Eclipse 2019: 300ft Moon of ICE appears in the US just days before the Blood Moon

The Moon-shaped ice formation has baffled the residents of Westbrook, Maine, after it formed on Presumpscot River. Witnesses have likened the spinning disc to the Moon and UFO crop circles, sparking concern of extraterrestrial involvement. The chilling “Ice Moon” in Westbrook is all the more peculiar because it appeared just a week before the real Moon vanishes during a total lunar eclipse. The total lunar eclipse, also known as the Blood Moon, will peak on Sunday, January 20, over the US and Monday, January 21 in the UK.

Drone footage of the Ice Moon shows an almost perfectly round disc of frozen water spinning counterclockwise in the river.

The disc is estimated to measure approximately 300ft across and has been called an incredible sight.

Bruce Small, who visited the icy Moon, said it was “quite a phenomenon”.

He told Fox 22: “I wanted to see it for myself and take a few pictures.”

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Ruth Starke, who works in Westbrook, was similarly impressed by the completely frozen disc.

She said: “It’s just interesting because it’s not something that people see every day.

“It’s not normal to see a giant floating disk in the water.”

And Doug Bertlesman, who works in a building overlooking the Ice Moon, said: “It kind of looks like a crop circle. 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.”

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City officials expect the disc to remain on top of the river for the next few days before improving weather causes it to melt.

But what exactly has caused the disc to form in the first place and why does it resemble a Moon so much?

Frozen “Moons” like the one in Westbrook are a perfectly naturally occurring phenomenon seen everywhere around the globe.

The circular ice formation is caused by changing water temperatures and its spin is directed by the river’s current.

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According to National Geographic, changing temperatures spurn the waters and cause a vortex.

Because flowing water is needed to keep the vortex spinning, the ice discs are unlikely to form over still lakes.

Mark Battle, an associate professor of physics at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, told Press Herald he has never seen anything like the Presumpscot disc before.

The professor attributed the disc’s movements to the current of the river, the ice’s thickness and the friction of the ice against the river’s banks.

source: express.co.uk