Bizarre ‘alien egg pods’ are dragged out of an Oklahoma lake causing locals to ‘freak out’… do YOU know what they are?

Wildlife officials are warning residents about “alien egg pods” spotted in an Oklahoma lake, saying the creatures will appear in large numbers this summer.

Footage of the bizarre sightings has surfaced online, showing large jelly-like balls with a hard exterior hanging from submerged tree branches.

While photos of the strange animals have caused confusion and a bit of fear online, with some people claiming they must have come from space.

However, authorities reassured the public that these animals were simply bryozoans, present for hundreds of millions of years, long before the first dinosaurs walked the earth.

The creatures clone themselves in large masses to filter tiny particles from the water for food, which cleans the lake.

Pond-dwelling jellies were recently spotted in McGee Creek Reservoir, located on the southwest edge of the Ouachita Mountain Range.

Bryozoan clusters are actually hundreds of creatures, known as zooids, each a fraction of a millimeter long, living together in a slimy mass.

They lack a respiratory or circulatory system, but have a central nerve ganglion that allows the animal to respond to stimuli.

The tiny invertebrates have both male and female reproductive organs, allowing them to self-clone and spread through clusters of cells on the body called statoblasts.

Each statoblast can reproduce asexually if it breaks away from a colony, allowing clusters of bryozoans to spread in large numbers under the right conditions.

Animals feast on phytoplankton and bacteria hidden in the water.

Fossil records show ancient bryozoans date back 470 million years, suggesting they may have evolved from an ancient marine worm.

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) shared images on its Facebook account.

‘What is this??? If you go boating somewhere like McGee Creek Reservoir, you may notice these strange jelly-like balls hanging from submerged tree branches,” the post read.

“These are Bryozoans, and they will probably appear in large numbers this summer. Don’t worry, these microorganisms are native and pose no danger to you or wildlife.

“In fact, they are an indicator of good environmental quality and clear water!

The post received hundreds of comments, with one user saying: “My oldest son thought they were body snatchers just waiting to hatch and take our bodies.”

“They look like alien egg pods from outer space,” another comment read.

Others were panicked by the reports, saying they thought something was wrong with the water.

Zooids only survive in water warmer than 60°F, so more are expected to appear in the coming months as temperatures rise during the summer season.

The larger masses are covered in a substance called chitin, which is found on the outside of crabs, and harden when dried to preserve the organism until it can be rehydrated.

Most colonies are attached to a structure such as a rock or submerged branch, as observed in photos shared by Oklahoma wildlife officials.

Some colonies take the form of rounded, gelatinous masses, while others resemble antlers or moss.or delicately trace like vines on rocks, or create hairy-looking colonies.