Optical Illusion of The Day: The Brocken Spectre Illusion

Posted: 22 Jul 2015 05:47 AM PDT

Good morning to all, and what a beautiful morning it is! I have something a little different for you today.

Take a look at the photographs below and tell me what you see…

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When I first saw these images, they looked like someone had taken pictures of ghostly beings or figures. They almost had a spiritual feel to them. But, I’m a pretty logical and level headed kind of person, and I really don’t believe in that sort of thing. Then, I wondered if these could have been Photoshopped.

What I found after a little research, though, surprised me a little. The ghostly figures in the clouds above are real! Well, after a fashion, anyway. This is a natural phenomena known as the Brocken spectre.

Broken spectre shadows occur when your shadow is cast on clouds or fog below a person when the sun is behind them. There is often a halo or circular rainbow surrounding the shadow, and the shadow usually appears very large. It is often seen by mountain climbers on the Broken, the highest peak of the Harz mountain range in Germany. Hence the name—Broken spectre.

However, the Broken spectre can also be seen in other areas as well, if the conditions are just right. Although this usually occurs in nature, some people have successfully created their own Brocken spectre with their car headlights on a foggy night.

If this Brocken spectre illusion intrigued you, check out another neat natural phenomena—the double unset!

The post The Brocken Spectre Illusion appeared first on Mighty Optical Illusions.

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