Canadian photographer Simone Engels was utterly astonished when she discovered a massive white structure that appeared to be floating unusually.
The clear winter sky, promising a beautiful sunset on a recent day in the first month of the new year, led photographer Simone Engels to a park on Vancouver Island.
However, when she pointed her lens at the pink-tinged scene along the Pacific coast, she was overwhelmed to see a structure resembling a large iceberg on the horizon, as reported by the Guardian on January 25.
“It was a huge, bright three-dimensional structure,” Engels said. “It looked very real.”
Canadian photographer Simone Engels was astounded by the sight she saw and thought it was a strange iceberg. In reality, it was an illusion, a fascinating light trick. (Photo: Guardian).
Engels, who had previously studied geography, tried to find an explanation for the phenomenon, considering the possibility that a large iceberg had drifted down from Alaska, passing through narrow straits and archipelagos dramatically.
However, she reasoned that if an iceberg were in the area—especially one as large as that—it would certainly become breaking news in the region.
“I tried to reason it out and really couldn’t come up with an explanation,” she said. “The structure looked so strange, and I was almost convinced it was actually an iceberg,” Engels added.
At that moment, there was no one else around, and Engels captured the image. For nearly half an hour, she observed the white shape on the horizon before it disappeared from view.
Engels shared the image online in hopes of finding an explanation. The initial photo puzzled local residents, including a friend of Engels who specializes in geomorphology.
The image quickly spread, and Engels later learned that the mysterious iceberg was, in fact, an illusion.
In reality, the photographer had observed the Cheam Mountain range in British Columbia, nearly 200 kilometers away—and far beyond the horizon from where Engels was standing.
This illusion is also known as a superior mirage, created during a temperature inversion, where a layer of warm air sits atop a layer of cold air, bending light rays downward.
Light from the setting sun reflects and bends, creating a view on the horizon. From a distance, the snow-covered mountain peaks appear like a towering iceberg.
Engels had seen illusions in the area before but had never witnessed a sight as sharp as the “strange iceberg” on that January evening.
“We are living in a challenging time during the pandemic, and it’s really important for people to realize that there are natural wonders out there waiting to be explored,” she said about the experience that left her utterly amazed. “You can find natural wonders in your own backyard if you just step outside and explore.”
