# Please Update These THATS INCREDIBLE Stories **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 21, 2001, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-update-these-thats-incredible-stories/55276 "2001-02-21T00:22:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-update-these-thats-incredible-stories/55276/1 "2001-02-21T00:22:35Z")
Remember _That’s Incredible!_, the cheesy TV show from the early 80’s? It had these little vignettes about weird people and events from around the world. I have vague recollections of two stories in particular. With 20 years having passed, surely these people have found closure. Story #1) Some family had to move into their garage because this gelatinous black goo kept seeping into their house and they couldn’t get rid of it. Apparently everybody who tried to study it or figure out where it came from was baffled. Did they ever find out what it was, and what became of the family? Story #2) An author writes a book with vague references to the moon and other “mystical” things. The characters, plot, settings, and other references in the book were all clues to where the author had hidden a fabulous treasure. Did anybody ever find it? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-update-these-thats-incredible-stories/55276/2 "2001-02-21T00:30:13Z")
I don’t know about #1, but #2 was a book called “Masquerade,” by Kit WIlliams. I think somebody found the treasure by researching the author, not by figuring out the riddles. You can buy the book from [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) that contains all the original artwork and puzzles, as well as the answers. ---
**Author:** ![City\_Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@City\_Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/City_Gent)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-update-these-thats-incredible-stories/55276/3 "2001-02-21T04:06:21Z")
I’d like to know who had to clean out that little plexiglass box the yogi crammed himself into. That thing was all fogged up and nasty when he got out. Also, I’d like to know whether Cathy Lee Crosby is a natural blonde, if Fran Tarkenton wears a toupee, and what accounts for the continued celebrity of Mr. John Davidson. ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-update-these-thats-incredible-stories/55276/4 "2001-02-21T05:55:41Z")
The black goo in that first story was almost certainly [Slime Mold Fungus](http://www.comptons.com/encyclopedia/ARTICLES/0150/01690368_A.html#P1). A funky smelling green, black or yellow ocre colored goo that actually [_crawls_](http://www.wisc.edu/botany/fungi/june99.html) around (albiet really slowly). **yik!!**. If he weather is cool and moist enough the stuff will breed in the walls of a house and just eat from the inside out (stuff _loves_ wheat gluten based wallpaper paste and will ruin whole walls). ---
**Author:** ![Powers106](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@Powers106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers106)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-update-these-thats-incredible-stories/55276/5 "2001-02-21T07:50:27Z")
I used to love that show! I remember that I even bought a book about THAT’S INCREDIBLE that recapped some of the stories but, alas, I no longer have it. What I’d like to know is what happened to the guy that jumped over the Ferrari? He jumped twice. First time it was over one car, and the second time, IIRC, over two cars - only he didn’t make it. I think he broke his foot or something. So, did he ever do it again? Was this stunt really that incredible? I mean, it wasn’t like he was pole vaulting over a speeding monster truck or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Eicnj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@Eicnj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eicnj)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-update-these-thats-incredible-stories/55276/6 "2013-02-21T05:51:11Z")
> [@Inky\_1](#): > > The black goo in that first story was almost certainly [Slime Mold Fungus](http://www.comptons.com/encyclopedia/ARTICLES/0150/01690368_A.html#P1). A funky smelling green, black or yellow ocre colored goo that actually [_crawls_](http://www.wisc.edu/botany/fungi/june99.html) around (albiet really slowly). **yik!!**. > > If he weather is cool and moist enough the stuff will breed in the walls of a house and just eat from the inside out (stuff _loves_ wheat gluten based wallpaper paste and will ruin whole walls). I was at the site for njdep. The material Was a petroleum product. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-update-these-thats-incredible-stories/55276/7 "2013-02-21T06:10:34Z")
Even more bizarre than #1 was #3. A house was emitting strange lights, sounds and electrical discharges. Unscrewed light bulbs would light up (photo shown of one being held in the hand.) Then there was a fire which destroyed the house. A strange, dark smoke was being emitted (caught on tape.) ---
**Author:** ![listedmia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@listedmia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/listedmia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-update-these-thats-incredible-stories/55276/8 "2013-02-21T08:12:49Z")
There was also a book called “The Secret” that was a similar cryptic treasure hunt type thing. There were illustrations and poems, each leading to a little box that would entitle the finder to some treasure. Only one of them was recovered, in 1984 in Grant Park in Chicago. [Here](http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/clubs-hunts-louisiana/282093-unsolved-1982-new-orleans-treasure-hunt.html) is a guy trying to find one of the boxes today. The PDF linked to on that forum has some reproductions of the illustrations as well as some info on the Grant Park find. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-update-these-thats-incredible-stories/55276/9 "2013-02-21T14:26:11Z")
> [@Eicnj](#): > > I was at the site for njdep. The material > Was a petroleum product. If this is on the up and up, I think we have a new winner for longest time between a question in GQ and a factual answer. 12 years and one day. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-update-these-thats-incredible-stories/55276/10 "2013-02-21T16:24:42Z")
Interesting that EICNJ has brought another TI thread to life today… > **[Black Ooze from 'That's Incredible'](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=593994)** > > Having failed many times to clarify a childhood memory with Google, I am appealing to the sachems of the Dope. On the TV series “That’s Incredible” (the one with John Davidson, Kathie Lee Crosby, and Fran Tarkenton) there was a feature about a house... I never saw the other thread until now, so - Cathy is a real blonde (per Fran), Fran does not wear a toupee, and there still is no explanation for JD’s popularity. Carry on.