The Fata Morgana (mirage)

The Fata Morgana

an effect of extraordinary natural phenomenon

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contents

contents

1. Definition, etymology

2. Observing a phenomenon

3. The first sighting

4. ,,Floating cities,,

5. What creates this optical illusion?

6. Examples of the phenomenon

7. Famous legends and observations

definition

The fata morgana effect is a mirage, which is an optical illusion caused by the atmosphere. They especially appear on a sheet of water, in a desert, or on a hot road caused by light.

etymology

"La Fata Morgana" ("The Fairy Morgana") is the name of Morgan le Fay in Italian. Morgan le Fay, also known as Morgane, Morgain, Morgana, and other variants, was described as a powerful sorceress and antagonist of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere in the Arthurian legend.

A Fata Morgana is most commonly seen in polar regions, especially over large sheets of ice that have a uniform low temperature. It may, however, be observed in almost any area.

In polar regions the Fata Morgana phenomenon is observed on relatively cold days.

In deserts, over oceans, and over lakes, however, a Fata Morgana may be observed on hot days.

The first sighting of the fata morgana effect was in 1907 during the Denmark Expedition by the three sailors: Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, J.P. Koch, and Aage Bertelsen, somewhere in an area in the Arctic. Many years later there were more sightings, except they were not only from boats but from planes. They were sighted in the same general area of the first sighting, the northern end of the Greenland Sea.

The first sighting

That place was called Fata Morgana Land because of its similar sightings of the fata morgana effect. Most of the sightings are in the polar regions on a very low-temperature sheet of ice or in the desert on a very hot day. In other words, the fata morgana is usually seen in extremely cold or extremely hot weather.

,,Floating cities,,

The one significant event that the fata morgana caused is the floating city or island above two parts of China, in October of 2015. The first sighting of the floating city was above Yueyang, China, where about 1 million people caught a glimpse of the amazing sight. A bunch of clouds and fog came up and the cloud’s top parted and all of the people saw the floating “alien city”.

A few days later, after the first sighting, the same cloud and fog formed and slowly went away to make the floating city, above Jiangxi, China. There were many reports and theories about the floating city. Some people said it was a paranormal event, like aliens, but almost all of the people said it was a rare optical illusion called the fata morgana effect.

What creates this optical illusion?

Famous legends and observations of the phenomenon

Famous legends and observations

The Flying Dutchman

The Flying Dutchman, according to folklore, is a ghost ship that can never go home, and is doomed to sail the oceans forever. The Flying Dutchman is usually spotted from afar, sometimes seen to be glowing with ghostly light. One of the possible explanations of the origin of the Flying Dutchman legend is a Fata Morgana mirage seen at sea.

Famous legends and observations

Phantom islands

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Fata Morgana mirages may have played a role in a number of unrelated "discoveries" of arctic and antarctic land masses which were later shown not to exist. Icebergs frozen into the pack ice, or the uneven surface of the ice itself, may have contributed to the illusion of distant land features.

Famous legends and observations

UFOs

Fata Morgana mirages may continue to trick some observers and are still sometimes mistaken for otherworldly objects such as UFOs.[38] A Fata Morgana can display an object that is located below the astronomical horizon as an apparent object hovering in the sky. A Fata Morgana can also magnify such an object vertically and make it look absolutely unrecognizable. Some UFOs which are seen on radar may also be due to Fata Morgana mirages.

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