Modern Mysteries

Finnish 'ghost island' appears out of nowhere

By T.K. Randall
February 28, 2019

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) The island, which seemed to have appeared completely out of nowhere in the middle of the frozen lake in Finland's northernmost Lapland region, gave the team quite the shock, however as it turned out, not everything was quite as it seemed.

"A new island has emerged in front of Papinsaari," border patrol Tweeted. "The Ivalo patrol has captured this phenomenon on the camera in a clear -25 C frost."

But could an entire island really have appeared so quickly and without any sign of volcanic activity ?As it turns out, what the patrolmen were actually seeing was not an island at all but a mirage - a convincing visual phenomenon that is more typically associated with hot desert environments.

It is caused by the way light travels through atmospheric layers when there is a steady temperature gradient - reflecting and refracting the landscape in unexpected ways.

Inarinjärvelläkin on joskus harvoin mahdollisuus nähdä kangastuksia. Papinsaaren edustalle on noussut uusi saari. Ivalon partio sai ilmiön ikuistettua kameralle kirkkaassa -25 C pakkassäässä. #ivalonraja #inarinjärvi pic.twitter.com/U7vXpZXOhl

— Lapin rajavartiosto (@lapinraja) February 23, 2019

Source: Sputnik International

Tags: Lake Inari, Finland, Mirage