Is this airliner-shaped lake real?

Question

On a flight over Utah, I spotted a strange shape on the flight route app on the seat LCD that looks just like an airliner:

Not believing my eyes, I checked OsmAnd and sure enough, it's there!

Here it is on OpenStreetMap: http://openstreetmap.org/#map=11/41.27/-111.8

Pity it was clouded over, so I couldn't see it for real...

Its Wikipedia page doesn't mention its shape: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineview_Dam

Could it be an Easter Egg or just pure coincidence?

This lake is almost begging for a plane to crash in it. I wouldn't fly over it. — blankip, Oct 08 '15 at 19:05
It's probably where one of the fanless DC-8s crashed 75 million years ago. You're not going to have a perfect safety record when transporting ~10 trillion people. — Nick T, Oct 10 '15 at 15:44
"a man sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest ..." la la la — Mawg says reinstate Monica, Oct 11 '15 at 09:41

score 49 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 07 '15 at 19:07

49

It does remotely look like an airplane as Google Maps / Earth reveals:

answered Oct 07 '15 at 19:07

RoflcoptrException

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Looks like a bird to me, well airliners are kinda oversized birds anyway. – Furkan Omay Oct 08 '15 at 05:38
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@FurkanOmay A bird? A plane? It's super-lake! – Hagen von Eitzen Oct 08 '15 at 06:01
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I clearly see a Saturn V as it passes through the sound barrier. – dotancohen Oct 08 '15 at 12:32
@dot what is the split tail, then? If they are stabilisation fins, where are the thrusters? – John Dvorak Oct 08 '15 at 14:38
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Rocket exhaust! – dotancohen Oct 08 '15 at 14:40
It looks like a Rorschach ink-blot test to me – Mawg says reinstate Monica Oct 11 '15 at 09:44

score 37 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 07 '15 at 19:05

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It's clearly visible in Google Maps, where you'll also notice that it is much larger than a real airliner.

The human brain is very good at recognizing pattern, and in your case it identified this lake loosely resembling an airliner. The phenomenon of recognizing patterns in random data is called Apophenia.

So in summary, there is no reason to assume this lake is not real and its shape anything other than coincidence.

answered Oct 07 '15 at 19:05

helm

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Also humans can deliberate build such forms like a city in the shape of a airplane – jean Oct 08 '15 at 11:20
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You say apophenia, I say pareidolia – John Dvorak Oct 08 '15 at 14:42
That's what I was wondering: Did the reservoir builders intentionally build it so? – Gnubie Oct 08 '15 at 19:51
@Gnubie Unlikely it was deliberate. The humans only really choose where the dam goes; the shape of the resulting reservoir is down to the landscape provided by mother nature. – Nigel Harper Oct 10 '15 at 07:31
@jean sadly link is now broken :/ – Mark Mayo Apr 18 '16 at 12:50
@MarkMayo Sadly that link got outdated try this google maps of Brasília – jean Apr 18 '16 at 13:41

score 19 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 07 '15 at 21:55

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That's Pineview Reservoir. It has a three-fingered shape (or fuselage-and-wings shape) because it was built at the confluence of several streams. It is indeed a real body of water, but not technically a lake.

Sources:

Firsthand experience at the reservoir
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineview_Dam
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.2660977,-111.8092137,13z

answered Oct 07 '15 at 21:55

zwiebelspaetzle

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I've been there many times. – zwiebelspaetzle Oct 07 '15 at 21:56
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"not technically a lake" A man-made lake is still a lake. – David Richerby Oct 08 '15 at 07:59

Is this airliner-shaped lake real?

3 Answers3