A massive spinning ice disk that resembles the moon is floating on Maine’s Presumpscot River, hypnotizing onlookers.
An almost-perfect circle of spinning ice has captivated residents in the city of Westbrook, where many are comparing the winter phenomenon to aliens and our celestial lunar neighbour.
“It kind of looks like a crop circle,” Doug Bertlesman told the Portland Press Herald. “It’s pretty wild to look at. It’s certainly not every day that you can watch a spinning circle of ice in the river.”
Officials estimate the spinning ice formation to be just over 90 metres in diameter. It’s unclear when the formation occurred, but residents began to report the ice disk to city officials as early as Monday.
“It looks like the moon has landed in Westbrook!” the city declared on social media, dubbing the formation the Westbrook Ice Disk.
Drone footage shows the ice desk slowly spinning counter clockwise in the river. The ice formation is believed to have formed naturally in a part of the river where there’s a circular current that creates a whirlpool effect.
“There were ducks sitting on it. The ducks were rotating on this big Lazy Susan,” resident Rob Mitchell told the Press Herald. “It was a big duck-go-round.”
The spiraling ice disk comes the same week North Americans will be treated to a lunar eclipse and a “super blood wolf moon.”
READ MORE: Here’s how to catch the lunar eclipse and a ‘super blood wolf moon
The cosmic event is the convergence of a few stellar lunar events — an eclipse coinciding with a supermoon turning an eerie blood red. Coincidence? Probably.
Many flocked to the river to get a glimpse of the disk, sharing images on social media. Here’s a look.
“A small crowd gathered to watch the ice disk rotating on the Presumpscot River in Westbrook today,” Shawn Patrick Ouellette said.
“Circles and ice? Do we really have to spell it out for you? Mother Nature is a hockey fan,” reads another.
“The aliens have stationed a large rotating disk of ice in the middle of the Presumpscot River in Westbrook, Maine,” reads another comment.