Rare ‘Clear Ice’ Phenomenon Makes It Appear Michigan Man Is Walking On Water

Last weekend, following three days of calm winds and 8 degree temperatures, a rare condition called 'clear ice' froze Lake Charlevoix outside Andre Poineau's Boyne City home.

The resulting photograph has caused quite a stir online.

The photo of the 63-year-old Poineau standing over six feet of Lake Chrlevoix water made its way to the Physics-Astronomy.com Facebook page, where stunned disbelievers called it a hoax.

But it was no photoshop. Poineau told WZZM-13 News he's seen clear ice like this several times over the years.

"It does feel weird," he said. "You're very apprehensive. I was standing over about 6 feet of water, and even though this ice was just as solid as can be, I didn't want to go out any further."

Wang Jia, a research ice climatologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, says clear ice forms when the lake chills on a calm evening.

"It's the sediments in water that make ice look cloudy when it freezes," he told WZZM.

The kind of weather most often occurring when a lake or other water body freezes involves winds that stir the water up, "It has to be cold and very still to get that crystal-clear ice."

For entertainment, read the comments, especially from the doubters.