A ship that levitates above the waters.
David Morris, a 52-year-old property developer, took this incredible photo on a walk along the English Channel coast in southwest England.
Posted on his Facebook account, the snap went viral on social media last weekend.
No, it is not a photographic montage but rather the reality seen by our eye.
A distorted reality, of course, since, contrary to appearances, the boat is indeed floating on the sea. It is a “superior mirage”, which can be explained by a phenomenon of temperature inversion.
In general, cold air stands above warm air (it is colder at altitude). On this sunny morning, the phenomenon was reversed: the cold air found itself stuck in the sea, and the hot air above. Special atmospheric conditions which bend the light, with the consequence of seeing an object located below the horizon line ... or else "floating" as in this specific case. These optical effects are very rare in our latitudes, but more frequent in the Arctic. In this region in the north of the globe, the temperature differences between the sea and the air more often cause a change in the density of the air. And a magical spectacle.
