On June 16, 1979, a mysterious object fell from the sky into a backyard in Mississauga, Ontario. The object was described by Traven Matchett, the homeowner who discovered it, as "perfectly cylindrical with flames about 18 inches high." It narrowly missed hitting Matchett's daughter in the head before landing on a picnic table, where it was quickly extinguished. After it had cooled down, curious neighbours who had also witnessed the flying fireball gathered in the Matchetts' yard to investigate what now resembled a dark green rock with a fibrous and pitted surface.
Word of the "Mississauga Blob", as it was dubbed by the Toronto Sun, spread like wildfire amongst the UFO conspiracists who would eventually swarm to Mississauga to take a crack at solving the mystery. The Canadian military, University of Toronto and the Ontario Science Centre all offered no explanation for the flaming object, even after subsequent reports of more blazing UFOs sighted in the area. It seemed more and more likely that the Blob and its brethren originated from an extraterrestrial and possibly paranormal source. Theories flew around like so many flaming green space rocks. Could it be a piece of a flying saucer that tragically exploded, making widows and orphans of little green space families?
Unfortunately, an inspector from Ontario's Ministry of the Environment had to come along and ruin everyone's fun by identifying the Mississauga Blob. It was a frisbee that had been set aflame and thrown into a random yard as part of a prank. But perhaps the only thing sadder than the rather mundane origins of the Blob is that it was prime internet meme fodder in pre-internet times.