jasonatron

My original thought, though I'm not a physicist, was that maybe the mass associated with a black hole oscillates in and out of the black hole over very large time frames. However if there is no mass "spewing" to our knowledge anywhere in the observable universe, then I guess this can't be the case.

It is stated in most scientific texts that what ever goes into a black hole never comes back out. I was wondering if this is absolutely true. Is it not possible that it just takes a very long time and then suddenly all of the mass that has been "gobbled up" by the black hole will suddenly be ejected? Are there any known instances in the universe of areas of space that spew mass? If so, could these be former black holes?