From Xinhua: photograph of mirage off coast of China

[Dreams End]

If it is Italy or someplace near there...THAT would be impressive. How on earth would light bend from that far and stay that coherent? <p></p><i></i>

[thoughtographer]

Oh my god! Fiction, based on or inspired by misunderstood, manifold and ephemeral real world phenomena? Who knew? <p><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>"A crooked stick will cast a crooked shadow."</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--></p><i></i>

[StarmanSkye]

Very intriguing. The first thought that occurred to me is that this mirage is an actual reflected image of a modern urban city somewhere, caused by natural or manmade plasma lens effect caused by phased microwave energy condition.<br><br>Recent reports of suspicious audio-events of loud 'booming' noises in proximity to oceans have been tied to methane-gas explosions from deep-seabed sudden releases. These gas-explosions may also be tied to natural plasma-creation events through cold-fusion energy releases via sudden collapse of cavitation bubbles.<br><br>Deflections in cosmic-energy or solar radiation caused by anomalies in the earth's magnetic field may be another source of plasma-effect 'lenses'.<br><br>On the man-made front, plasma lenses may be a deliberate effect or even an unintended consequence of high-energy US, Russian, Chinese or 'other' high-energy physics experiments, as perhaps HAARP experiments or other similiar programs, either related to deep-earth/sea imaging, weather-modification, beam-energy experiments or deep-sea ultra-low-frequency communication (US submarine fleet radio transmissions), or something else.<br><br>Another. more 'natural' possibility is that these image phenomena are made possible by temperature-inversion effects (as already suggested), whose relative stability is due to proximity of oceanic thermal vents OR magnetic fluxes caused by an anomalous feature of the earth's core re: electromagnetic currents, OR possibly some kind of atypical localized gravity distortion (deep super-dense/high-mass features, or perhaps a small black-hole located below the crust), or ... ???<br><br>Mebbe, a trans-dimensional/trans-temporal portal of some kind, induced by who-knows-what bizarre events.<br><br>That sure would be something to experience firsthand.<br>Starman <p></p><i></i>