Strange Phenomenon - Giant Snowballs Appear On Siberian Beach

If asked to make a list of the world's most interesting places, Siberia probably wouldn't make most people's top ten but in my experience, the Siberian Times is a friggin gold mine of fascinating stories.

Starting around October 25th, residents of the village of Nyda, in the article circle on the Gulf of Ob, noticed that their beach was filling up with snowballs. Many, many snowballs. The snowballs ranged in size from about the size of a tennis ball to larger than a basketball.



Anyone for a snowball fight?

Like thousands of white cannonballs dumped on the beach, you think these have to be manmade, perhaps part of some sculpture exhibition. But the giant snowballs are entirely natural, although the sight has not been witnessed here in living memory.

'When the water in the gulf rose, it came into contact with the frost. The beach began to be covered with ice. Then the water began to slowly retreat, and the ice remained. Its pieces were rolling over in the wet sand, and turned into these balls.' Spokesman for the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) Sergey Lisenkov said: 'It is a rare natural phenomenon. As a rule, grease ice forms first, slush. And then a combination of the action of the wind, the outlines of the coastline, and the temperature, may lead to the formation of such balls.'

I'm reminded of Dippin' Dots. Really big Dippin' Dots that unfortunately probably taste horrible.

The article mentions that a similar snowballs appeared on the shores of Lake Michigan in 2014. It was actually February of 2013 (image source - Live Science):



Giant ice boulders of Lake Michigan named one of 'Most Amazing Earth Images of 2013'

The beach ball-sized orbs captured global attention after a Leelanau County woman, Leda Olmsted, snapped a few photos while on a walk in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in February. The field of ice boulders gives an eerie, other-worldly feel to the beach. It looks as if a bunch of giants are preparing for a snowball fight.

Want to see more weird ice formations? Check out this old thread from mine:

Subterranean Clouds and a River of Ice Pancakes

a reply to: theantediluvian

That's... odd.

I blame these guys

www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: network dude

Thanks, I missed it!

a reply to: theantediluvian

Thanks, I missed it!

You were too busy at the time making trump threads

a reply to: Indigent

That was some other guy. Possibly my evil twin.

a reply to: theantediluvian

I believe this was posted a week ago or so.

Interesting read though.

eta: what network dude posted.