A man was walking along the UK coast this week when he was stunned to see what appeared to be a large ship floating in the sky in the distance. His remarkable photos actually show an optical illusion caused by a rare “superior mirage”.
“I told myself, ‘It must be on water,’” said Mr. Morris, a 52-year-old property developer who lives near the Lizard, the most southerly point in mainland Britain. “My head doesn’t want to understand that, but it must be on water.”
One particular photograph that apparently shows a gigantic ship floating in the air has a simple explanation, according to BBC meteorologist David Braine.
Mr Braine said: “Superior mirages occur because of the weather condition known as a temperature inversion, where cold air lies close to the sea with warmer air above it.
“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.