After an impastable discovery last week, the macaroni mystery has been resolved.
Last week, baffled New Jersey residents found hundreds of pounds of cooked pasta noodles along a creek bed in a wooded area in the town of Old Bridge. Now, after the images went viral online, the truth has come to light.
He discarded the the old dried pasta in the woods and due to heavy rain in the area last weekend the noodles became waterlogged and appeared to have been cooked.
Nina Jochnowitz for Old Bridge

“I mean, I really feel like he was just trying to clear out his parents' house and they were probably stocked up from COVID,” neighbor Keith Rost toldNBC.

Soon after her post, and after she reported the ordeal to the town, Jochnowitz detailed that the area’s Public Works department cleared the pasta from the area.
The neighboring residents are grateful for the prompt response. “I just moved in right next door so that would have been a big mess to start cleaning all the flies in the house, maggots,” said Rost.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The truth of “Mission Impastable” is less thrilling than some of the hilarious theories that flooded social media the past week.
“Is it possible that someone might have just tripped and their pocket spaghetti fell out?” one user wrote on Reddit, as another said, “It was pasta expiration date.”
“No, it’s clearly Big Anthony. Strega Nona would NEVER let pasta go to waste like that,” one person commented in response.
source: people.com