Earlier quoted context omitted.
The original title may have changed in response to similar comments.
BBC article names change very frequently, often multiple times in only a few hours.
Probably A/B testing through social media clicks.
'Hovering ship' photographed off Cornish coast by walker
131–140 of 270 posts
Re: 'Hovering ship' photographed off Cornish coast by walker
#132Re: 'Hovering ship' photographed off Cornish coast by walker
#133I've seen this optical illusion in person, with large container ships, off the US Mid-Atlantic coast, and it's really cool. The photo in this article is fantastic. It shows an extreme example of the illusion. The ship appears to be, not just hovering over the water, but actually suspended in mid-air. In my view, it's worth clicking on the link just to see the photo.
Something just occurred to me. Is this actually an optical illusion? My idea of an optical illusion is one where your brain perceives something that is different from reality. Indeed, when I look it up I see examples of that (e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_illusion ) But in this case your brain isn't doing anything wrong, the light reaching your eyes is what's "wrong" and your brain is correctly interpret…
Wikipedia uses the term optical phenomenon.
Re: 'Hovering ship' photographed off Cornish coast by walker
#134The Flying Dutchman?
Re: 'Hovering ship' photographed off Cornish coast by walker
#135Holy geez. I expected a tiny gap; this thing looks like an aircraft. Wild.
I wonder if this effect has contributed to some "ghost ship" legends in the past?
Re: 'Hovering ship' photographed off Cornish coast by walker
#136Re: 'Hovering ship' photographed off Cornish coast by walker
#137I sort of freaked out the first time I saw something like this. Then Wikipedia held my hand and said everything was OK and this even has a name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fata_Morgana_(mirage)
There's a spot where I walk my dog near my house. It follows a power line trail up a hill, and you can turn around and see Denali. For whatever reason, on warm spring days Fata Morgana distortion is fairly common from this spot. I've seen it a few times. At it's most obvious, Denali will appear to be sitting on a pedestal of sheer cliffs, thousands of feet high, surrounded by non existent tabletop mountains and impro…
Have you uploaded pictures anywhere?
Re: 'Hovering ship' photographed off Cornish coast by walker
#138I've seen this optical illusion in person, with large container ships, off the US Mid-Atlantic coast, and it's really cool. The photo in this article is fantastic. It shows an extreme example of the illusion. The ship appears to be, not just hovering over the water, but actually suspended in mid-air. In my view, it's worth clicking on the link just to see the photo.
Something just occurred to me. Is this actually an optical illusion? My idea of an optical illusion is one where your brain perceives something that is different from reality. Indeed, when I look it up I see examples of that (e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_illusion ) But in this case your brain isn't doing anything wrong, the light reaching your eyes is what's "wrong" and your brain is correctly interpret…
The Wikipedia article contains a helpful table [1], which classifies optical illusions. One kind are "physical" illusions, like rainbows or distortions (think stick in water). I think the hovering ship is of that kind. Other kinds include "physiological" or "cognitive", which are tricking your brain.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_illusion#/media/File:G...
Re: 'Hovering ship' photographed off Cornish coast by walker
#139I've seen this optical illusion in person, with large container ships, off the US Mid-Atlantic coast, and it's really cool. The photo in this article is fantastic. It shows an extreme example of the illusion. The ship appears to be, not just hovering over the water, but actually suspended in mid-air. In my view, it's worth clicking on the link just to see the photo.
Something just occurred to me. Is this actually an optical illusion? My idea of an optical illusion is one where your brain perceives something that is different from reality. Indeed, when I look it up I see examples of that (e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_illusion ) But in this case your brain isn't doing anything wrong, the light reaching your eyes is what's "wrong" and your brain is correctly interpret…
I think you're right, this is a mirage. The article uses both terms interchangeably.
Re: 'Hovering ship' photographed off Cornish coast by walker
#140It occurred to me that maybe Castle In The Sky (Ghibli) might have some origin (possibly) from such illusions. There was a Chinese news report of a city in the sky illusion. Here's the video, quite impressive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoP1sh1WXm8
The video, although reported to be from the same phenomenon is actually a fake: https://youtu.be/Xmrn2IuSW-Q