This phenomenon of nature occurs when freezing rain is deposited on the fruit and is “burning” it. Because of this, apples begin to decompose, leaving behind their appetizing appearance and appearing in the image.
It looks like a glass apple, and in a way it is. But it is not glass, but ice. It is shaped like an apple, but there is no trace of it. Only a thin layer of transparent ice remains. That’s why it’s called a ghost apple.
Have you heard the saying “Nature is the greatest artist of all times”? Every now and then we come across such images that aptly exemplify that saying. Just like these old pictures which are again creating a stir after recently being shared on Twitter. IPS officer Dipanshu Kabra took to the micro-blogging site to share two images which have now left people in awe. They’re of ‘ghost apples.’ No, they’re not actually apples but ice in shape of the fruit that formed naturally.
The original pictures were shared a few years ago and they went crazy viral. They were captured by Andrew Sietsema in an icy orchard in western Michigan, USA. Back in 2019, during an interview with CNN, he also explained the phenomenon behind the ‘ghost apples’.
“I guess it was just cold enough that the ice covering the apple hadn’t melted yet, but it was warm enough that the apple inside turned to complete mush (apples have a lower freezing point than water),” Sietsema told CNN. “And when I pruned a tree it would be shaken in the process, and the mush would slip out of the bottom of the ‘ghost apple’,” he added.
Kabra too described the reason behind this occurrence in his tweet. “#GhostApples. It’s an unusual phenomenon where freezing rain coats rotting apples before they fall, then when the apple turns mushy it eventually slips out and leaves the icy shell still hanging on the tree,” he wrote.
