In the fall of 2023, amateur astronomer Joël Lapointe was doing something very ordinary: mapping forest roads for a summer road trip in Quebec. While zooming into the northern regions on Google Maps, he noticed something that seemed nothing out of the ordinary. It was a clear, circular depression in the landscape, about 100 kilometers north of Magpie City.On the screen it appeared as a ring-shaped pit in the middle of the forest. For someone who loves space and meteorites, this was enough to stop him. “For an amateur astronomer who loves space and loves meteorites, it was amazing,” LaPointe later recalled, CTV News reported.
From “This Can’t Be Real” to “Maybe It Is”
Lapointe’s first reaction was not to celebrate; Instead it was doubting oneself. Surely, he thought, if it were really something important, scientists would already know about it.“I said to myself, ‘You haven’t discovered anything, Joel, it’s not possible, they must already know about it,'” according to the report.But the more he looked, the more the circular shape troubled him. They checked known crater databases and could not find any listings matching the location. That absence planted a seed: Maybe it wasn’t just a random geological feature. Maybe it really was something overlooked.Rather than brush the idea aside, LaPoint decided to reach out to the experts.It was not immediate. It took some effort for him to find researchers willing to investigate. Eventually, a French research station took interest in the strange crater they had identified. For Lapointe, this was both exciting and nerve-wracking.He added, “It was exciting, I wanted to get the latest news as soon as possible, but I didn’t bother them because they are professionals.” He knew that good science takes time.
A cautious scientist, a tough expedition
News of the possible crater reached Gordon Osinski, an earth sciences professor at Western University in London, Ontario, who studies impact craters and runs the public reporting site Impact Earth. According to The Canadian Press, he is no stranger to enthusiastic emails about “pits,” which turn out to be mines, lakes or natural depressions.So when he first heard about Lapointe’s discovery through his French colleagues, he was skeptical. Many purported discoveries do not hold up on closer inspection.But this matter came to light. The circular topography of the crater looked interesting, and initial analysis of rock samples revealed something unusual. Curiosity overcame skepticism, and Osinski eventually led an expedition to the site in 2025.The team traveled by float plane to reach the remote location. What they found on the ground was rugged, challenging terrain, a far cry from clean, easily accessible terrain.Osinski said, “We didn’t really know what to expect, where we could land to get to the shore and where we could camp. So it was going into the unknown, which I enjoy, a little bit of an adventure.”
How do you prove that it is a crater?
PC: AI Generated
To confirm that the crater was indeed a meteorite impact crater, researchers needed a specific type of evidence. There are two main routes:Finding meteorites or fragments in or around a structure.Finding signs in the surrounding rock that it has been subjected to extreme pressure and energy from an impact.For a crater approximately 25 kilometers in diameter, which is much larger than many recent smaller impacts, meteorite fragments are unlikely to be found. Over hundreds of millions of years, any remaining fragments are often destroyed, buried, or otherwise lost.So the team focused on the rock.On the site, they quickly found key indicators:Shattered cones are distinctive, cone-shaped fracture patterns in rock that formed under the extreme pressure of a meteorite strike.Impact melt rocks are rocks that literally melt and then solidify again due to the intense heat generated by the impact.These features do not arise from normal geological processes. Together, they strongly point to a violent collision from space.“We almost made a bet: ‘How old do you think the crater is?’,” Osinski said. At first, they estimated it to be between about 38 and 200 million years old. The actual age turned out to be much older: about 390 million years.This places this event long before dinosaurs, mammals or humans; At a time when life on land was just beginning and early amphibians were among the pioneers.
Naming of Uhakatik and inclusion in a short list
PC: AI Generated
Impact craters are so rare that confirmation of a new crater is big news in Earth science. Globally, perhaps one or two are identified each year, and many of them are small structures.In Canada, it was a long quiet period.“The last crater to be discovered in Canada, period, was in 2010. So it’s been 16 years since we’ve had any new craters reported in Canada, so it’s fun to add to the list,” Osinski said.After discussions with the Ekuanitsit Innu Council, the crater received a name: Uhakatik. Its naming in collaboration with the local indigenous community acknowledges both its scientific importance and its location on traditional lands.For Lapointe, confirmation occurred in stages. The research team sent him some details and photos from their expedition and reported that they had found evidence of the impact. He remembers that moment well.“At that time, I was over the moon, because it was real,” he said.They also had to remain silent at first – sworn to secrecy until the scientists were ready to share their findings publicly and present them at the annual meeting of the Meteorological Society in Germany.
From planning a road trip to intense time
When LaPoint finally got the green light to talk, he was at work. He immediately told a colleague and fellow amateur astronomer. Together, they tried to wrap their minds around the scale he had helped uncover.They weren’t just thinking about a hole in the woods; They were thinking about the moment 390 million years ago when a meteorite struck what is now Quebec, leaving a scar so large it was still visible from space.“At that time, life on Earth was still in its infancy. There were primitive amphibians; it takes us back to a completely different era. It’s very impressive that after so much time we still have traces (of that period),” Lapointe said.This story, first reported by The Canadian Press, shows how modern tools like satellite maps can put deep time within reach of everyday people. It also highlights something quietly inspiring: you don’t have to be a professional scientist to make a real contribution. Curiosity, persistence, and the decision to ask “Could it be something else?” Summer road-trips can bridge the gap between planning and discovery related to Earth’s ancient history.Thinking about Lapointe’s experience, does it make you more likely to look a little closer at landscapes you see on maps or in person, and wonder what hidden stories might be hiding in plain sight there?