A broken spectre is an unusual phenomenon of weather, light, and positioning that results in the viewer seeing his or her shadow cast below themselves in a cloud, usually surrounded by a prismatic halo. Apparently if you’re hiking on a ridge above the cloudline, the sun is above and behind you AND you look down at just the right angle, you can see it … which sounds incredibly difficult to do.
Luckily, a hiker on the social news site Reddit posted this image of just such a thing happening:
I have never seen this happen but was thinking you could probably get a decent chance during a good June Gloom on the summit of Sandstone Peak if you were above the clouds. Has anyone out there ever had the good fortune to see one in person?
UPDATE: Apparently they are actually called Brocken spectres, or in German, Brockengespenst. It’s named after an often-foggy, easily-accessible mountain in Germany where the phenomenon can often be seen.
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I saw one when I was thirteen on the top of a mountian in Wales. Back then, of course, they were known as Brocken Spectres ;)
this is amazing! I want one!
That’s pretty cool! This is the first time I ever heard of this. Now I want to try and do this.
Wow! You got me exploring Wikipedia for the last half hour, Casey. Brocken Spectres, Solar Glories, fog bows… Thanks to you, I was able to solve a mystery that happened late last year. Move over, double rainbow, I saw a DOUBLE CLOUDBOW! Check it out: http://vimeo.com/18974662
Ha! Glad to be of service … and sorry for sending you down the Wikipedia Hole. I’m a frequent unwitting visitor myself :)
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