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mirage An optical phenomenon in which objects appear distorted, displaced (raised or lowered), magnified, multiplied, or inverted due to varying atmospheric refraction when a layer of air near the earth's surface differs greatly in density from surrounding air. These can be very prominent at sea in special conditions. I have seen a buoy appear as a giant Darth Vader-type tug looming on the horizon when viewed from one deck and like a normal distant buoy from another. Any evening when heat waves can be seem shimmering across the sun is a good candidate for abnormal refraction. False horizons in the polar regions are another form of mirage. The apparent false horizon could be below or above the actual horizon in these conditions. Mirages in the Arctic are well known and may have accounted for several cases of new lands reported by one explorer but not found by the next. See also fata morgana.

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