Recently my mum sent me a link on a hiker witnessing a Brocken spectre, and gosh, what a wormhole I fell into reading about it— I just have to share! Having been unfamiliar myself only a short time ago, I’ll refer folks to the wiki explanation for its occurrence:
The “spectre” appears when the sun shines from behind the observer, who is looking down from a ridge or peak into mist or fog. The light projects their shadow through the mist, often in a triangular shape due to perspective. The apparent magnification of size of the shadow is an optical illusion that occurs when the observer judges their shadow on relatively nearby clouds to be at the same distance as faraway land objects seen through gaps in the clouds, or when there are no reference points by which to judge its size. The shadow also falls on water droplets of varying distances from the eye, confusing depth perception. The ghost can appear to move (sometimes suddenly) because of the movement of the cloud layer and variations in density within the cloud.
(source)
Check out this hiker’s video of his own spectre:
My first Brocken Spectre. Creepy to see it out the corner of my eye and think it was someone else moving pic.twitter.com/j38PhwGZqE
— Chris Randall (@ultrapeakschris) November 13, 2022
A likely explanation for the Dark Watchers of the Santa Lucia Mountains in California and similar sightings around the globe, I have to say, it’s a wee bit disappointing when science bursts my supernatural-loving bubble! 😂
