Brits have been left scratching their heads after a massive cruise ship was spotted hovering in the air off the Dorset coast.
The Anthem of the Seas cruise ship has been filmed floating over the sea in Bournemouth, thanks to a terrifying optical illusion.
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The Anthem of the Seas cruise ship was filmed floating over the sea in BournemouthCredit: Ryan Rushforth/Triangle News
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Royal Caribbean’s massive 168,000-tonne, 347-meter-long ship can accommodate 4,180 passengers Credit: Royal Caribbean International
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A rare optical illusion is to blame for the ship’s strange appearance Credit: Ryan Rushforth/Triangle News
Royal Caribbean’s massive 168,000-tonne, 1,150-foot-long ship – with a capacity of 4,180 – appeared to be floating in the air, high above sea level.
Local resident Ryan Rushforth managed to snap the photos near Bournemouth Pier on Wednesday night.
A rare optical illusion is responsible for the strange appearance of the ship.
The phenomenon, known as Fata Morgana, occurs when the sun heats the atmosphere over land or sea.
A layer of warmer air sits on top of a layer of colder air, causing the ship’s light to bend and colors to mix.
For Fata Morgana to appear, the weather conditions must be just right, reports Mail Online.
It starts with a cold air mass near the ground or water surface that is covered by a warm layer of air higher up in the atmosphere.
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The phenomenon, known as Fata Morgana, occurs when the sun heats the atmosphere over land or sea.
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For Fata Morgana to appear, the weather conditions must be right Credit: Ryan Rushforth/Triangle News
Although this phenomenon can occur on land, they are more common at sea because the water helps create the necessary layer of cold air.
A Met Office spokesperson said: “The images appear to show evidence of a phenomenon called Fata Morgana.
“A rare and complex form of mirage in which the horizontal and vertical distortion, inversion, and elevation of objects appear in changing patterns.
“The phenomenon occurs on the surface of the water and is created by the superposition of several layers of air with different refractive indices.”
BBC meteorologist David Braine said the phenomenon is caused by conditions in the atmosphere that bend light.
“Superior mirages occur due to a climatic condition known as a temperature inversion, where cold air is close to the sea and warmer air is above it,” he said.
“Because cold air is denser than warm air, it bends light into the eyes of someone standing on the ground or shoreline, changing the appearance of a distant object.”
The mirage is named after Morgan le Fay, a sorceress from Arthurian legend, who is said to have used her witchcraft to lure unwitting sailors into her traps.
A mirage is believed to be the reason for sightings of the Flying Dutchman, a 17th-century “ghost ship” doomed to sail the seas forever.
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Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: tiengtrunghaato.edu.vn