The Oakville Blobs

Oakville, a peaceful little town in Washington State. Built on the back of the Lumber industry, time moves at a slower pace around here. In 1994 the population totalled around 700 people. It’s still much the same today. The history of this small town could be summed up on the back of a napkin. Apart from an incident in the autumn of 1994.

Oakville Blobs – 7th August 1994

On Sunday the 7th of August 1994 a deluge started. But this rain was unlike any other the residents had ever seen. A gelatinous blob rained down over a 20 square mile area.

Police Officer David Lacey, on patrol at 3 am described it as “mushy”. Rather than clearing his windscreen, it smeared across it. He immediately thought that something was wrong.

In the following days, people reportedly became sick. A flu-like illness enveloped the community. One resident reported that both her and her mother became ill because of it. She even stated that the Oakville blobs had killed her kitten.

Still. No explanation could be given for where this rain came from. Or, more crucially, what it contained.

Theories for the Oakville Blobs

A sample taken of the substance was at first reported to contain white blood cells. Human white blood cells. However, upon further investigation by the Washington States Hazardous Spill Response Unit, this was found to be untrue.

Speculation then turned to how the Oakville blobs came to rain down upon them.

The military had been performing bombing exercises around 50 miles (80 km) away in the ocean. It was theorised that vaporised jellyfish could have been the cause of the “jell-o” like substance that had rained down upon them.

Not many believed this theory. It did become popular enough for there to be talk of a Jellyfish festival. The local bar even created a new cocktail in its honour, called predictably, the Jellyfish.

Another theory was that the rain was waste from a passing aircraft, although this was quickly rebuffed by the FAA.

Even now, nearly 30 years later there has been no satisfactory explanation for what fell from the sky that night. The Washington Department of Health claims to have no record of any samples taken.

Could it have been vaporised jellyfish? Or something more sinister? An attempt at wide scale administering of a virus by the nearby Military as theorised by some maybe. It wouldn’t be the first time the United States has tested chemical weapons out on it’s own citizens.

It seems we may never know. It’s an enduring mystery. One that was covered in a fascinating episode of Unsolved Mysteries. You can watch the segment below.

Unsolved Mysteries – The Oakville Blobs