A Mysterious Black Goo Has Plagued Venezuela For Decades

 

Killer blobs have been a fear for people for decades, with one becoming the terrifying threat of the 1958 film, The Blob. In such a situation, when a black spot mysteriously appeared on the streets of Venezuela, people started getting scared of it. Although this blob did not have the action of the deadly blob in the movie, it seemed to be just as deadly. Despite years of research, the mystery of this black goo has still not been solved.

Black goo is deadly

In 1986, workers paving 30-year-old asphalt on the roads between Caracas and its airport discovered a black goo about 50 meters away. This goo was described as an inch-thick greasy blob with the consistency of chewed bubble gum, which over time grew to cover 13 kilometers of highway, the substance preferring tunnels and uphill slopes. appears to be. No one knows where it came from or what it was, but it became known as 'La Mancha Negra' or 'The Black Stain'.

Looking at La Mancha Negra it seemed as if it was alive. Its shape changed depending on the season, expanding on hot, wet days and shrinking on cold and dry days.

The goo soon became a serious problem as it was extremely unsafe to drive on it, with drivers saying it was "smooth as ice". In just five years, La Mancha Negra reportedly took the lives of 1,800 drivers and passengers as their cars went out of control. A local taxi driver said, "They can give me double the fare, but if La Mancha Negra is bad I won't drive." "It's not worth dying for." Another described how, "Driving along La Mancha Negra is like driving in a Grand Prix." Thus, he urged that "you have to be careful, otherwise you will die."

Government failed to solve the problem

The deadly black blob was a problem that needed solving, and the Venezuelan government claimed to have spent "millions of dollars" to rid the roads. In 1994, when they first began trying to take down La Mancha Negra, they tried to use simple tactics. At first, he attempted to wash off the goo, believing it to be a paste of oil and dust. When that didn't work, he tried power washing it. This also failed, so they started scrubbing away the blobs with detergent, and when that didn't work, they removed the top layer of the roads and resurfaced them. Unfortunately, despite all efforts, La Mancha Negra kept reappearing.

For a while, the blob was reduced by pouring tons of pulverized limestone over it, causing it to dry out. However, this solution came with various problems, as residents complained that it made the roads too dusty and compromised the air quality. Ultimately, this solution proved only temporary, as La Mancha Negra reappeared in 1996.

Eventually, the Venezuelan government asked for the help of American, Canadian, and European experts to solve the mystery of the black goo. Special equipment brought from Germany was used to remove the substance, but even external influence could not remove the substance. In 2001, it once again caused trouble on the streets of Venezuela.

Theories about what La Mancha Negra is

To this day, there is no answer to what La Mancha Negra is or why it appeared, despite decades of research and millions of dollars spent trying to figure it out. However, several theories offering explanations have emerged.

Some people thought it was just oil that was coming out of poor quality asphalt, while others believed it was some kind of fungus. A popular theory was that it was actually raw sewage that flowed downstream from nearby slums, causing a chemical reaction that caused the roads to crumble and result in black dirt. However, the theory that is most accepted is that La Mancha Negra is the result of old cars leaking fluids on the roads. Over time, these fluids are believed to have collected and formed a sticky black paste.