Weekend full moon creates cool illusion at Idaho’s Shoshone Falls

This weekend offered a unique combination of cosmic occurrences in the form of a full moon, lunar eclipse and comet in one night. But the celestial sights brought a little something extra to south-central Idaho: an optical illusion.

The trick of the moonlight was caught on camera by the National Weather Service and shared on the organization’s Boise branch Facebook page. The short video shows Shoshone falls early Sunday morning, as captured via NWS webcam.

“The Snow Moon combined with the high runoff at Shoshone Falls caused an optical illusion on the webcam of filling up the pool below the waterfall like a bathtub,” the Facebook post said.

It’s not clear how exactly the moonlight and high water cause the apparition, but sure enough, water appears to creep up the falls over the course of several hours before quickly disappearing.

This story was originally published February 12, 2017 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Weekend full moon creates cool illusion at Idaho’s Shoshone Falls."