About a week ago, a resident of Scotland Helen Doe posted a very unusual photo on Facebook in the "Roadside Scotland" group.
“Can anyone help me? I saw this when I was traveling at Loch Etchachan Lake. I tried to take a closer look, but I am still puzzled as to what it could be,”the woman wrote in the comments to the picture.
Helen's photo shows a red and white substance spreading in different directions, lying among stones. It is unclear what it is, whether some kind of mold, or the remains of something organic.
In the comments, users made their assumptions, simultaneously competing in wit, pointing out that these are the remains of a unicorn or aliens who want to enslave humanity as in the book "War of the Worlds".
Someone even suggested that a man was killed at this place and that the forensic experts should be called.
Scottish wildlife experts later told reporters that this unusual crimson structure is most likely either red sphagnum peat moss or blooming algae.
Sphagnum can hold water up to 26 times its own weight and when swollen can look similar to the object that Helen Doe photographed.
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Sphagnum moss has about 380 species that are widespread in Scotland. They are usually green or red in color, but red sphagnum can turn white when moisture begins to leave it.
Sphagnum sometimes forms large "blankets" in swamps, which are also known as "living carpets".
Individual plants have a main stem and small bunches, which are composed of several dense branches. These mosses store water and prevent the decay of dead plant material.