Sign up for an invite
Massive 10ft Spinning Ice Circle Discovered in the UK
Written by Linda 
Photo:
Image via Telegraph
It’s no secret that people in the UK are forever complaining about the weather, but it seems this week they were well within their rights. For the first time ever a rare phenomenon usually only seen in extremely cold countries was spotted on the River Otten in Devon.
A massive spinning ice circle caught the attention of Roy Jefferies as he was walking his dog by the river last Wednesday morning. Measuring a whopping 10 ft in diameter, the rotating disc sat stationary in the river where two currents merge.
Mr Jefferies called a friend, Mr Blisset, who lived nearby, and just happens to have an interest in the strange and bizarre. He identified the ice disc as a true rare specimen.
Photo:
In an interview with the local paper, Mr Blisset said he grabbed his camera and ran straight to the river to see the icy disc for himself.
"I couldn't believe it when he told me," Mr Blissett said.
"I saw the most perfect circle of ice about two metres from the edge of the bank," said Mr Blissett.
"It was about three metres in diameter and, on timing it, we discovered it was completing a revolution in four minutes and ten seconds.
"The air temperature at the time was sub-zero and the weather had been bitterly cold for the past week."
Ice Circles, Russia
Photo:
Image via English Russia
It is thought that ice circles are formed when surface ice gathers in the center of a body of water rather than the edges. A slow moving river current can create a slow turning eddy, which rotates, forming an ice disc. Very slowly the edges are ground down until a gap is formed between the eddy and the surrounding ice.
Photo:
Image via National Post
This six-foot-wide circle was spotted by Mississauga man, Brook Tyler last December near Sheridan Creek in Rattray Marsh Conservation area. Mr Tyler was pretty sure the circle wasn’t man-made, as some people at the time thought, because the ice on the creek was much too thin to walk on.
If you want to find out all the latest news on the environment, why not subscribe to our RSS feed? We’ll even throw in a free album.
License:
Attribution-Share Alike 
Related Posts
Popular in Bizarre
Comments
I Bunned (not verified) says:
Jan 19th, 2009 at 9pm
I bet someone just farted on the ice, melted it, and then the Worfenberg Phenomenon kicked in, where highly compressed natural gas plummets to subzero temperatures as it rotates in a circle thereby causing your 'ice circle'. They should rename the ice circles to a more appropriate name.....fart circles.
LES HENDRICKSON (not verified) says:
Jan 19th, 2009 at 10pm
Sonntag: (Sunday): Sprechen sie English, bitte.
Anyway, Yes, it is assumed that an alien race with the capability to travel interstellar distances is going to communicate with us by stomping down our wheat fields and making pretty little ice circles. Or by kidnapping hicks and playing with their buttts-(mispelling intentional). That's believable.
Jeff (not verified) says:
Jan 20th, 2009 at 1am
I wonder if the ice moves with the river or stays in one places while it turns its circles>? Now that is a trick for a master majician to try to copy. Someone or something in this universe is responsible for it, so more power to them. Great photos.
Bruce (not verified) says:
Jan 20th, 2009 at 2am
I don't know how it was formed,but it is spinning counter-clockwise.Is it the old water down the drain rule? Free floating objects rotate this direction in the northern hemisphere from the natural rotation of the earth. Given a known rate of rotation and position relitive to the north pole,it could give someone somthing to figure out,(not me). Do the math! Bruce.
Chuck Heath (not verified) says:
Jan 20th, 2009 at 2am
Aliens have shown themselves in southern states also! lots of beleivers in florida who have witnessed it first hand. It is a strange green light that usually plants itself under a dock or next to a seawall. At every site there will be HUNDREDS of fish just hanging out under this strange but very beutiful light. Wath the action at superfishlight.com AMAZING!
Joshua Hernandez (not verified) says:
Jan 15th, 2009 at 4am
Perhaps 10 feet in diameter? 10 feet in circumference is selling it a bit short, giving a circle only ~3 feet across
Larry Pierce (not verified) says:
Jan 15th, 2009 at 8am
You mistakenly said "circumference" when you meant to use "diameter". Cool photos.
nanct (not verified) says:
Jan 15th, 2009 at 3pm
This is really interesting and the video is beautiful.
Frank W. (not verified) says:
Jan 15th, 2009 at 4pm
Perhaps they went on the ice, sawed a ~10ft icecircle and left. Then the moving water will keep the circle moving around. :)
Deeljehuiswerk (not verified) says:
Jan 15th, 2009 at 4pm
That looks very cool. The cirkels are perfectly round. :)
Goodbye. Huiswerk
Sasha Bingham (not verified) says:
Jan 15th, 2009 at 4pm
Well, This is something conpletelyt different than crop circles. I wonder how these new circles are made. Sceptics, eat your heart out!
Wim de Vos (not verified) says:
Jan 15th, 2009 at 4pm
The undercurrent in the river causes this fenomena.
Sytze Vliegen (not verified) says:
Jan 15th, 2009 at 5pm
Everybody shoold wear aluminium hats!
It must be an alien attack.
Let's ask Vlunk what it is.
Vlunk (not verified) says:
Jan 15th, 2009 at 7pm
Nope, it wasn't me this time.
But as far as the alien attack concerns, you're right. The alien attack is coming. We've had a bit of a setback recently when the bank we had trusted with the financial funds for our campaign, went bankrupt.But we now have a government loan and we're back on track.
It only means that the original date in 2012 isn't feasible anymore. But don't worry, we're still working on it and all your bases are and will belong to us. It'll just be a tad later.
Wanderer (not verified) says:
Jan 15th, 2009 at 8pm
Sasha, read the article: they're caused by currents that rotate the ice and grind off the edges. I'm sure you've seen leaves or other floating things moving in slow circles in a stream where they're caught in an eddy. This is just the same thing, only with ice. The explanation not only isn't miraculous, but it's obvious at first glance.
RDerby (not verified) says:
Jan 15th, 2009 at 8pm
I've seen this phenomenon in the mountains of western North Carolina a few years back. I was camping out over Christmas and it was so cold we couldn't get wood to burn using our cookstove! The river had a few of these, it was a beautiful sight.
Ronald Johnston (not verified) says:
Jan 15th, 2009 at 11pm
Quickly, someone tell Al Gore about this.
Dave (not verified) says:
I blame global warming.