floating cruise ship
Jade Small
Jade Small
December 7, 2023 ·  3 min read

Another boat is spotted ‘floating in mid-air’ off Britain

Through the occurrence of a rather strange kind of mirage, the sighting of a boat floating in mid-air has been made possible. The phenomenon, known as Fata Morgana, distorts our vision over distances. In this case, it made it appear as if the 168,000-tonne cruise liner known as the Anthem of the Seas was floating a short distance from the Bournemouth coast.

A boat floating in mid-air

A witness, Ryan Rushforth, who happened to see the great airborne Royal Caribbean cruise liner, wondered: ‘Is it me or is this boat floating?’, before expressing that the sighting ‘Was really, really amazing to see it in person, it looked incredible‘ The Anthem, as she is known, is 347 meters long with a capacity of 4,180.[1]

This rare spectacle was witnessed all across the country—reported sightings in Devon, Aberdeenshire, and Cornwall in only a few days. Rushforth was the last to see the boat floating in mid-air off the Bournemouth coastline in Dorset. Reports of seeing this type of mirage may be common in places such as the Arctic, but it is an infrequent sight to see in the UK.  

An optical illusion

Fata Morgana, the optical illusion responsible for this outlandish scene, occurs due to temperature changes in the air over the sea or land. Cooler air sinks beneath the hot air, which bends the light path between the ship and the viewer. This difference in hot and cold air produces what is known as a temperature gradient. The light then bends while passing across the spaces between the air currents created. Your brain naturally perceives light in straight lines. So when this path is altered it compensates by seemingly placing the object in the distance where it would be if the path of light were completely straight.[1]

An image of a cruise ship appearing to float in mid air taken off the coast of the UK.
Image Credit: Ryan Rushforth/ Triangle News via The Daily Mail

A meteorologist with the BBC, David Braine, revealed that the incident is the work of weather conditions. These conditions allow the light to refract in this manner.

Superior mirages occur because of the weather condition known as a temperature inversion. This is where cold air lies close to the sea with warmer air above it. Since cold air is denser than warm air, it bends light towards the eyes of someone standing on the ground or on the coast, changing how a distant object appears. Superior mirages can produce a few different types of images – here a distant ship appears to float high above its actual position, but sometimes an object below the horizon can become visible”

Not the first boat floating in mid-air

In Cornwall, another case of a boat floating in mid-air was reported by David Morris. He photographed the ship a fair distance from Falmouth. Morris exclaimed how “stunned” he was after taking the picture as he gazed over the ocean from the small town of Gillan. There may have been many reported sightings of objects hovering over the water. Morris stated that some people have even seen objects reveal themselves from below the horizon. All because of the effect of the mirage.[2]

These incidents can easily leave one at a loss for words. So it’s a good thing there is a fully documented scientific explanation. Or, we may just start believing that a boat floating in mid-air was due to supernatural forces of some sort or other. Optical Illusions or mirages are common in extremely cold climate regions such as the Arctic. However, they have also been known to occur in hot dry regions like the desert. The most important factor to understand is that it is the human eye that allows these almost fantastical visions to take place.

Keep Reading: This incredible image shows a rare phenomenon of the moon surrounded by a celestial rainbow

Sources

  1. ANOTHER boat is spotted ‘floating in mid-air’ off Britain. as bizarre optical illusion. Makes it appear as if cruise ship is hovering above the water.Daily Mail. Isabella Nikolic. March 18, 2021.
  2. “‘Hovering ship’ photographed off Cornish coast by walker.BBC. March 4.