New Yorkers were left perplexed last week, facing a situation that could’ve emerged straight from a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode or the Ghostbusters movie.
Videos of a spectacular fluorescent green goo oozing from Manhattan’s sewers surfaced last week on the internet, sparking confusion on social media and amongst the Big Apple’s residents.
The lime-ish-colored substance was caught on camera near the World Trade Center in the Lower Manhattan area on November 2, 2023.
Quickly spreading on social media, a person wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter): "There's literal green sludge bubbling up from the ground next to the World Trade Center right now.”
A New Yorker filmed mysterious green slime oozing from Manatthan's sewages
Image credits: Dan Pantelo
The concerned citizen went on to refer to the urban dystopia from the Batman universe as they penned: "Can anybody explain this or are we just living in full-blown Gotham rn (right now)."
As impressive and bizarre as the situation may have appeared to be, there was a perfectly logical reason why the bright liquid erupted in the city that never sleeps.
In the “Community Notes” below the original X publication displaying the weird event, an explanation clarified that the substance was in fact a tracing dye frequently used to track leaks within the water system.
X's community notes explained that the substance was a tracing dye frequently used to track leaks within the water system
Image credits: Dan Pantelo
"Plumbers frequently use harmless, fluorescent green dye to detect leaks in the city's plumbing and sewage systems," the note read.
As per IFL Science, scientists and engineers use tracer dye to track the movement of water – but such dye often creates confusion.
According to the National Park Service, dye tracing "helps scientists visualize how water moves from one place to another."
People were quick to compare the odd sightings with situations seen in beloved sci-fi movies
Despite X’s disclaimer clarifying why green slime had emerged in the streets of New York, Dan Pantelo, the author of the original X post filming the unusual occurrence, wasn’t very confident that the information he had been provided was enough explanation.
He wrote: “UPDATE: it’s still there, people are walking through it casually, sometimes a small crowd gathers around and stares at it.”
The X user further joked: “Contrary to the community note, I think the sludge is radioactive ooze. Source? Divine intuition.”
"There's literal green sludge bubbling up from the ground," an X user explained
Image credits: Saahil Desai
A similar instance occurred earlier this year, when the shores of Los Peñasquitos Lagoon in California transformed into a bright pink color, confusing its local surfers.
According to IFL Science, the cause for the vibrant coloring was attributed to an experiment by UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Washington to comprehend better how freshwater outflows mix with the ocean surf zone.
Even though the study caused such a dramatic and unnatural coloring, the dye was said to be non-toxic and pose no threat to marine life.
On social media, some people put forward hilarious theories of some sort of alien or ghostly presence
