Imagine bumping into an island that is eye-shaped and floating in the middle of a swamp and moving on its own. I know it sounds bizarre, but it is not a fictional statement. It is a strange, circle-shaped floating island known as El Ojo, meaning the Eye. A filmmaker from Argentina called Sergio Neuspiller discovered El Ojo when he was doing his research in 2016 and saw something weirdly interesting in the Paraná Delta, pushing him to investigate more.
El Ojo island: How it formed, what is it and why it is an interesting find
In a publication by Explorers Web, It came out that El Ojo was an island in a shallow, chilly, and crystal-clear water channel. With a diameter of 118 to 120 meters, it is an almost perfect circle of land. Neuspiller looked at the island on Google Earth a few times and saw that its location in the pond had changed. He was surprised to learn that the island was circling its small basin. It was unique in that it revolved on its own axis. In actuality, it was a rolling eye.
How is an island able to move and float by itself?
Aside from its eye-circle shape or its ability to roll its eye, another intriguing aspect is its ability to float and move on its own. We are used to and exposed to typical floating vegetation mats that are irregular in shape and do not move at a fast pace; however, the El Ojo is not irregular; the circle shape is perfectly intact and it moves and floats in its surrounding swamps. Researchers say that underground water might be contributing to this movement.
What keeps this island afloat is its composition. It is made from a mix of soil and plant matter. Floating islands are quite common; however, what makes this one stand out is that when it floats, it keeps the same shape and has done so for years. No separation, no breaking, nothing. This has made scientists wonder if this is a mysterious natural phenomenon or perhaps an unnatural play at hand.
Paranormal speculation and conspiracy theories
As usual, whenever there is a strange discovery, there are theories and speculations that arise because everyone has their own way of viewing a particular mysterious finding. Some think that El Ojo might be resemblances to ice discs, which are nearly flawless circles of ice that rotate on slow-moving currents on the outer bend of rivers, while others believe the island formed because of extraterrestrial activity.
Due to its form, there is speculation that it could be a doorway to a dark underground beneath the waters that surround El Ojo because the waters appear to be black. Unfortunately, there is no scientific evidence to support these theories and although filmmakers and researchers have been trying to get more information, they have not managed to go deeper, leaving everyone with little information and a lot of questions.
The inexplicable wonders of nature remain
The discovery of El Ojo is a reminder that Earth has so many mysterious attributes to it. Some scientists have been able to dig deep and find answers, while others say it is still a journey to embark on, and perhaps for some we will never know why certain things appear the way they do. El Cronista, a daily newspaper in Argentina, claims that El Ojo travels in a clockwise path.
The island first showed up in satellite photos nearly 20 years ago, yet it is still unknown how and when it separated from the mainland. Neuspiller recruited Ricardo Petroni, an American engineer, to help investigate the enigma further. The two failed to meet their aim of raising $50,000 for research. There has been no advancement in learning more about El Ojo thus far, according to Explorers Web.