The video was posted on Wednesday and already has already been viewed over 600,000 times. The Chena River is a freshwater river, that is “practically in the middle of Alaska,” the BLM noted.
BLM employees Craig McCaa and Ryan Delaney shot the footage, and BLM left it up to viewers to decide what it was. They included no speculation other than that it was a “strange thing.” Guesses as to what it was included a dead moose hide, a giant crustacean,” an Alaskan Sturgeon, an icy rope, or, most popular — a descendent of Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster.
When asked by a Facebook user if the video was a hoax, BLM responded saying, “we honestly didn't know what is was, and our employees thought it was strange enough to take a short video of it. It did get checked out though by Fish and Game and they think it's just an ice crusted rope. We just posted a pic from this morning and the ‘thing’ or the frozen rope isn't there any more.”
In an update posted to the BLM page on Monday, the agency wrote “MYSTERY SOLVED….?”
“It's a quiet #Halloween morning in front of the BLM office on the Chena River in Fairbanks. We've been excited about the number and variety of explanations offered for our recent video of the strange river object — your responses show how captivating the mysteries of the natural world can be!” the post began.
“So far the most compelling explanation, one shared by experts at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and others, is that the video shows ‘frazil ice stuck to a rope that is probably caught on a bridge pier,’” the post continued. “Thanks for your theories, and Happy Halloween!”
