Is this airliner-shaped lake real?
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?
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Answer 2
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.
Answer 3
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
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