Mysterious chunks of yellow ice found on Elk Grove Village roof

Karen Jordan Image
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Mysterious yellow ice found on Elk Grove Village roof
How did chunks of yellow ice end up on the roof of a suburban home?

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. (WLS) -- How did chunks of yellow ice end up on the roof of a suburban home? Elk Grove Village police were working to solve that mystery Tuesday.

The homeowner suspected it came from an airplane, but that may not be the case.

Dawn Scarpulla was puttering around her house Monday morning when she was scared by a loud noise.

"All of a sudden I heard a terrible bang on my roof," said homeowner Dawn Scarpula. "Actually, it was more like a thud than a bang."

A thud that came from a chunk of ice that landed on her roof.

Concerned about damage to her house, one of Scarpulla's first calls was to a roofer who scooped off a couple of big pieces.

That's when she saw the ice was yellow.

Scarpulla measured it to be about five feet long, and six inches in diameter. She didn't know what to make of it.

"It's a mystery. I don't know where it came from or how it got there but the only option is a plane in my book," said Scarpulla.

The Elk Grove Village resident's house is in O'Hare's flight path and there is nothing else hanging over her house.

Scarpulla said she's heard of other instances where waste from planes has fallen on houses, but according to the FAA, those situations are extremely rare and all lavatory waste is blue.

Still not convinced, Scarpulla called police who came out to investigate.

The deputy chief climbed on her roof, took pictures and bagged some remaining chunks to be brought in for inspection.

While there's no conclusion as to what happened, one possibility is that ice formed on Scarpulla's chimney and fell on to the roof.

The impact was hard enough that she now has a crack in her ceiling.

Elk Grove Village officials said they are also looking into what happened and are figuring out the best way to get the ice analyzed. One possibility is sending it to the FAA.

Officials said a situation like this is rare, but they take the health and safety of Elk Grove Village residents very seriously.