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A rare surprise in nature: Ever spotted a "ghost apple" before?

12:00
7 January 2024

A rare surprise in nature
Ever spotted a "ghost apple" before?

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Have you ever seen or heard of such a thing called a "ghost apple"? If not, you are not the only one.

This type of phenomena is extremely rare and was last seen in Michigan, USA, in February 2019. On this occasion, the ghost apples were spotted when a farmer, Andrew Sietsema, started pruning his apple trees.

It was spotted the night after freezing rain covered his orchard in the Fruit Ridge area of Kent County, Michigan, in ice. While we have had freezing rain before in the UK and Ireland, there have not been reports of this!

Sietsema said freezing rain had engulfed his rotting apples leaving them with an icy shell. Upon pruning the trees, while some apples fell to the ground, the rotting mush of others simply slipped out of the bottom of the hollow icy shell leaving behind the ghost apple.

Have you ever witnessed freezing rain? It produces very hazardous conditions, but is beautiful to see as it coats the surroundings. You can send in your pictures via our uploader for us to share!

Weather & Radar editorial team
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