Your take on the mysterious purple orbs
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It started in the middle of the desert. Thousands of small, purple beads randomly caught Gerardine Vargas' eye on Sunday. Video by kgun9.com
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Taken by Gerardine Vargas
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Taken by Gerardine Vargas
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Taken by Gerardine Vargas
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We investigated! The top right image shows the store-bought water beads. The bottom right image shows the orbs in the desert.
Reporter: Liz Kotalik
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - This all started in the middle of the desert in Vail.
Thousands of small, purple beads randomly caught Gerardine Vargas' eye on Sunday. She was amazed and kind of confused.
She sent KGUN-9 pictures of the spheres, so we checked them out for ourselves. We made calls, she made calls, but neither of us could come up with a solid answer about what these strange orbs could be.
But, maybe YOU have figured it out.
Viewers took to our Facebook page last night sharing their guesses, and here are some of the most common:
Bike Mike says they're out of this world, writing: "Alien eggs, leave them alone."
Daniel Juarez jokes that they're an unwanted gift, saying: "So, that's where my mom tossed the bath beads I got her for Christmas."
But, Monica McKenna's explanation was the most popular. She wrote, "They sell small pellets that absorb water for plants or decoration. I bet the people that dumped them are getting a kick out of this."
Maybe they are. And maybe, she's right! I couldn't help myself, so I went to the store and bought some of these water beads. They look pretty similar when you compare them to the ones found in the desert.
But, what about Nancy Dezess' Facebook comment? She posted a story from an Australian newspaper that talked about a similar purple orb sighting in Australia and England almost exactly a year ago. Those orbs look similar to our desert ones too, and there's still no word on what those beads could have been.
So, is this local discovery still mysterious? I guess it's up to you! Are they dumped decorations, or maybe, something more extraterrestrial.
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