# Mysterious Hole in Lake..???? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-hole-in-lake/149708 "2003-01-20T00:16:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RyanD004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/848f3c/32.png) [@RyanD004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyanD004)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-hole-in-lake/149708/1 "2003-01-20T00:16:20Z")
Apparently there is a lake up north that is completely frozen over, except for some large hole in the middle. Scientists seem to be baffled and crazy explanations are beginning to fly. Check out the link: [http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=030119&cat=frontpage&st=frontpagehole\_lake030119&src=abc](http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=030119&cat=frontpage&st=frontpagehole_lake030119&src=abc) and tell me what you think. Has anyone actually seen the hole? What do you think the causes could be? It seems totally illogical to me. Personally I’m skeptical of the ‘volcanic activity’ theory because then more of the lake would probably melt. Also, the shape they described sounded rather ununiform. I’m not sure what to think. Mayhaps it is volcanic in nature, or maybe the government is testing a giant thermo-laser sattelite. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-hole-in-lake/149708/2 "2003-01-20T00:35:33Z")
Warm spring under the hole that just opened up? Especially if it’s true that they’re on a fault line. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-hole-in-lake/149708/3 "2003-01-20T00:49:20Z")
[Here’s a picture](http://www.pineandlakes.com/Main.asp?SectionID=23&SubSectionID=27&ArticleID=630). The hole looks remarkably like the silhouette of a flying saucer. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-hole-in-lake/149708/4 "2003-01-20T02:28:55Z")
It was probably a couple of [duck hunters](http://www.snopes.com/critters/cruelty/dynamite.htm) that made the hole. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-hole-in-lake/149708/5 "2003-01-20T02:41:05Z")
Hee. 😃 However… > **[The latest from the StarTribune](https://www.startribune.com/)** > > Follow the StarTribune for the news, photos and videos from the Twin Cities and beyond. > [@](#): > > Divers spent about four hours Wednesday in the lake, but saw no sign of a spring or thermal current. > > Complicating the dive and restricting the divers was a thin layer of ice that developed in recent days. They injected dye and stuff, and didn’t see any springs. And now it’s apparently starting to freeze over anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Hrdygrdymn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/77aa72/32.png) [@Hrdygrdymn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrdygrdymn)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-hole-in-lake/149708/6 "2003-01-20T03:31:08Z")
This sort of thing happens regularly in the arctic. Not sure if the same process is at work, but it could fit the general model. [http://www.fsg.ulaval.ca/giroq/now/what.htm](http://www.fsg.ulaval.ca/giroq/now/what.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-hole-in-lake/149708/7 "2003-01-20T15:28:27Z")
Apparently, none of you has ever seen _The Thing_. “An intellectual carrot - the mind boggles.” ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-hole-in-lake/149708/8 "2003-01-20T17:10:31Z")
Another [Lake Peigneur](http://home.earthlink.net/~ahunter/temp/Lake%20Peigneur.txt)? ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-hole-in-lake/149708/9 "2003-01-20T17:19:13Z")
I`ve seen The Thing several times. What does open water have anything to do with the movie? Or are you referring to the space ship found in the ice in the beginning? I think in several years the town of Brainerd will be referred to as Mount Brainerd. ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-hole-in-lake/149708/10 "2003-01-20T17:25:02Z")
I believe the town in question is where most of the movie “Fargo” took place. So that explains it! ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-hole-in-lake/149708/11 "2003-01-20T17:26:49Z")
You are correct about the Fargo reference. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-hole-in-lake/149708/12 "2003-01-24T01:54:58Z")
The holes are now appearing in other lakes as well: [Ground water suspected in ‘black holes’ on Long Lake, Forest Lake](http://www.startribune.com/stories/531/3606120.html) > [@](#): > > “Up here in Cambridge, Minn., we’re 25 inches above normal for rainfall,” said Mueller. “It’s the wettest it’s been in 70 years. The water tables are full. All of these lakes have interaction with the ground water.” The surplus of warmer ground water is flowing in from the lake bottoms, producing currents that are melting ice in some areas or creating thin ice in others, Mueller said. > “That’s my theory,” he said.