Photo: Getty Images
If you've ever driven behind another car after it has rained, you've likely experienced little droplets of water splashing onto your windshield. While this typically wouldn't cause much distraction, some drivers in North Carolina reported a mysterious liquid splashing onto their cars that could be a bit more dangerous.
Over the weekend, several drivers reported an acid-like substance dropping onto their vehicles as they drove along Highway 147 in Durham, per WRAL.
"I noticed some water kind of spewing it — it was really high up over the tree line [and] done on the cars," said Heather Toler. "It was raining down on top of the cars."
"You could see this spew of liquid going across the highway, and there was no way to avoid it," said Lisa Hicks. "It definitely had a distinct odor. It was almost sticky but not super sticky and it was brownish-goldish."
According to the news outlet, the two women said their cars were damaged by the unknown substance, which had a strange smell, and that the marks left behind won't wash off.
"It had sort of a bleach smell," said Toler. "It's not a smell I've ever smelled before, so I can't describe it. It kind of looked brown. It was greasy."
Toler said the liquid was likely acidic "based on how it's eating away the paint" on their cars, adding other people have reached out about damage to their vehicles as well. They just want answers. Toler has called Durham Police as well as both the Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, all of which said they don't know what the liquid could be, the news outlet reports.
"I don't think this is a normal thing," said Toler. "It's odd that a bunch of cars can get damaged by something that seems hazardous and that nothing would be done about it."
Durham Police said the Crime Analysis Unit has not received any reports of damaged cars.