10 Sci-Fi Movies You Didn't Know Were Based On Real Life Events

Suggesting The Blob is based on a real event probably sounds downright preposterous. I mean, when's the last time you heard of a jelly-like alien invading a city?

However, the inspiration for this monster is based on a real phenomena called star jelly. Since the 14th century, there have been reports of a gooey substance appearing around grassy regions across the globe with little explanation. Now, because of the advances of modern science, you'd assume that experts could tell you what this material is, right?

Sadly, scientists of the modern era can't agree on what star jelly is. Depending on who you ask, it could be dissolving fungi, frog spawn, animal vomit, algae, or slime molds.

Although star jelly has been documented many times, the creature in The Blob is based on one specific encounter. In 1950, four police officers in Philadelphia reported 'a domed disk of quivering jelly, 6ft in diameter, 1ft thick at the centre, and an inch or two near the edge'. When the cops tried to move the object, it liquified into an 'odourless, sticky scum'. To this day, no one ever found what this gelatinous ooze was.