18 Unimaginable Optical Illusions You Can Find In Nature
From an underwater waterfall in the Indian Ocean to a freakiest fire tornado of Spain, I rounded up 18 naturally occurring illusions and optical phenomena that will make you double-take surely.
Take a deeper look below at our mystical Nature and find out how these optical illusions are created.
1) Underwater Waterfall?, Mauritius
Down the beautiful shoreline of Mauritius, there appears to be a flowing river underneath the turquoise water of the Indian Ocean. Though underwater waterfalls do exist but this isn't one of them. In this case, what looks like water is actually sand getting pushed off an underwater rack called the Mascarene Plateau.
Do you know, Where the largest waterfall in the world is? Know it here
2) Jacob's Well Natural Area, Texas, US
No, these two kids aren't diving into an abyss, or the edge of any tall cliff, they just want to take a swim in Jacob's Well spring. It is known for petrifying people who jump into this giant watering hole. It looks like thousands of feet deep, but it's only 30 feet deep. With a trick of the light and crystal clear water, it seems like you're jumping thousands of feet deep passage into the Earth.
3) Horsetail Fall, Yosemite National Park, California, US
Is it lava pouring down this cliff? Not at all, it's just a waterfall lighting by the setting sunset in Yosemite National Park at a particular angle, illuminating the top portion of the Horsetail Fall which happens Every year, around the second week of February. If the fall is flowing and the weather conditions are just right, then it’s the best time for you to experience it because the illuminated water glows bright orange and red, as if it's on fire.
4) Glen Canyon, Utah, US
Don't trust your sense of vision with this one either, as it doesn't depict a person walking at the edge of a cliff at all. Instead, the photographer managed to capture the reflection of a cliff in water, which creates an optical illusion.
Do you know that Glen Canyon is located very close to another mind-boggling natural area known as Vermilion Cliffs, a strange wave-like rock formation tourists love.
5) Deadvlei, Namibia
This may look like a freakiest painting to you, but it’s just an illusion. Located inside Namib-Naukluft National Park, Deadvlei (means ‘dead marsh’) is a claypan dotted with many long-dead Camel Thorn trees, which have not yet decayed due to the area's dry climate.
Also Check- The barren landscape, once flooded with water from the nearby Tsauchab River, is now a hot spot for photographers - many of whom have captured the contrast between the claypan's bleached white-coloured floor and sun-scorched trees.
6) Brocken Spectre
This phenomenon occurs when an observer's shadow is cast onto the surface of clouds or thick mist. The head of the enlarged figure is often encircled by rainbow-colored rings
Do you know that there is another moreover same optical phenomenon known as a Glory, which is created when sunlight hits tiny water droplets suspended in the atmosphere and is scattered back toward the viewer.
7) Undulatus Asperatus
While this sky may look like ocean waves, it's actually a special kind of cloud. This type of cloud is especially common after thunderstorms in the Plains states in the US.
Despite their threatening appearance, these clouds usually vanish without causing a storm. Interestingly, Undulatus Asperatus clouds are the latest cloud formations described in meteorology: they have been added to the International Cloud Atlas only in 2017.
8) Lenticular Clouds
Meanwhile, these are clouds, not UFOs. Known for their saucer-like appearance, lenticular clouds are stationary clouds that usually form on the downwind side of a mountain range, given that the temperature is low enough. Under the right conditions, moisture in the air condenses to form these massive, striking shapes in the sky.
9) Roll Cloud
These long tube-shaped clouds just don't look like something that could exist naturally, and yet, they do occur in many coastal areas across the globe - California, the English Channel, Nome (Alaska), Shetland Islands and the North Sea coast. But the place where these roll clouds, also known as 'volutus', occur the most frequently is near Queensland, Australia, where they are affectionately named 'the Morning Glory cloud'.
10) Apache Head, Ebihens, France
There are numerous natural rock formations that resemble faces or animals, but this specific rock caught my eye, as the serious, strong profile combined with grass resembling hair looks as if it is alive. Honestly, this rock looks so anthropomorphic, it would be hardly surprising to watch it come to life.
11) Monkey Face Orchid
Speaking of seeing faces where there are none, take a close look at this beautiful orchid flower called the Monkey Face Orchid (Dracula simia). Can you distinguish the facial features of a monkey in this strange looking flower? I can even see the fluffy eyebrows, and it's somehow very charming.
12) Atlas Moth
When threatened, the atlas moth drops to the ground and flaps its wings. The tips of the insect's wings look incredibly similar to a snake's head, which allows the moth to scare off predators.
13) “Sundogs”
They are created when sunlight is refracted by ice crystals drifting in the air. The result is one or more patches of bright light located around the sun.
14) ‘Fata Morgana’
This is an optical phenomenon that is created when light bends as it passes through a layer of air that is warmer than the layer below it. Made up of several inverted and upright images stacked on top of each other, Fata Morganas appear as warped, often unrecognizable, objects or shapes that seem to float above the horizon.
15) Baja California Desert, Mexico
What looks just like a pretty drawing of tree branches is actually an aerial view of the desert in Baja California, Mexico. In this photo, you see a river spreading across the barren, snow-covered desert land.
16) ‘Floating Water Droplets’
Is this a closeup shot of water at zero gravity, or are the water droplets really suspended in the air as a result of some other natural phenomenon? As a matter of fact, this beautiful display is the work of a spider, as it's just a photo of a really fine spider web covered by morning dew. What a rare and beautiful sight it is!
17) “3D” Farmland, Eastern Colorado
If you ever fly across the farmlands of Eastern Colorado in the wintertime, don't be surprised to witness the 3D view from above. The different sections of land, though completely flat, seem like they're situated on different levels. As a matter of fact, this landscape has an eerie resemblance to a paved bumpy road.
18) “Fire Tornado”
What looks like a horrifying fire tornado stretching through the sky is nothing but a clever optical illusion, and luckily, not another terrible natural disaster we should all start worrying about. The photo is, in fact, the image of a famous Rio Tinto river in Huelva, Spain, and the reflection of the surrounding forest in the water. River gets its fiery red and orange hue from dissolved iron deposits in the water, creating a very unusual looking landscape.
Source: Google.com & Insider
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