UM-Bot Posted October 12, 2016 #1 Share Posted October 12, 2016 An intriguing optical illusion has been caught on camera from the shores of North America's largest lake. http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/299718/ghost-ship-illusion-appears-on-lake-superior Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freetoroam Posted October 12, 2016 #2 Share Posted October 12, 2016 (edited) Hmm, strangest looking ship I have ever seen. Edited October 12, 2016 by UM-Bot Removed inflammatory remark - keep the comments constructive please. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted October 12, 2016 #3 Share Posted October 12, 2016 Looks nothing like a ship. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rashore Posted October 12, 2016 #4 Share Posted October 12, 2016 My initial thoughts were I thought it looked more like a tower or something like that- sometimes buildings are "enhanced" by the weather conditions over the great lakes. They can take on a haze or shimmer, like a desert mirage. And it distorts the true shape of the building. I guess it could be a tall ship too, but I doubt it. It could also be plumes- like from industry or burning, or even a cloud mass- sometimes those look really weird over the water too. And then I read the article after- I like to see what I can see without spoilers first And darn it if the article didn't mention that it might be a lighthouse, and that there was a rare weather mirage out that way too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keel M. Posted October 12, 2016 #5 Share Posted October 12, 2016 I've watched a few episodes of a show on the Weather Channel (can't recall the title at the moment) where they discuss all manner of weather phenomena. One similar to this has been discussed where ships closer in appeared to be floating over the water. Or looked bigger than they actually were. So this could be something shorter in reality, but the distance and the atmosphere make it appear much taller than it is. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herbygant Posted October 12, 2016 #6 Share Posted October 12, 2016 Cloud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExoPaul Posted October 12, 2016 #7 Share Posted October 12, 2016 I believe its a magnified optical illusion of the Granite Island Lighthouse. If you take the image of the lighthouse (and nearby metal structure) and stretch it vertically, a bit like how mirrors stretch bodies at carnival sideshows, you can see that it is a stretched distortion of it. I would imagine that it is the same sort of illusion that makes oil tankers float in the sky. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OverSword Posted October 12, 2016 #8 Share Posted October 12, 2016 It's a ship from the Fae Court of Winter. No doubt it has something to do with a case that Harry Dresden is working. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Ship Posted October 12, 2016 #9 Share Posted October 12, 2016 (edited) Something like what happened in the movie The Mist may be happening. Like the cloud city seen in Japan. Edited October 12, 2016 by Ghost Ship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelling Man Posted October 13, 2016 #10 Share Posted October 13, 2016 This happens every day that humidity is high at water level on the Great Lakes. I've seen this more times than I can count. Normal sighting distance for a Laker (commercial ship on the Great Lakes) is about 15-miles, but when humidity is high and lighting is right, you can see Lakers that are well over the horizon - up to about 25 miles away. For large buildings like evaporation/cooling towers at nuke plants or sky-scrapers, it is even farther. I've seen the skyline of Cleveland from Pelee Point in Canada... some 50 miles away. On the Great Lakes, this affect is called, 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarakore Posted October 13, 2016 #11 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Fata Morgana. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curiouse Posted October 13, 2016 #12 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Or it could be JC walking on the water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qxcontinuum Posted October 14, 2016 #13 Share Posted October 14, 2016 On 10/12/2016 at 8:13 AM, herbygant said: Cloud. No Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gumball Posted October 15, 2016 #14 Share Posted October 15, 2016 It's the lighthouse. Web images make it hard to mistake for anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrLzs Posted October 16, 2016 #15 Share Posted October 16, 2016 Can't be bothered, but if we had the exact location from which the image was taken and it was possible to work out a rough azimuth from the imagery, we could verify what the camera was pointing at. These mirages generally go straight up/down... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getreal1951 Posted October 28, 2016 #16 Share Posted October 28, 2016 kinda looks like twin towers coming down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toast Posted October 28, 2016 #17 Share Posted October 28, 2016 4 hours ago, getreal1951 said: kinda looks like twin towers coming down. What? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted October 30, 2016 #18 Share Posted October 30, 2016 I can see how it could be thought of as a sail, although it rather looks like that hotel in, is it Dubai? Somewhere round there anyway. This one: Anyway, it's probably a mirage, these things usually are, I find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badeskov Posted October 30, 2016 #19 Share Posted October 30, 2016 On 10/15/2016 at 7:32 PM, ChrLzs said: Can't be bothered, but if we had the exact location from which the image was taken and it was possible to work out a rough azimuth from the imagery, we could verify what the camera was pointing at. These mirages generally go straight up/down... Can't be bothered either. But I will say that where I live we have the channel islands. And, interestingly, under some interesting atmospheric conditions one of the islands we can see it from the beach. Really odd. Cheers, Badeskov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brlesq1 Posted November 8, 2016 #20 Share Posted November 8, 2016 Doesn't look like a ship to me. Looks more like a plume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk516 Posted February 7, 2021 #21 Share Posted February 7, 2021 Based on my experience, it's the silhouette of the stern of the longest freighter on the Great Lakes, the "Paul R. Tregurtha", passing by what I think is the Stannard Rock Lighthouse, heading down the charted "shipping lanes"(beyond that lighthouse(as shown on NOAA Chart #14961))toward the Whitefish Point Lighthouse and the Soo Locks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rashore Posted February 7, 2021 #22 Share Posted February 7, 2021 8 minutes ago, jk516 said: Based on my experience, it's the silhouette of the stern of the longest freighter on the Great Lakes, the "Paul R. Tregurtha", passing by what I think is the Stannard Rock Lighthouse, heading down the charted "shipping lanes"(beyond that lighthouse(as shown on NOAA Chart #14961))toward the Whitefish Point Lighthouse and the Soo Locks. Wow, that's precise. Thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonman Posted February 8, 2021 #23 Share Posted February 8, 2021 Just saw a show where this very picture was 100% proven to be an island out in the lake with buildings on it. Normally it can't be seen from shore but weather conditions that day created the mirage effect and "raised" it up to viewing height. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montello Posted April 20, 2021 #24 Share Posted April 20, 2021 like flying dutchman in ocean near capetown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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