Strange structures made by strong wind on shores of Lake Michigan enthralls netizens

Many jokingly attributed the creation to aliens. Some people called them “chess pieces made of sand” or “sand hoodoos”.

A Reddit photo titled ‘Strong winds create unusual shapes in the frozen sand alongside Lake Michigan’ was upvoted almost 10,000 times.

While expressing their awe at the strange occurrence, a person tweeted, “Honestly I get why people make religions now. If I saw this in person with no explanation I would think it was a god.”

🔥 Strong winds create unusual shapes in the frozen sand alongside Lake Michigan https://t.co/Q8KCFYQtLd pic.twitter.com/s5nkDV2Zew

— Nature is Lit (@Nature_Is_Lit) January 10, 2022

Strong winds is s funny way to say aliens. https://t.co/bPeDhBpkOp

— J 🌶 (@Jani__Gee) January 11, 2022

Looks like a chess pieces https://t.co/rhfAGCjknW

— peridas$largada (@nina_cristaline) January 12, 2022

On a frigid day in St. Joseph, Michigan, photographer Joshua Nowicki captured these strange shapes on the edge of Lake Michigan. He shared that they do not last very long (usually only a couple of days) & that this winter they are the tallest he has ever seen🤔 #ngss #ngsschat pic.twitter.com/UFmdCtunq5

— Phenomena (@NGSSphenomena) January 12, 2022

As per media reports, the odd structures were created when a high wind  eroded frozen sand along the lakeshore. The process imitates what happens when a river erodes land and creates a canyon. Except here, the process is a lot quicker. The faster the wind, the taller are the structures. These formations usually last for a couple of days before falling off.