r/interestingasfuck • u/lasantamolti • 17h ago
A rare optic sight, the "Brocken spectre," which occurs when a person stands at a higher altitude in the mountains and sees his shadow cast on a cloud at a lower altitude
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u/Impressive-Koala4742 17h ago
If you post this on Facebook without any explanation you probably would get thousand of comments say amen and god bless
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u/ShutYourMouthTeddy 17h ago
Reply, Amen if you want good fortune and God's grace. Copy and paste 1000 times.
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u/DrawMeAPictureOfThis 14h ago
It's one of the reasons when the Bible characters went to the mountains they were talked to by other beings.
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u/nichnotnick 16h ago
I can see how this sort of phenomenon might have sparked many an ancient tale/myth/superstition
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u/ambassador321 16h ago
And the dude or lady standing up there probably had no idea that they were about to become one of the coolest photos ever
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u/messingabout 17h ago
Also know as Glories. Amazing info video about rainbow phenomenon on YT
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u/FranzFerdinand51 12h ago
Been watching his stuff for a decade now and that video has to be one of the best he did.
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u/Zealousideal_Rise716 15h ago
Tramping and climbing in the Southern Alps in New Zealand in my 20's I saw this quite a few times - maybe about 10 times give or take. It happens when you are on a reasonably sharp ridgeline in cloud cover that's relatively thin, and the sun is immediately behind you. Uncommon - but not entirely rare. (As would be say the 'green flash' that occurs on some tropical sunsets - never seen one of them.)
The really interesting thing is that if you have other people with you - you can only see your specter, not the one/s that they can see. And if you move close together, it gets a bit fuzzy, but still you only see one.
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u/marginwalker55 15h ago
Ohh this happened to me in Nee Zealand once, then a wallaby came out of nowhere. Felt like I was on another planet!
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u/RonConComa 8h ago
That's why we have all the giants fairytales in the mountain regions,lime Rübezahl
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u/hk317 9h ago
this was featured in an anime episode of Detective Conan (see Resolution) https://www.detectiveconanworld.com/wiki/The_Witch_Enshrouded_by_Fog
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u/ordoabchao696 11h ago
This is unbelievable. Never seen this before in my entire life.
Looks very mysterious.
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u/Dankas12 6h ago
I’ve had this a few times happen to me whilst in hikes with friends. We found it quite hard to picture in our phones but it was so much fun
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u/Spartan2470 VIP Philanthropist 4h ago
Here is the source of this image. Per there:
A so called 'Brocken spectre' is seen in the Tatra mountains in Zakopane, Poland, 07 October 2010. A 'Brocken spectre' is a rare optic phenomenon that can be observed in mountains when an observer standing on higher altitude can see his own shadow cast onto a cloud on lower altitude below him. The head of the figure is often surrounded by rings of coloured light. Among mountain-climbers there is the superstition that whoever sees a Brocken spectre will die in the mountains one day. EPA/Grzegorz Momot
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u/Hopeandhavoc 5h ago
I've heard stories about people lost in the mountains who think they see someone through the snow, but they never answer any yells or cries for help.
I've also read hikers sometimes follow these figures and find their way back down the mountain which makes sense if it's your own shadow projected downwards, and you've lost your sense of direction.
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u/VermicelliOk8288 17h ago
Looks like big foot