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Blue Man

tomxxy2000

Junior Acolyte
Joined
Jul 27, 2010
Messages
53
Right, if I don't put this up now I'm going to forget most of the finer detail about it so here goes nothing.

Sunday 20th May. I caught the train down to Bristol.

For those of you who know Bristol, I cut through the friary, past the Knights Templar pub and on to Temple Way. As I proceeded towards the city centre I caught site of a man, he was of slight stature and wearing a hooded rain coat. He was slightly hunched forward and looking dead ahead. I don't know why but I felt absolutely and completely compelled to look at him, the feeling to do so was quite magnetic. At first I thought he was Somalian or of that decent, there would be nothing unusual about this at all as Bristol has a big Somalian community. The thing was though, well errr he was blue!

I know this sounds daft but it looked like he had been coloured in with tattoo ink. His features were actually like that of a Caucasian man who had been coloured in rather than a black or African man.

His stare was fixed and he did not blink nor did he look left or right. What else was odd was he was wearing industrial rubber gloves, like safety gloves, I honestly could not tell you the attire of his lower body as I can not remember. I crossed the road but carried on walking in the same direction as him. Occasionally I looked over towards him and I could see him walking in the direction of Temple Gate where the main entrance to Temple Meads Station is. Eventually I lost sight of him.

I know you are all going to tell me a wealth of explanations or that this isn't fortean or that there is anything remotely odd about it but it freaked me out. I could not get him out of my head for a good 3 days after that.

He looked royal blue in skin tone, a white man coloured in.

He could have had his whole face and head tattooed, right up to his lips and eyes lids but that sounds impossible.

He could have a really rare skin condition.

He could have had a really cruel joke played on him at a party whereby he fell asleep and he was coloured in with permanent marker pens. super glue was then poured into a pair of gloves and put on his hands (wouldn't you look pissed off about that?!)

Otherwise I don't have a clue.

Have you ever seen this man?
 
A uniformly blue skin tone can result from methemoglobinemia - a condition in which an abnormal proportional distribution of hemoglobin subtypes causes reduced oxygen transfer to the tissues.
 
Could he have been a street artist, like the Green Man living statue often seen around Falmouth, on his way to his patch?
 
Maybe he was a member of the Blue Man Group, on his way to work?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Man_Group


4d6dc0d7e4e30.image.jpg
 
There is a well-known tattooed guy who is completely blue all over.
He's featured in Bizarre magazine a few times.
Sorry, I couldn't find a link or a piccy.

Alternatively, he may be a street performer.
 
So, we're talking deep royal blue, yes? Not a sort of dusky, greyish blue? if it was the latter then it'd be just possible he was badly cyanosed due to a heart or lung condition or some such. Though if he was walking normally and not wheezing or anything that's not too likely. Those rubber gloves just vaguely add the sense of oddness don't they, though they are probably unconnected with him being blue. Poor chap.

I wish you'd taken a pic! Embarrassing as it might have been. ;)
 
Mythopoeika said:
There is a well-known tattooed guy who is completely blue all over.
He's featured in Bizarre magazine a few times.
Sorry, I couldn't find a link or a piccy.

Alternatively, he may be a street performer.

You might be thinking of side show performer "Enigma".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Enigma01.jpg
Blue puzzle piece tattoo all over his body. He has a great side show act too, sword swallowing, and other stunts.
 
lkb3rd said:
Mythopoeika said:
There is a well-known tattooed guy who is completely blue all over.
He's featured in Bizarre magazine a few times.
Sorry, I couldn't find a link or a piccy.

Alternatively, he may be a street performer.

You might be thinking of side show performer "Enigma".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Enigma01.jpg
Blue puzzle piece tattoo all over his body. He has a great side show act too, sword swallowing, and other stunts.

He's one possibility, but I was thinking of a different guy.
 
I kind of wish I'd spoken to him rather than take a photo. Thing is what could I have said? -

"are you alright?"

to which he might have replied -

"yes, go away."

It definitely wasn't the dusky blue colour as in Paul Karason's case (colloidal silver man). He was an indigo dark blue. The Enigma chap was closest but still not close at all. He looked like he had taken a swim in a pool of dye that they use to colour really dark denim, his lips were razor thin too.

It did occur to me as well that he could have been a "living statue" bit like in Hot Fuzz type of thing.

I will (if I ever see him again) ask him something next time (hopeully without offending him!) :?
 
Just a wild thought...the chemical used in portable toilets is a strong blue like this, and it can stain the skin for a long time.
Maybe this guy's mates played a trick on him? I've heard that some lads will push over a portaloo with someone inside, whereupon the blue fluid will come out all over the person inside.

Maybe that happened to him, and he was going home to scrub it off?

Edit: Found this:

http://gizmodo.com/5884131/why-is-this-squirrel-purple
 
When you say "slight of build" do you just mean thin, or was he also short?

Could he have been a Smurf? :)
 
AngelAlice said:
When you say "slight of build" do you just mean thin, or was he also short?

Could he have been a Smurf? :)

Now thats a slight!
 
If he was a Chelsea fan - why the glum face on such a monumental day?

If he had a mishap with a Pota-loo then :rofl:
 
How old do you think he was? Bristol is a student town so it might well be a prank, however something about him wearing those heavy duty gloves made me shudder :shock:
 
cherrybomb said:
How old do you think he was? Bristol is a student town so it might well be a prank, however something about him wearing those heavy duty gloves made me shudder :shock:

Heavy duty rubber gloves for cleaning out portaloos?
 
Maybe he was a member of the Blue Man Group, on his way to work?

Perhaps he prematurely blue himself on what was supposed to be a dry run, and was left with a bit of a mess on his hands.

Hence the gloves.

tobias_funke+Blue+Man.jpg
 
haha, to the original poster - I don't believe it, i've just posted in the fortean news section of a smurf spotted in the forest of dean! according to the article, he was orignally spotted on 20th may which would tie in with your siting.

http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49093

I suspect the thread will get merged into this one.
 
Maybe it's an outbreak of smurfs? :shock:
 
tony_carson said:
haha, to the original poster - I don't believe it, i've just posted in the fortean news section of a smurf spotted in the forest of dean! according to the article, he was orignally spotted on 20th may which would tie in with your siting.

http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49093

I suspect the thread will get merged into this one.

I knew it! The Forest of Dean is not too far from Bristol either. All makes sense at last.
 
Anything can happen in the Forest of Dean!

If I had to guess his age I'd say early to mid twenties.
 
Mythopoeika said:
cherrybomb said:
How old do you think he was? Bristol is a student town so it might well be a prank, however something about him wearing those heavy duty gloves made me shudder :shock:

Heavy duty rubber gloves for cleaning out portaloos?

Ah, but which way does the causation go? They might have picked him for the job 'cause he was already blue! ;)
 
Very easy to explain as I know a man with this condition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyria

Collidial silver exposure

Basically a silver compound that is sold as a "cure all' drink in many countries. Trouble is all it does is turn you a very striking blue/grey - honest it's unreal to behold. It's completely irreversible apart from laser surgery but that would be painful and expensive..

Honest I know a guy who has this.
 
I used to know someone who drank the colloidal silver solution. After a while, someone noticed that he was looking a little grey, so he stopped. I think the cost was a deciding factor too. AFAIK, his skin colour is (mostly) normal now. He didn't do it long enough to turn blue.
 
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