Purple Patch of Mysterious Jelly-Like Spheres Found in Ariz. Desert

A few years ago, a strange orange goo was washing up on the shores of one Alaskan town -- it was eventually identified as spores. Now there's a similar baffling event in an equally confusing location -- a patch of purple spheres has been found in the middle of the desert in Vail, Ariz.

KGUN 9 reported Gerardine Vargas and her husband stumbling upon the strange substance "glittering in the sun" while they were taking pictures of the local area.

(Photo: Gerardine Vargas/KGUN 9)

The spheres were only present in this one patch and were described by Vargas as watery and translucent. KGUN 9 went out to the location after Vargas alerted them to it and described them as "like gooey marbles that ooze out a water substance when squished." The station called them "out of this world."

(Photo: Gerardine Vargas/KGUN 9)

That's not to say they're the spawn of aliens. Vargas told KGUN 9 she emailed photos to a zoologist friend, who couldn't identify them. The news station contacted Darlene Buhrow, director of marketing at Tucson Botanical Gardens, whose husband, a botanist, said if it is not an artificial product, it could be slime mold or jelly fungus.

(Photo: Gerardine Vargas/KGUN 9)

Some called into the station speculating the spheres were water-filled balls for plants, like HydroBubbles (see pictures of the product here) or Eco-Waterbeads.

Watch the report:

(H/T: Daily Mail)