Experts recognized Fata Morgana in a mysterious phenomenon filmed in Newfoundland. And they assume that something similar in its time destroyed the Titanic there.
The white object hovering over the iceberg was noticed by an Internet user with the nickname 235FireFly. I noticed it on May 17, 2014, traveling by car along the coast of Newfoundland and admiring these very icebergs. Naturally, he was surprised, filmed what was happening on video and posted the footage on Youtube.
A small iceberg hung over a large iceberg
235FireFly itself did not understand what it was. Decided it was UFO. Numerous spectators also expressed their bewilderment, leaving their responses. And yet there were experts who figured out the nature of the phenomenon, recognizing in it Fata Morgana - in fact, a mirage.
Fata Morgana is an amazing optical phenomenon. It got its strange name thanks to the myths about King Arthur, in which the evil fairy Morgana acted. In the old days, it was believed that it was she who created mirages on the seas in the form of close islands, bizarre castles, ships that lure and destroy sailors. Because in fact they are located in completely different places and very far from observers.
Most often, Fata Morgana appears as a wall of water that seems to be approaching from the horizon. Or in the form of a set of elongated objects that are inverted, distorted. Sometimes, whole ships appear before observers, which can float in the air. Scientists are sure that it is thanks to such mirages that the legends about the "Flying Dutchman" - a ghost ship, arose.
In the Sea, Fata Morgana occurs as a result of the so-called thermal inversion. This is when warm air falls in layers on top of cold air (usually the opposite is true). And one of them - the middle one - forms an atmospheric channel, which begins to act both as a lens and as a refractive prism. It is he who creates mirages, while bending the rays with arcs. Zooms in on very distant objects and places them in front of observers.
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To observe the illusion, the viewer must necessarily be inside the atmospheric channel itself. Specifically before 235FireFly, Fata Morgana appeared as the tip of the iceberg. If you look closely, the floating piece exactly repeats its shape.
Fata Morgana education scheme
Fata Morgana sometimes turns into a sailboat hanging in the air
BTW
"Titanic" could really fall victim to a mirage
The hypothesis about the involvement of the mirage in the crash of the legendary ocean liner, which was on its way to Newfoundland on April 14, 1912, in full swing, is perhaps the most exotic. It was put forward a couple of years ago - to the centenary of the tragedy - by the famous British historian Tim Maltin, speaking on the air of the National Geographic TV channel.
The scientist did not dispute the fact that the Titanic collided with an iceberg. But he explained why they had not seen him from the ship. And they tried to maneuver only when contact with the ice block could no longer be avoided.
According to Multin, the iceberg was literally hidden from observers on the Fata Morgana ship. And he was moving in time for Newfoundland.
The historian studied the weather reports of the time and the area in which the Titanic sank. And he came to the conclusion: the situation in the atmosphere was conducive to the emergence of a mirage, which appeared directly along the course of the ship, appeared, according to Maltin, in the form of a wall of water. Observers might not have seen her. Or not pay attention - it was dark. But this ghostly substance actually hid the iceberg.
Fata Morgana can also become a wall of water. About the same ruined the "Titanic", covering the iceberg from it.
Fata Morgana often occurs in cold - polar or subpolar - waters, where the rays of light can first be reflected from the sea surface, then refract in the atmospheric channel at the border of cold and warm air, then go into the sky, be reflected there … So an elongated mirage could arise - in the form of a wall of water, which hid the iceberg.
Maltin has no doubts that for the same reason Stanley Lord - the captain of the nearby California - did not immediately go to rescue the passengers of the Titanic. He assured me later that I simply did not see him. It seems that he was not lying. Fata Morgana could also hide the ship. Or distort the picture.