In the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, where secrets are often hidden beneath the waves, a curious Google Maps user accidentally unveiled a mysterious dark blob that would captivate the imaginations of people worldwide.

It was a calm October day, and this curious discovery set the entire Reddit community abuzz with conspiracy theories. The enigmatic image, shared by a user named Kokoblocks, depicted a black hole that seemed to be approximately 56 acres in size, far away from any significant landmass.

The bewildered user shared the puzzling image of the black island on Reddit with a title that expressed their disbelief, “What the F**K this looks nothing like an island.” And with that, the Reddit world erupted in wild speculations and heated debates.

Some imaginative users feared that this black spot was “the island from Lost,” the famed television show. Others were convinced that the notorious Bermuda Triangle had somehow magically teleported from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. But little did they know, the truth was much less fantastical.

In reality, this mysterious hole in the ocean was none other than Vostok Island, a 56-acre uninhabited island owned by the Republic of Kiribati. Situated hundreds of miles away from the popular vacation destination of Tahiti, Vostok was a marvel waiting to be revealed.

One knowledgeable Redditor stepped in to quell the rumors.“What you see as black is actually very dark green,” they explained. “It’s a very dense forest made up of Pisonia trees.” These majestic trees, reaching heights of up to one hundred feet, often grow so close together that they appear as a single layer of color when viewed from the sky.

The debate took a new turn when Redditor Jazzlike_Log_709 suggested that the image was censored, as it seemed odd for a natural formation to be so black in a shallow atoll or island. However, Live Science confirmed that Google Maps does blur out military bases and classified locations, but this island was not one of them. The mysterious black spot was merely a dense canopy of trees that had grown tall on the remote Pacific island.

This peculiar island of Vostok lies approximately 4,000 miles east of Australia and about 1,500 miles west of Hawaii. It is part of the southern Line Islands, which include Malden, Starbuck, Flint, and Caroline, as reported by the Daily Mail.

Vostok’s history dates back to its first European discovery in 1820 by a band of rugged Russian explorers. They named the island after their vessel, which had carried them through the Pacific Ocean’s southern waters. The United States later claimed the island in 1856 for its abundance of guano, a popular fertilizer and valuable commodity during the Civil War era. Eventually, the island was handed over to the British, and in 1979, it became part of the independent country of Kiribati. Vostok was declared a wildlife sanctuary and has been protected ever since.

In 2009, marine conservationist Enric Sala led an expedition to Vostok to study its fish populations and document its natural resources. And so, the tale of the mysterious black hole in the Pacific Ocean unfolded, revealing the hidden beauty of Vostok Island, a place that had once captured the imagination of Reddit users around the world.

Sources: AWM, Businessinsider, Dailymail