Mysterious Vanishing Island Reappears 18 Miles Away in British Columbia Reservoir
An entire tree-covered island disappeared from satellite imagery. Turns out, it had simply relocated more than 18 miles away.
A mysterious island that vanished from a British Columbia reservoir has finally turned up again, more than 18 miles from where it was originally situated. Apparently, the tree-covered landmass simply decided to relocate without informing anyone of its travel plans.
According to UPI, the wandering island was originally spotted in the Williston Reservoir, north of MacKenzie, British Columbia. Residents noticed the unusual landmass before utility company B.C. Hydro confirmed its existence using satellite data from July 20.
Then, the island disappeared. B.C. Hydro officials said it was no longer visible in satellite imagery taken by August 5, leaving behind the unusual question of how exactly one loses an entire island.
Turns Out, the Island Didn’t Vanish. It Relocated
The mystery now has an update worthy of a particularly strange travel itinerary, but don’t picture it as future best mystery novel just yet. B.C. Hydro announced on social media that the island had been located along the reservoir’s shoreline, except it was more than 18 miles away from the position where it had previously been observed.
Fortunately, the island probably hasn’t developed the ability to teleport while nobody was looking. B.C. Hydro spokesperson Bob Gammer previously offered a much more scientific explanation for how a piece of apparently wandering land could form in the first place.
Gammer explained that driftwood can accumulate along the shoreline over time. As the wood decomposes, vegetation can begin growing on top of it, eventually creating what looks remarkably like a proper tree-covered island floating on the water.
In other words, this particular island isn’t necessarily attached to the bottom of the reservoir like the islands most people are accustomed to seeing. That makes its sudden 18-mile change of address a lot less supernatural, although arguably no less entertaining.
Apparently, Islands Can Go on Road Trips Too
Williston Reservoir is certainly large enough for an island to get some serious mileage. Whatever carried the landmass from its original position managed to take it more than 18 miles before it eventually wound up along the shoreline.
The unusual journey also explains why satellite imagery could seemingly document the island appearing, disappearing, and then resurfacing somewhere completely different. It wasn’t necessarily gone at all. Everyone may simply have been looking for it where they left it. Thanks to satellite technology, humans have gotten pretty good at keeping track of things from space, but apparently an entire island can still make a break for it. This may be no Love Island but it sure does love making a re-entrance after ghosting for a while.
At least the mystery of the missing island now appears to have an answer. It didn’t disappear into thin air, sink beneath the reservoir, get stolen, or require a search party to rescue it from the unknown.
It just went for an 18-mile swim without telling anyone where it was going. Obviously, just regular island behavior.
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