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A camping trip planned on Google Maps turned into one of the biggest space discoveries in recent years. Canadian amateur astronomer Joël Lapointe spotted a huge circular mark while exploring Quebec’s Côte-Nord region in 2024, and scientists later confirmed it as a 390-million-year-old meteorite crater.
Lapointe noticed the unusual 25-kilometer-wide ring around Lake Marsal while searching for hiking routes. After finding no record in existing crater databases, he reported the site to Impact Earth, a public crater registry managed by Western University in Canada.
Planetary geologist Gordon Osinski led a research expedition to the remote location in October 2025. The team crossed difficult terrain before discovering shatter cones, impact melt rock, and zircon evidence, which proved a powerful meteorite created the structure around 390 million years ago.
Researchers later named the crater Uhackatik after consulting the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit, whose traditional lands include the site. Scientists presented the discovery at the 2026 Meteoritical Society meeting before peer review.
Only about 200 confirmed meteorite impact craters exist worldwide, and experts identify just one or two new craters each year. Osinski believes Uhackatik ranks among the most significant discoveries since the Greenland Hiawatha structure emerged in 2018.
Lapointe’s discovery shows how an ordinary Google Maps search can uncover an extraordinary chapter of Earth’s ancient history.
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