A Finnish border guard was, quite literally, stopped in their tracks Sunday after a ‘new island’ appeared in the middle of the frozen Lake Inari without warning.

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Finland’s Lapland Border Patrol tweeted images of the strange, apparently geological, phenomenon; an impressive feat considering temperatures in the region had plummeted as low as -25 degrees Celsius and there was no sight nor sound of any volcanic activity in the area that might explain the sudden appearance of new rock formations, seemingly out of nowhere.

Inarinjärvelläkin on joskus harvoin mahdollisuus nähdä kangastuksia. Papinsaaren edustalle on noussut uusi saari. Ivalon partio sai ilmiön ikuistettua kameralle kirkkaassa -25 C pakkassäässä. #ivalonraja#inarinjärvipic.twitter.com/U7vXpZXOhl — Lapin rajavartiosto (@lapinraja) February 23, 2019

It was merely an optical illusion, however, as one commenter pointed out on Twitter. Light behaves differently when passing through atmospheric layers, which can lead to mirage-like effects along the horizon, reflecting and refracting distant landscapes in mind-bending ways.

Mirages aren’t exclusive to sandy deserts, it would seem.

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