Published: 02:20 BST, 1 September 2026 | Updated: 05:19 BST, 1 September 2026
A huge forested island mysteriously appeared in a Canadian lake, then suddenly vanished after initially skeptical officials confirmed its existence.
The island, estimated to be about the size of two NFL football fields, was spotted floating in the Williston Reservoir in early August.
The enormous man-made body of water is the seventh-largest reservoir in the world and is located in a remote part of northern British Columbia.
A local took an eerie photo from a distance that shows the mysterious landmass surrounded by open water before boating nearby to take a video of it.
The stunning close-up footage shows trees at the edge of the island uncannily bobbing up and down in the water.
The boater sent the photo and video to another local named Rocky Avery, who on August 12 posted them on social media, where they soon went viral.
Avery told Canadian outlet CBC: 'It was a pretty amazing sight to see, never seen anything like that in my 40 years in this country.'
He said that he created the post to alert BC Hydro 'in case [the island] was floating down their way.' The Canadian utility company produces hydroelectric power for British Columbia through the WAC Bennett Dam that created the Williston Reservoir.
This mysterious island was spotted in Canada's Williston Reservoir in early August before it suddenly disappeared
A local sailed near the island and took a close-up video of it, which officials were initially skeptical was real
BC Hydro spokesperson Bob Gammer was initially skeptical about the existence of the island when CBC reached out to the company.
He said that he thought the video might have been generated by AI because of how difficult it was to believe and the increasing prevalence of AI videos on social media.
But BC Hydro soon confirmed the existence of the mysterious island by examining satellite images.
One of the photos dated to July 21, about three weeks before Avery posted the video of the island, showed it floating in the reservoir's main body of water about 60 miles west of the WAC Bennett Dam.
