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SYFY WIRE ICE

Giant Maine ice disk looks like it shouldn't be from this world

By Adam Pockross
maine ice disk

Well, that’s it, the portal is open, the kaiju are coming. Either that or a giant alien space craft has landed in Westbrook, Maine. Or maybe it’s just a huge floating crop circle made by the aliens themselves. Regardless, it was a good ride, but it appears the end of times are nigh.

Oh wait, there’s a logical, scientific explanation for this floating, spinning ice disk on the Presumpscot River, estimated to be some 300-feet wide, that's slowly and diabolically circling counter clockwise. Phew!

Before we get into that explanation though, have a look at some gorgeous drone footage, posted by the City of Westbrook, of the phenomenon in action…

According to The New York Times, ice disks are rare, but not out of this world. They occur when “a pile of slush freezes in an eddy or a piece of ice breaks off from another and begins to rotate. As it turns, hitting rocks and water, the sides are shaved down.”

The size of this one though is extremely rare, as most tend to be in the 20- to 30-foot diameter range. In fact, one ice physicist that the Times spoke too, Kenneth G. Libbrecht, says this may just be a world record, if anyone were keeping track of such things.

As if a seemingly-alien ice disc wasn’t enough reason for locals to be a bit worried about their place in the universe, the Portland Press Herald notes that a “giant snake eating a beaver,” dubbed locally as “Wessie,” was spotted nearby in 2016. No sign of Wessie since though.

Perhaps she’s actually a kaiju lurking beneath the ice?