Mystery "Maple Syrup like smell" floats across New York Tri-State Area

just got to work and opened this link because as I drove into the parking lot with the window open I could smell what smells like maple syrup. Subsequently, I feel for a fresh, hot, crispy waffle
Just a coincidence, though.
I'm in Durban, South Africa.

Quite strange, the smell is lingering but _very_ faint.

reply to post by thesmokingman


For what it's worth - I live north of Madison, WI - worked 2nd shift - got home after midnight on Wed. morning (worked Tues 3-11:30) got out of my car and noticed a strange odor in the air - not people's fireplaces (it was a bit chilly) but sickening sweet - strange - I remember it very clearly - looked around the block to see if someone was outside having a fire or something.....

thesmokingman
reply to post by worldwatcher

 

In the article in the OP, and the WIKI link I provided, it did mention those possibilities, again, my question is residents would smell this on a regular basis, and it would not be mysterious. I used to live in the area of the Jolly Rancher factory, and we were used to the delicious smells wafting down the foothills over our town. We were used to the smells.

The residents would only smell it on a regular basis if the smell was coming from standard factory processes. There could have been a spill of some flavor concentrates, a new process or procedure being started, or a new product/chemical//mixture being produced.

For example, if you lived near a bakery, and they made some pumpkin treats for the first time, it's going to be the first time you smelled that smell, even though the bakery has been there for years.

On a side note, I wonder what it says about people as a whole, that whenever there is some sort of mysterious situation people instantly assume it's something nefarious or dangerous. Maybe an evolutionary advantage, if you are scared of everything, less chance of actually coming across something dangerous.

reply to post by whouwanttob


Or, they're spraying avian flu around the planet hoping for a pandemic they all seem to be hoping for.

New York, South Africa, Madison is an international type city with the university involved in a lot of BIG international projects.

How many people get on airplanes and go far away from these places?

I got my tinfoil hat on.

Happy1
reply to post by thesmokingman

 

For what it's worth - I live north of Madison, WI - worked 2nd shift - got home after midnight on Wed. morning (worked Tues 3-11:30) got out of my car and noticed a strange odor in the air - not people's fireplaces (it was a bit chilly) but sickening sweet - strange - I remember it very clearly - looked around the block to see if someone was outside having a fire or something.....

Well that is weird. I live outside of Milwaukee and noticed a strange burning like smell around 1 in the afternoon. It was kinda like a burning smell.

reply to post by SubTruth


Yeah, it was a couple of days ago, but it was so strange that I remember it. I don't know -

reply to post by whouwanttob
Oh, we americans love the canadians - I'd be glad to have them smother me in maple syrup - death by pancake would be a good way to go.

We did smell it today and I was no where near the tri-state area I was on a island in a cabin
surrounded by water in PA and at the time there were no fires in the area. We were leaving from vaca and it was visible smelling in the air for a hour after we left while traveling home had to roll the windows up and put the air on because it was making me sick.
It brought back memories to when I was a kid back in Jersey every so often we smelled that so called maple smell, but it was very chemical smelling with a hint of maple ...sickly smelling !!!!!

Strangely enough I left a meeting on Tuesday morning and as I stepped outside, I smelled a strong Cinnamon type smell. I found that odd considering the location I was in. After awhile it either dissipated or I got used to it.

Weird smells coming from New Jersey, I've never heard of such things!!!!!

I'm on Long Island, very close to Queens itself, and haven't smelled anything... nor have my family or friends from around here. How interesting this whole thing is, though!

Edit: Actually, I asked my father (He works in Queens) if he smelled anything weird in the last few days. He said "Just the other day. It smelled like anti-freeze, but everyone else said it smelled like maple syrup". Wow. So weird.