To continue the last post, there are other angles at http://cellar.org/iotd.php. To solve my problem, I poked small holes in the bottom of the hanging dimples and drained them. I replaced my leaky faucet valves and have not needed to replace any drywall.

THIS COULD VERY WELL BE REAL. Several water valves leaked in my house and created this effect in my downstairs water-resistant latex-based ceiling paint, but on a smaller scale. My drywall did not collapse, but where the water did soak through the drywall, the paint pulled away from the ceiling and created a hanging pattern similar to this. The reason why his paint job has not collapsed could be due to extremely durable latex-based paint or several coats of paint. IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE.