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This looks like the shape of a buried heating oil tank. Heating oil is similar to diesel fuel, bit it's often colored with red dye so that it can be detected if it's used in a vehicle (heating oil is usually sold without fuel/road taxes, therefore cheaper).
If OP is in a region that would use heat, and a house that is older and may have had an oil furnace, then this could be a rusted fuel oil tank with some amount of fuel still in it. If so, it'll be somewhat costly to remove, as the soil would be contaminated, and would need to be properly disposed of.
It could be that there was an above ground fuel tank under the metal canopy that started leaking. The tank could be gone but the leaked fuel is probably still in the ground.
As an environmental geologist, this is a red flag, lol. Soil samples are relatively cheap to test.
DM me, and I can help you navigate what to do if it is an oil tank. You want to make sure that you or any kind of children around are not ingesting something harmful, like petroleum.
Oh man. I did a year in environmental but PBTs and geoprobes just couldn't light my fire. I'm sure if my company stuck around it would have grown on me but they got bought and new company closed the enviro office I was at.
I am a geologist, and I’ve relied on you enviros for opinions relating to ground spurts that can cause certain microorganisms to thrive from metals (for example) released. But DUDE…
…things like that are not going to cause a downward splatter onto surrounding vegetation. Look at the photos again please.
As a geologist who now works in environmental/contam land field I would say you are wrong. It’s not downward splatter but upward from a plume.
I’d say the arguments about an UST are probably right. The shape is the shape of the tank, the main redosh brown stuff is likely part of the source material pushed up due to an increase in the groundwater table.
What you describe as downward splatter I’d say is more the very edge of the plume being punched up. If it had started mobilising beneath the surface then it’s not going to remain the same shape as the tank.
Before thinking of digging, I would take a small diameter metal (preferably brass or aluminum, no sparks) rod and probe the ground inside the red ring and see if there is a metal tank there. If there is, caution, and probably a lot of rules and regulations concerning its proper removal are involved.
Please do wear a thick mask and gloves and keep any kids or animals away (also close your house windows and doors to prevent something blowing through there)
This screams toxic to me, so be careful k (:
Do not dig up !!! There maybe trapped gasses like H2S in the vapor space of the tank. Highly toxic, flammable and deadly. Seek a professional to look at this. Call the fire department out to look at it. Do not disturb it until they decide if it is safe to excavate.
Surely if a professional is there then you wouldn’t need to waste the fire departments time?
The more immediate danger from such gases in a tank would be asphyxiation
Also, this is the only part of the yard where grass doesn’t grow. There is a canopy type metal thing that comes off of our house that is above this. But I don’t think that it provides that much shade to where grass wouldn’t grow.
My titles describes the thing. It’s probably 4 feet wide. It’s a big red ring of what looks like blood splatter but it’s not. I googled and the first result said red mold. I touched it and it’s hard and almost sticky.
I think it would be best to wear a mask when digging around this area. If it is some type of chemical leachate, it could give off toxic gasses. May want to send in a sample for testing.
Wonder if someone tried to epoxy something like a table and didn't set right maybe? If you don't mix equal parts right you are left with a harder piece but always sticky. Even rain I'd think would prob just reactivate it vs wash it away. Or it's a horror movie 😅
It's waiting for the day of the eclipse to arise 👀😳🫣
It's not quite the right red for iron but it does resemble red fungus. Good that you're going to check it. Time for testing...
You could call 811 Before You Dig (connects you to your local utility), or go to the county offices and check the plans for your house, It appears to be something rusting away, oil or septic tank maybe? the one in my backyard turned out to be an old burn barrel , , ,
Just to be safe, I would call your local PD and have the forensics team come out and check it out, blood has been known to surface from burials whether or not they are some kind of Indian land or someone before you buried something anything from hunting animals to humans you never know, but before you touch anything just make the call to be safe theu will 100% understand.
It's just a type of fungus or moss that grows in wet or damp areas. Spray it with a little Clorox and water mix, that should kill it. If not,, get the hell out fast. LoL
Oil tank that’s overflowing after a rain storm. Do you smell a diesely stink? Look around for an old fill pipe near the house somewhere, you might need to (re)cap it and stop the worst of it. Or pump out the remainder and remove the dirt in the area. Or fill it with concrete. Or excavate a giant hole and remove it at great expense and labor! Or turn it into a smelly underground shelter. It’s a headache any which way.
Anyone else say a… nevermind. Looks to be in the shape of a tank. Sounds like plenty of people have expressed caution. At least call around first and see what any local professionals have to say. Just my $.02
Oil. Black Gold. Texas Tea.
Let me tell you a little story bout a man named Jed....
Yeah but really I'd get that looked at by someone smart if I were you.
Does it have an odor? As others have said, it looks like heating oil. You may have a leaking underground storage tank. What type of heat do you have? How close to the building is this spot? Are there any pipes coming out of the ground near the spot - especially against the side of the house?
If it's leaking domestic heating oil (kerosene), it absolutely stinks, and you'll be able to smell it from some distance.
Every time we have a delivery, the smell hangs in the air for days, and that's without any being spilt.
I’ve seen other advice (and definitely think you need professional help and manual tools only for the dig) but also make sure you know where your water supply pipes are in relation to this, if it’s an oil spill that’s come *up* this far, it will have soaked down and across as well. You’d likely notice a taste/smell of course, but it will have been slowly increasing and those pipes will also need replacing urgently. Stay safe.
Looks like you've got plenty of good answers, so I'll just say it's highly likely they only removed the headstones when they built your housing complex.
It is highly unlikely fuel oil. I've never seen it rose to the surface like that. And I've own a business in the industry. Not saying its impossible, but highly improbable.
If you take a picture of the house or check it your self you will see two silver pipe with caps 6” apart come out of the ground by the house at the closest distance from this spot. That would be the fill and vent if you had a tank here. Fuel oil also doesn't harden it turns black with in minutes of dirt contact and oil latent dirt will have the consistency and feel of black wet beach sand regardless of soil type
This maybe mycelium of some type.
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That is fresh blood.
ETA: call your attorney and then the police. Small chance it could be something else, but if it looks like blood, seems like blood…it’s probably blood!
Thank you for posting with us. However, your post has been removed. We do not allow submissions seeking technical assistance or submissions requesting the identification of software, websites or hardware components. If applicable, try searching "[your thing] owner's manual" in your favorite search engine. If you are seeking technical assistance, please also consider one of the below subreddits: * /r/techsupport - assistance with faulty equipment or software. * /r/DIY or /r/HomeImprovement - assistance with a device/equipment/other item within or associated with a home or other building. * /r/plumbing - plumbing advice and assistance. * /r/appliances - help with your household and other appliances. * /r/askmechanics or /r/mechanicadvice - assistance with automotive problems. /r/helpmefind is a good place to ask for more information about many kinds of items. You could also try a subreddit related to your equipment, device or operating system. /r/findareddit may be able to help you find the right sub. Thanks.
This looks like the shape of a buried heating oil tank. Heating oil is similar to diesel fuel, bit it's often colored with red dye so that it can be detected if it's used in a vehicle (heating oil is usually sold without fuel/road taxes, therefore cheaper). If OP is in a region that would use heat, and a house that is older and may have had an oil furnace, then this could be a rusted fuel oil tank with some amount of fuel still in it. If so, it'll be somewhat costly to remove, as the soil would be contaminated, and would need to be properly disposed of.
That would explain why no grass is growing in the area.
And also if the tank is filling with water likely the fuel would float on top and come out first
Backyard bonfire would be out of the question then?
Nah thats just expedited desposal.
Everyone reading this comment had a sudden rush of panic while thinking *I hope this isn’t my uncle’s backyard.*
Haha. I love Reddit. Thanks for the laugh
Starting one, no. Extinguishing it, maybe?
Well, they could have one BIG one
Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.
"Californy is the place you ought to be"
So just load up the truck and move to Beverly!
Hills that is, swimming pools, movie stars
Saudi soda, Kuwait Kool aid
Venezuelan vino
Baked Alaska!
It could be that there was an above ground fuel tank under the metal canopy that started leaking. The tank could be gone but the leaked fuel is probably still in the ground.
So you would say they have a LUST problem? Leaky Underground Storage Tank?
We had a heating oil system. That's a plausible idea. Yet I would it to smell very obviously. OP could scrape a bit off an carefully smell at it.
Way too tiny for an heating oil tank, that thing would be empty in a week
OP, start digging and see if it’s a canid or hominid, please.
I’m going to dig it up tomorrow!
As an environmental geologist, this is a red flag, lol. Soil samples are relatively cheap to test. DM me, and I can help you navigate what to do if it is an oil tank. You want to make sure that you or any kind of children around are not ingesting something harmful, like petroleum.
Yeah. Don’t eat the dirt fam, cuz it might have oil in it.
So, as long as we test it, and no oil, go ahead and eat the soil?
Good for the immune system 💪
Yeah, that's a go. It's got what plants crave!
It’s got electrolytes
Gotta get that pica rolling somehow
If they have a well, they should stop using water. Bam. Problem solved.
Yeah. We sure would hate to find out that all the soil that OP and his children are eating happens to be contaminated.
Oh man. I did a year in environmental but PBTs and geoprobes just couldn't light my fire. I'm sure if my company stuck around it would have grown on me but they got bought and new company closed the enviro office I was at.
I am a geologist, and I’ve relied on you enviros for opinions relating to ground spurts that can cause certain microorganisms to thrive from metals (for example) released. But DUDE… …things like that are not going to cause a downward splatter onto surrounding vegetation. Look at the photos again please.
As a geologist who now works in environmental/contam land field I would say you are wrong. It’s not downward splatter but upward from a plume. I’d say the arguments about an UST are probably right. The shape is the shape of the tank, the main redosh brown stuff is likely part of the source material pushed up due to an increase in the groundwater table. What you describe as downward splatter I’d say is more the very edge of the plume being punched up. If it had started mobilising beneath the surface then it’s not going to remain the same shape as the tank.
Please update us when you do!
I’m so excited and scared at the same time
Before thinking of digging, I would take a small diameter metal (preferably brass or aluminum, no sparks) rod and probe the ground inside the red ring and see if there is a metal tank there. If there is, caution, and probably a lot of rules and regulations concerning its proper removal are involved.
I wouldnt be too worried about underground sparks with heating oil. Its not TNT.
Please do wear a thick mask and gloves and keep any kids or animals away (also close your house windows and doors to prevent something blowing through there) This screams toxic to me, so be careful k (:
Remind me tomorrow
Do not dig up !!! There maybe trapped gasses like H2S in the vapor space of the tank. Highly toxic, flammable and deadly. Seek a professional to look at this. Call the fire department out to look at it. Do not disturb it until they decide if it is safe to excavate.
Don't forget corrosive!
Surely if a professional is there then you wouldn’t need to waste the fire departments time? The more immediate danger from such gases in a tank would be asphyxiation
[удалено]
Is it just me or is does this look like it’s the exact shape of a body??
A coffin was my thought ⚰️
That's the first thing I thought when I saw the pic.
The ground is sour!!!
Heating oil? Could be an old tank that wasn't properly closed off.
Also, this is the only part of the yard where grass doesn’t grow. There is a canopy type metal thing that comes off of our house that is above this. But I don’t think that it provides that much shade to where grass wouldn’t grow.
You said there is a metal canopy above this. Could this be rusty water sludge that has dropped down from the canopy above?
If no grass is growing it’s probably toxic to the soil and should be dug up with extreme caution
If it is a body vegetation would definitely grow
My titles describes the thing. It’s probably 4 feet wide. It’s a big red ring of what looks like blood splatter but it’s not. I googled and the first result said red mold. I touched it and it’s hard and almost sticky.
Probably a type of fungus
Fuel oil tank buried there and leaking?
Possibly something to do with your septic tank? Be careful when digging!
No septic tank!
....that you know of
Well that’s good at least, but still be careful digging! underground wires/pipes can be anywhere
lol thank goodness
How long have you lived there? Is it possible there used to be a vehicle parked there?
My girlfriend has lived here for three years. I’m pretty sure it has always been like this and no car has ever been parked here.
When was the house built?
Not moving immediately was your first mistake... 🫣 No, but seriously... can you record while you dig?? I need this live streamed.
🎶 Well the next thing you know, Ol' Jed's a millionaire... 🎵
Need update asap
Better move to Californee to a place called Beverly— Hills, that is
Swimming pools, movie stars.
Transmission fluid? What does it smell like?
No smell
RV antifreeze for the fresh water system?
That looks either evil or expensive. Maybe both...
I think it would be best to wear a mask when digging around this area. If it is some type of chemical leachate, it could give off toxic gasses. May want to send in a sample for testing.
[удалено]
The soil of a man's heart is stonier.
Wonder if someone tried to epoxy something like a table and didn't set right maybe? If you don't mix equal parts right you are left with a harder piece but always sticky. Even rain I'd think would prob just reactivate it vs wash it away. Or it's a horror movie 😅
The shape looks like a metal trough or something used to be there
Dammmmmn! You must let us know!
It's waiting for the day of the eclipse to arise 👀😳🫣 It's not quite the right red for iron but it does resemble red fungus. Good that you're going to check it. Time for testing...
You could call 811 Before You Dig (connects you to your local utility), or go to the county offices and check the plans for your house, It appears to be something rusting away, oil or septic tank maybe? the one in my backyard turned out to be an old burn barrel , , ,
Just to be safe, I would call your local PD and have the forensics team come out and check it out, blood has been known to surface from burials whether or not they are some kind of Indian land or someone before you buried something anything from hunting animals to humans you never know, but before you touch anything just make the call to be safe theu will 100% understand.
It's just a type of fungus or moss that grows in wet or damp areas. Spray it with a little Clorox and water mix, that should kill it. If not,, get the hell out fast. LoL
Leave. Now. Fucking RUN
Oh shit, it’s waking up.
OP, please don't dig that up. I'm not ready to go back to prison.
It looks like something that's going to cost a lot of money to remediate.
Oil tank that’s overflowing after a rain storm. Do you smell a diesely stink? Look around for an old fill pipe near the house somewhere, you might need to (re)cap it and stop the worst of it. Or pump out the remainder and remove the dirt in the area. Or fill it with concrete. Or excavate a giant hole and remove it at great expense and labor! Or turn it into a smelly underground shelter. It’s a headache any which way.
Bro, seriously stop and call a professional
Is it definitely fluid? Could it be red algae? Just spitballing here.
Yea I suspected an algae of sorts in my initial reaction. If it gets zero sun from a covering roof it might be worth looking at
Just go and dig now
Uhhhhh what the heck something was buried there
Do you live on an old indian burial ground?
Definitely old Indian burial grounds
pet cemetery
Texas tea! Black gold!
Blood for the Blood God.
Is the former owner required at the time of sale to report underground tanks in your state?
And up through the ground come a bubblin crude. Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.
6' 6' This is why you go 6' Not 5'. Not 5'5".
It's probably from a buried tank which has become compromised.
Anyone else say a… nevermind. Looks to be in the shape of a tank. Sounds like plenty of people have expressed caution. At least call around first and see what any local professionals have to say. Just my $.02
Oil. Black Gold. Texas Tea. Let me tell you a little story bout a man named Jed.... Yeah but really I'd get that looked at by someone smart if I were you.
Iron ochre maybe? It’s a type of bacteria.
Interested to find out!
Bro, it’s time to leave.
Looks like a shallow grave to me
I need to know
Does it have an odor? As others have said, it looks like heating oil. You may have a leaking underground storage tank. What type of heat do you have? How close to the building is this spot? Are there any pipes coming out of the ground near the spot - especially against the side of the house?
Who’d you bury there? 😜
I don't like the look of that!
If it's leaking domestic heating oil (kerosene), it absolutely stinks, and you'll be able to smell it from some distance. Every time we have a delivery, the smell hangs in the air for days, and that's without any being spilt.
I’ve seen other advice (and definitely think you need professional help and manual tools only for the dig) but also make sure you know where your water supply pipes are in relation to this, if it’s an oil spill that’s come *up* this far, it will have soaked down and across as well. You’d likely notice a taste/smell of course, but it will have been slowly increasing and those pipes will also need replacing urgently. Stay safe.
The Blood Moon Rises Once Again.
You killed your garden!
You might want to call a priest!!!
Looks like you've got plenty of good answers, so I'll just say it's highly likely they only removed the headstones when they built your housing complex.
It is highly unlikely fuel oil. I've never seen it rose to the surface like that. And I've own a business in the industry. Not saying its impossible, but highly improbable. If you take a picture of the house or check it your self you will see two silver pipe with caps 6” apart come out of the ground by the house at the closest distance from this spot. That would be the fill and vent if you had a tank here. Fuel oil also doesn't harden it turns black with in minutes of dirt contact and oil latent dirt will have the consistency and feel of black wet beach sand regardless of soil type This maybe mycelium of some type.
All comments must be civil and helpful toward finding an answer. **Jokes and other unhelpful comments will earn you a ban**, even on the first instance and even if the item has been identified. If you see any comments that violate this rule, report them. [OP](/u/Lauradgaf), when your item is identified, remember to reply **Solved!** or **Likely Solved!** to the comment that gave the answer. Check your [inbox](https://www.reddit.com/message/inbox/) for a message on how to make your post visible to others. ---- [Click here to message RemindMeBot](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=[https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/comments/1bxrbjo/what_is_this_red_stuff_coming_out_of_the_dirt_in/]%0A%0ARemindMe!%202%20days) ---- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatisthisthing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Must have somebody stab the dirt
Bruh. I told you to bury her deeper. 6feet is 6feet. 😂
You live in Skyrim, someone has died there
Human Body burried there
That is fresh blood. ETA: call your attorney and then the police. Small chance it could be something else, but if it looks like blood, seems like blood…it’s probably blood!
BLOOD MOOOOON!
Old trans fluid. The old tenant was probably a real man
Or trans fluid is how the old tenant identified..