'Ghost' glows amidst clouds in France

A rare phenomenon creates a radiant silhouette and moves between clouds into a photographer's lens.

Florian Clément observes "ghosts" while walking on top of Europe's tallest sand dune Pilat, Mirror on February 2 reported. The 20-year-old photographer quickly recorded the scene while the mysterious figure followed every step he took. This is the Brocken Specter effect, also known as the "mountain ghost" , caused by the shadow of the observer, creating a human figure in the halo between the cloud.

Clément said the Brocken Specter effect is a rare natural phenomenon. This phenomenon caused the observer's shadow to be enlarged to a giant size and cast a shadow on a cloud of suitable density, producing a rainbow-like aura.

"This phenomenon was observed two years ago here, but I only looked at a few photos. It appeared as a special enlarged shadow over the fog and surrounded by a rainbow of circles. The Brocken Specter phenomenon is more familiar to pilots, who are more likely to see , " Clément said.

The Brocken Specter effect is a rare natural phenomenon.

The phenomenon is named after a mountain peak in the Harz Mountains in Germany, where it frightens mountain climbers for centuries. The shadow often looks bulky because the shadow of the observer shines on droplets at different distances from the eye, disrupting the perception of depth.

"Ghosts" always have triangles due to vision, and can move quite suddenly due to the movement of the cloud layer. The phenomenon was first described by Johann Silberschlag in 1780.