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Giant pit discovered by hiker on Google Maps confirmed to be 390 million-year-old meteor impact crater

A camper identifies a 25km meteor impact crater in Canada after spotting an unusual circular formation on Google Maps.

By · Published July 19, 2026  10:51 UTC · Updated July 19, 2026  16:53 UTC

8sources
9articles
6velocity
+0%since first seen
90d agofirst detected
Text:
🤖 AI Dossier

Evidence dossier

Intelligence passport

76/100 Excellent
8distinct sources shown
40velocity measurements
2language editions checked
All brief claims passed the second-source checkbrief evidence status

Measured timeline

📍 Aftermath

A hiker discovered a giant pit on Google Maps while planning a camping trip. The pit was confirmed to be a 390 million-year-old meteor impact crater in Canada.

The story quieted without a definitive conclusion in the coverage.

Epilogue added 88d ago, after coverage quieted.

The brief

⚡ Executive Intelligence Takeaways Corroborated across 8 independent newsrooms
  • Velocity & Diffusion: Coverage exploded across 8 distinct news outlets with 9 published articles, achieving a live velocity of 6.
  • Primary Driver: A camper identifies a 25km meteor impact crater in Canada after spotting an unusual circular formation on Google Maps.
  • Predictive Outlook: Archynetys algorithmic models forecast this story will fade from trending status over the next 24 hours.
  • Source Integrity: Verified strictly against primary headline reporting under zero-hallucination protocols.

A hiker planning a camping trip identified a large, circular pit in rugged Canadian terrain using Google Maps. Subsequent examination has confirmed the site is a 390-million-year-old meteor impact crater, now referred to as the Uhackatik crater.

Coverage from outlets including CBC, Live Science, PetaPixel, and The Planetary Society highlights the accidental nature of the discovery. Reports emphasize the scale of the formation, which measures 25km across and remained unidentified for millions of years.

Future reports may provide further geological analysis of the site. Coverage does not yet specify the precise location of the crater within Canada or the specific methods used by scientists to finalize their confirmation.

Synthesized by Archynetys from the headlines below under a strict no-invention contract. ✓ fact-checked: all claims supported by sources Updated 88d ago.

🌍 Language by language

Archynetys detected this story across 2 language editions of the world's news.

🇬🇧 English Jul 16, 22:24 UTC
🇧🇷 Portuguese Jul 18, 12:00 UTC · CNN Brasil

Detected by matching proper nouns and figures that survive translation. Times reflect when each edition's coverage was first indexed.

Quick answers

How was the crater discovered?

A hiker identified a strange circular pit while using Google Maps to plan a camping trip.

How old is the crater?

The crater is estimated to be 390 million years old.

What is the size of the formation?

The meteor impact crater measures 25km in diameter.

Sources (9)

How fast it spread

How fast coverage is spreading — measured hourly from article rate × source diversity. How this works →

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Topics

Canada Uhackatik crater Google Maps Geology Meteor impact

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