# Optical illusions at sea



## Whizzbang (May 9, 2008)

Hi,
I'm reading a book which describes super refraction, and I've read the thread on this board about anomalous radar traces of shore lines/ice etc. at extreme distances. I was wondering if any mariners on this board had any experiences with these phenomena (visual, not radar) and other optical illusions, such as Fata Morgana (sp?)

Cheers!

Trevor


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## G0SLP (Sep 4, 2007)

I was anchored off Leixoes, Portugal, & looking at a ship passing a few miles offshore, almost at the horizon, you could see a 'mirror image' of the vessel above it! Weird (POP) 

I can't recall the proper technical name for this phenomenen, unfortunately


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## Whizzbang (May 9, 2008)

http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/elements/supmrge.htm

Your account seems to be a superior mirage. Fascinating!


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## william dillon (Jun 9, 2005)

I remember seeing double a few times.............LOL.


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## ROBERT HENDERSON (Apr 11, 2008)

I was in the MED off the Libyan coast and was picking up the shoreline both sides of the radar screen, it actually looked on radar as it we were going across land.
Also passing Grays on the Thames you get the impression another vessel is on a collision course as you approach the overhead electricity cables, OK in clear weather but a little disconcerting in fog.


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## andysk (Jun 16, 2005)

G0SLP said:


> I was anchored off Leixoes, Portugal, & looking at a ship passing a few miles offshore, almost at the horizon, you could see a 'mirror image' of the vessel above it! Weird (POP)
> 
> I can't recall the proper technical name for this phenomenen, unfortunately


I think this was reported a few times in the Marine Observer, the ?quarterly? mag of the Met Office reporting on maritime observations from ships.

I wouldn't have a clue where to find it in the archives, maybe the Met Office themselves in Exeter ?


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

G0SLP said:


> I was anchored off Leixoes, Portugal, & looking at a ship passing a few miles offshore, almost at the horizon, you could see a 'mirror image' of the vessel above it! Weird (POP)
> 
> I can't recall the proper technical name for this phenomenen, unfortunately [/QUOTE
> 
> ...


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## BlythSpirit (Dec 17, 2006)

Try this one for a superior mirage(Thumb)


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## Geoff_E (Nov 24, 2006)

Saw super-refraction with totally inverted images of vessels and structures off Sakhalin Island last June - July when we were installing the Piltun platform deck module. I took a few photos but they didn't come anywhere near doing justice to the phenomena.


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## Pat Thompson (Jan 25, 2006)

Greetings Mon Braves,

I don't know about "Optical Illusions" but I have had a number of "Optical Delusions"...My Mum warned me about them especially in the "Devon", Church Street, Hartlepool.

Aye

Pat Thompson

You can't get enough photos of "O'Boats"


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## M29 (Apr 20, 2007)

Whizzbang said:


> Hi,
> I'm reading a book which describes super refraction, and I've read the thread on this board about anomalous radar traces of shore lines/ice etc. at extreme distances. I was wondering if any mariners on this board had any experiences with these phenomena (visual, not radar) and other optical illusions, such as Fata Morgana (sp?)
> 
> Cheers!
> ...


Hi
We once sailed through ourselves in fog. A faint image of our ship came out of the fog and straight through us. Quite a weird experience! like sailing into a mirror. I beleive this may be the origin of the legend of the "Flying Dutchman"

Alan


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## Chris Field (Apr 3, 2005)

I remember being unable to see lighthouses etc on the coast S of Port Pirie by day until you were well within the normal range of visibility- apparently due to refraction because of the high temps. Somewhat disturbing in pre-GPS times...


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## Paul_Lee (May 2, 2008)

Hello,
I thought I'd resurrect this old thread as it is a bit topical.

Last week, I saw a do***entary on a satellite channel which alledges
that there was a mirage effect in the area of the Titanic and this confused the lookouts and the Californian (strangely "rockets" were never mentioned once in the do***entary).

A diagram here:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/scien...anic-Sink-Because-of-an-Optical-Illusion.html
(picture no.6) shows how the Titanic fired rockets, but with the aid
of a false horizon, the rockets did not seem to go very high, in line
with the "they reached half the height of the mast light of the other ship" as mentioned by the OOW of the Californian.

What I am wondering, and maybe this is something that mariners with experience can help me with, is how high this "false horizon" can seem to be above the normal horizon? The do***entary showed a few pictures of ships distorting - such as the ones at http://www.atoptics.co.uk/fz150.htm - but the mirage "band" seems to very short.
Knowing how high the rockets went, and the claimed distance that the Titanic and the Californian were (10 miles, it is claimed in the doc.), I've worked out that the mirage band from real to false horizon was about 0.7 degrees - or nearly 1 1/2 times the diameter of a full moon. This seems unnaturally high to me.

Can anyone with experience of mirages comment on this?

Best wishes

Paul


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## Michal-S (Nov 30, 2010)

Last time I saw super-refraction during winter time of 2011 in the Baltic Sea.
Proceeding towards Gulf of Finland, in morning early hours, Finnish coasts were visible at more than 120 miles and opposite going vessels, in mirror image, at more than 40 miles-approaching closer and regaining their natural shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, I did not manage to shoot any good picture then as the horizon ang general visibility appeared hazy.


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## jamesgpobog (Feb 18, 2012)

A few years ago the wife and I were on a cruise in the Caribbean, sailing into the sunrise. We had a stern cabin, and there was a very strong double rainbow behind the ship, looked to be about 20 feet away. Pretty damn spectacular.


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## NJ Dave (Jan 9, 2010)

I've been browsing this site for some time, my first post.

You might want to look into the New York Times archives, within the last week there was an extensive article by a couple of researchers on unusual lunar and weather abberations as they relate to visual and optical distortions which might have been in play during the Titanic disaster.


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## Paul_Lee (May 2, 2008)

Just doodled some sketches

http://titanic-model.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=100&topic_id=45966&mesg_id=45966&page=


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