Optical illusion: Check out this floating ship!
- Published
- comments
The ship looks like its floating in the air!
A rare optical illusion has made it seem like a ship is floating in the air above the sea.
The picture was taken in Falmouth, Cornwall and is an example of a "superior mirage".
The photographer David Morris was stunned by what he captured, thinking the ship was floating.
But what was really going on? ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ meteorologist David Braine has explained that illusions like this can occur because of "special atmospheric conditions that bend light".
He went on to explain that is can happen when the air is very cold. "Since cold air is denser than warm air, it bends light towards the eyes of someone standing on the ground or on the coast, changing how a distant object appears," he said.
David Morris took the photographs when walking on the coast near Falmouth
"Superior mirages can produce a few different types of images - here a distant ship appears to float high above its actual position, but sometimes an object below the horizon can become visible."
This kind of illusion is very common in the Arctic but only happens very rarely in Winter time in the UK.
- Published6 June 2019
- Published6 August 2019
- Published10 April 2015
