Do Monarch Butterflies Remember a Giant Lake Superior Mountain?
Scientists have tried to debunk this internet legend, but thousands insist that it's true
Every year, monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles from Canada all the way to central Mexico, flitting over much of the U.S. along the way.
But when crossing over Lake Superior, year after year the butterflies have been reported to do something very strange.
Instead of simply continuing south, some say they make a sudden turn east, fly in that direction for a while over the lake, and then turn south again.
For years now, one pretty bizarre theory has been circulating around the internet to explain why.
As legend has it, there once was an enormous mountain that stood where part of Lake Superior is now. For generations, monarch butterflies supposedly became accustomed to flying around the massive obstacle before continuing south.
There are many different explanations about what supposedly happened to this mega-mountain, but eventually, over millions of years, it apparently disappeared without a trace.
The story started circulating more and more online and over the last decade. It's blown up numerous times in Facebook posts and Reddit threads. And pretty much everyone has a different opinion as to how exactly or why this could be possible.
The theory has been debunked by scientists several times, but thousands of people are still willing to die on the hill that it's true.
The biggest problem is that the timeline doesn't really add up. The geological events that could have created and destroyed such a mountain around Lake Superior happened long before modern monarch butterflies would have been making this migration.
Scientists also know that monarchs use environmental cues to navigate, and wind, weather and geography offer much more realistic explanations for any changes in their flight path.
Still, that hasn't stopped the theory from resurfacing online again and again, and thousands of people have made up their minds.
Without a shadow of a doubt, the only possible explanation for that mysterious turn is that a Lake Superior mountain disappeared millions of years ago and only the butterflies remember.
