JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It is haunting. Ghostly shadows appearing larger than life in the foggy darkness seem like a classic Halloween hoax. These photographs are not made up but show a real optical illusion called a Brocken Spectre.
You may possibly catch the spooky sight with more fog in Jacksonville's forecast.
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Car headlights magnified a man's shadow in an odd triangular shape during a foggy night.
Fog composed of water droplets of varying differences confuses the observer's depth perception revealing a towering shadow when a light source shines behind the person.
In sunlight, Brocken Spectre are a natural phenomenon that typically develop on any misty mountainside or cloud bank. The sun must shine behind a climber who is perched above the clouds looking down.
German climbers who often spotted the Spectre around the Brocken Peak held a superstition that whoever sees a Brocken Spectre will die in the mountains the very next day.
What's even more frightening for wandering hikers, the ghostly figure can sometimes appear to move rapidly when the cloud layer moves or there are variations in its density.
If your car light shines on a towering shadow this Halloween know its no trick but a rare treat.