Local resident Andrew Sietsema first noticed the strange phenomenon while pruning apple trees in the Fruit Ridge area of ​​Kent County. He later posted pictures of the glassy orbs to Facebook and dubbed the icy formations “ghost apples.”

Hail covered the damaged apples, a variety called Jonagold. Then, as Sietsema began pruning the tree, the “apple sauce” fell out of the bottom of the icy shell, leaving only the casing.

“I guess it was cold enough that the ice covering the apple hadn’t melted, but warm enough that the apple inside had completely turned into apple sauce (apples have a lower freezing point than water). And as I was pruning the tree, the tree was shaking, and the apple sauce would slide out of the bottom of the “ghost apple.”

While most of the apples fell off the tree — both ice and apples — “there were only a few that remained as wonderful ‘ghost apples’ on the tree.” Sietsema jokes that these phenomena could also be called “Jona ghosts.”

As of Friday afternoon, Sietsema’s photos of the ghost apples had been shared about 10,000 times.