’ growing under a city fire hydrant – and even experts have no idea what it is
- A red mass has caused a commotion
- It has grown over a fire hydrant
- Some speculate that it comes from a sci-fi movie
A mysterious red mass has spread around a fire hydrant, leaving people wondering if the slimy lump is something out of a “War of the Worlds” movie.
The bizarre growth first noticed last October in a car park in Brisbane’s CBD has climbed up the mouth of the leaking fire hydrant.
The red blob has spawned from the ground and first turned a rusty color before taking on a green and black appearance as it took over the connected water supply.
The images were posted to social media this week with the caption, “This thing has been growing under a leaky fire hydrant (QLD) for the past few months.”
They belonged to a friend of the original poster who said the fire hydrant started leaking a year ago where an eight-inch rock had been.
The red blob has grown out of the soil (pictured) and has turned a rusty color as it has grown
The strange growth first noticed last October in a car park in Brisbane’s CBD has climbed up the mouth of the leaking fire hydrant
It darkened in color before taking on a green and black appearance as it took over the connected water supply
The images (pictured, the unusual growth) were posted to social media this week with the caption: ‘This thing has been growing under a leaky fire hydrant for the past few months (QLD)’
“We tried to turn it off ourselves, but we couldn’t. We contacted the landlords and the municipality, but no one came to evict it,” the friend said of the leak.
“Eventually the fungus grew on the rock until it reached into the fire hydrant…then someone took the rock away and it was all gone.
‘But the leak persisted and after a week or two the new fungus appeared on the ground. Then I started taking pictures of it, knowing it would grow again.”
The red overgrowth boomed, rose up and changed to black and green colors as it reached the mouth of the hydrant again.
Updated photos showed some plants with aphids and a ladybug sitting on the formation.
“It looks like those red veins from the Tom Cruise War of the Worlds movie,” one commenter said.
“I like the dedication to documenting its evolution,” said another.
Reminds me of the Muppets. The chef who has to fight the spaghetti,” wrote a third.
“It’s the fungus from the original Super Mario Bros movie,” joked a fourth.
But it also sparked some serious debate about what it was.
“Doesn’t look like a fungus, the fibers are too large to be mycelium, but too fine to be a coral-shaped fruiting body.” Maybe a root mass or something like that,’ someone suggested.
“That doesn’t look like a fungus, it looks more like some sort of fungus or bacteria,” another wrote.
Updated photos showed some plants with aphids and a ladybug sitting on the formation
“Love the dedication to documenting its evolution,” said one social media commenter of the library of images (pictured is an updated photo of the fire hydrant surmounted by the masses)
“A friend of mine had something like this growing under his house where a pipe was leaking. He described it as a giant mushroom!’ said another.
Experts from the Queensland Museum, the Queensland Herbarium and the CSIRO contacted by Yahoo News Australia couldn’t say what it was because they needed a sample to find out more.
Some on social media came up with the idea of taking a sample of it to a science lab for testing, but others were happy to do their own research.
“I am disgusted, but fascinated at the same time. I feel the need to poke it with a very long stick,” they wrote.