Within Aircrew Cases
Could a Mirage Explain the Shape Shifting Formation?
Atmospheric refraction could have stretched and split a distant image, matching the formation's changing outline and constant bearing.
On this page
- How temperature inversions bend light
- Why one image can appear as several objects
- Which reported details the theory explains
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Introduction
A superior mirage is one of the strongest conventional explanations for the changing outlines reported during the 1954 British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) aircrew sighting near Labrador. It does not require unusual aircraft or extraordinary manoeuvres. Instead, it proposes that a distant object or group of objects was being optically distorted by layers of air at different temperatures, causing a single image to stretch, split, merge and apparently change shape while remaining on almost the same bearing. Although this explanation cannot identify the original object with certainty, it matches several of the most distinctive features described by the witnesses and has been treated seriously by later scientific reviews.[files.ncas.org]files.ncas.orgCondon Report, Sec III, Chapter 5: Optical & Radar AnalysisCondon Report, Sec III, Chapter 5: Optical & Radar Analysis
How temperature inversions bend light
A superior mirage forms when a layer of cold, dense air lies beneath warmer air, creating a temperature inversion. Instead of travelling in straight lines, light rays curve as they pass through these layers. To an observer, the distant object appears higher than its true position and may become visible even if it would normally lie below the geometric horizon.[Skybrary]skybrary.aeroFata Morgana | SKYbrary Aviation SafetyFata Morgana | SKYbrary Aviation Safety…
These conditions are especially associated with long, nearly horizontal lines of sight over cold water or stable air masses. Labrador’s coastal environment and the evening conditions reported during the BOAC sighting are consistent with the type of atmosphere in which strong superior mirages are known to occur. The crew observed the formation close to the horizon in bright evening light, exactly where refraction effects are strongest because the light travels through the greatest thickness of atmosphere.[files.ncas.org]files.ncas.orgCondon Report, Sec III, Chapter 5: Optical & Radar AnalysisCondon Report, Sec III, Chapter 5: Optical & Radar Analysis
Why one image can appear as several objects
One reason the mirage explanation attracts attention is that it naturally accounts for multiple apparent objects without requiring multiple physical craft.
Laboratory studies, field observations and the University of Colorado’s atmospheric optics review all describe superior mirages producing:
- several separate images of a single distant object;
- images that repeatedly join together and separate;
- elongated or compressed shapes;
- inverted and upright image components;
- rapid changes in outline caused by small fluctuations within the refracting layer.[files.ncas.org]files.ncas.orgCondon Report, Sec VI, Chapter 4: Optical MirageCondon Report, Sec VI, Chapter 4: Optical Mirage
In particularly complex superior mirages, often called Fata Morgana, several distorted images can be stacked or displaced, making ships, coastlines or other distant features appear as disconnected shapes rather than recognisable objects. To an observer unaware of the optical conditions, these fragments can resemble a loose formation rather than different images of the same source.[Skybrary]skybrary.aeroFata Morgana | SKYbrary Aviation SafetyFata Morgana | SKYbrary Aviation Safety…
This is relevant because Captain James Howard’s sketches showed the principal object changing from wedge-like to elongated and irregular forms while the smaller companions appeared to rearrange themselves around it. An optical image that repeatedly fragments and recombines requires far fewer assumptions than a group of solid craft constantly altering formation while maintaining almost the same relative bearing.
Which reported details the theory explains
The superior mirage hypothesis does not explain every aspect of the sighting equally well, but it fits several important observations.
The changing outline. Witnesses repeatedly described the large object as changing shape rather than simply changing direction. Shape distortion is one of the defining characteristics of superior mirages and is extensively documented in atmospheric optics.[files.ncas.org]files.ncas.orgCondon Report, Sec VI, Chapter 4: Optical MirageCondon Report, Sec VI, Chapter 4: Optical Mirage
The apparent companion objects. The six smaller objects could represent separate refracted images rather than independent craft. Scientific treatments of mirages note that multiple images of a single source are entirely possible under strong inversion conditions.[files.ncas.org]files.ncas.orgCondon Report, Sec VI, Chapter 4: Optical MirageCondon Report, Sec VI, Chapter 4: Optical Mirage
The nearly constant bearing. Throughout much of the observation, the formation appeared to remain on roughly the same bearing while the BOAC aircraft continued forward. A distant refracted image naturally changes little in azimuth, whereas nearby aircraft would normally show more obvious relative motion over an observation lasting nearly twenty minutes.[files.ncas.org]files.ncas.orgCondon Report, Sec III, Chapter 5: Optical & Radar AnalysisCondon Report, Sec III, Chapter 5: Optical & Radar Analysis
The disappearance. As atmospheric geometry changed with the aircraft’s movement, the refracted light path could have broken down, allowing the distorted image to shrink, merge or disappear without any physical object accelerating away. Mirage images are known to appear and vanish abruptly as viewing geometry changes.[files.ncas.org]files.ncas.orgCondon Report, Sec VI, Chapter 4: Optical MirageCondon Report, Sec VI, Chapter 4: Optical Mirage
What the mirage theory does not prove
The explanation remains a plausible interpretation rather than a complete reconstruction of events.
A superior mirage requires an underlying source of light or a real distant object. The surviving evidence does not identify with confidence what that source might have been. Possibilities discussed by later commentators include distant aircraft, cloud features or other horizon objects, but none can be demonstrated from the available records.
Likewise, no detailed meteorological reconstruction exists that reproduces the exact temperature profile over Labrador at the time of the sighting. While the reported weather is compatible with refraction, the atmospheric measurements needed to recreate the optical display were never collected.[files.ncas.org]files.ncas.orgCondon Report, Sec III, Chapter 5: Optical & Radar AnalysisCondon Report, Sec III, Chapter 5: Optical & Radar Analysis
Why the explanation remains influential
The mirage interpretation remains important because it explains the feature that has always distinguished the Labrador encounter: the apparently shape-shifting formation. Rather than treating the changing geometry as evidence for extraordinary technology, atmospheric optics offers a mechanism already known to produce stretching, fragmentation, multiple images and apparent motion near the horizon under stable inversion conditions.[files.ncas.org]files.ncas.orgCondon Report, Sec VI, Chapter 4: Optical MirageCondon Report, Sec VI, Chapter 4: Optical Mirage
For that reason, later scientific assessments generally regard superior mirage as one of the strongest conventional explanations for the case. It does not resolve every unanswered question, but it accounts for more of the reported visual behaviour than theories requiring several physical objects repeatedly changing formation while leaving no confirmed radar track or other independent evidence.[files.ncas.org]files.ncas.orgCondon Report, Sec III, Chapter 5: Optical & Radar AnalysisCondon Report, Sec III, Chapter 5: Optical & Radar Analysis
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Endnotes
1.
Source: files.ncas.org
Title: Condon Report, Sec III, Chapter 5: Optical & Radar Analysis
Link:https://files.ncas.org/condon/text/s3chap05.htm
2.
Source: files.ncas.org
Title: Condon Report, Sec VI, Chapter 4: Optical Mirage
Link:https://files.ncas.org/condon/text/s6chap04.htm
3.
Source: skybrary.aero
Title: Fata Morgana | SKYbrary Aviation Safety
Link:https://skybrary.aero/index.php/articles/fata-morgana
Source snippet
Fata Morgana | SKYbrary Aviation Safety...
4.
Source: files.ncas.org
Link:https://files.ncas.org/condon/text/case35.htm
5.
Source: files.ncas.org
Link:https://files.ncas.org/condon/text/s6chap05.htm
6.
Source: skybrary.aero
Link:https://skybrary.aero/index.php/articles/novaya-zemlya-effect
7.
Source: caelestia.be
Link:https://www.caelestia.be/BOAC.html
Additional References
8.
Source: researchgate.net
Title: Aerial view of sea fog (a marine layer) in San Franc
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325231239_Titanic%27s_mirage_part_1_The_enigma_of_the_Arctic_High_and_a_cold-water_tongue_of_the_Labrador_Current
Source snippet
Titanic's mirage, part 1: The enigma of the Arctic High and a cold‐water tongue of the Labrador CurrentMay 1, 2018 — It is demonstrated t...
Published: May 1, 2018
9.
Source: comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr
Title: fr Phénomènes de réfraction atmosphérique terrestre
Link:https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/physique/articles/10.5802/crphys.114/
Source snippet
academie-sciences.frPhénomènes de réfraction atmosphérique terrestreOctober 27, 2023 — On continue par le cas spécial des Fata Morgana...
Published: October 27, 2023
10.
Source: historytools.org
Link:https://www.historytools.org/stories/flying-ship-mirages-how-a-trick-of-the-light-doomed-the-titanic
Source snippet
‘Flying Ship‘ Mirages: How a Trick of the Light Doomed the Titanic - History ToolsMay 26, 2024 — In that region, the cold Labrador Curren...
Published: May 26, 2024
11.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S96RPhlknj0
Source snippet
BOAC 1954 Mirage UFO 1954-06-29: BOAC Capt James Howard Mirage or UFO Tom Owens UAP...
12.
Source: atoptics.co.uk
Title: This captivating phenomenon
Link:https://www.atoptics.co.uk/blog/opod-superiorsuperior-mirage/
Source snippet
OPOD - SuperiorSuperior MirageDecember 16, 2024 — OPOD - SUPERIOR SUPERIOR MIRAGE: A FASCINATING OPTICAL PHENOMENON Have you ever witness...
Published: December 16, 2024
13.
Source: atoptics.co.uk
Title: Santa Cruz Superior Mirage
Link:https://www.atoptics.co.uk/blog/santa-cruz-superior-mirage/
Source snippet
December 16, 2024 — SANTA CRUZ SUPERIOR MIRAGE Last updated on December 16, 2024 SANTA CRUZ SUPERIOR MIRAGE: A MESMERIZING OPTICAL PHENOM...
Published: December 16, 2024
14.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Yes mirages can happen in cold weather and here is why | Your Morning
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sfj4HaMp3k
Source snippet
Captain James R. Howard on witnessing 7 UFOs during a flight over the Atlantic Ocean, 1954...
15.
Source: youtube.com
Title: What is Superior Mirage? Why the Ship looks Floating?
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy9adgmxQ_A
Source snippet
Yes mirages can happen in cold weather and here is why | Your Morning...
16.
Source: weather.gov.hk
Title: The gr
Link:https://www.weather.gov.hk/en/Observatorys-Blog/104520/Mirage
Source snippet
Mirage｜Hong Kong Observatory(HKO)｜Observatory's BlogMay 25, 2020 — MIRAGE 25 May 2020 LEUNG Lai-lai PAN Chi-kin LEE Tsz-cheung When we dr...
Published: May 25, 2020
17.
Source: scribd.com
Link:https://www.scribd.com/document/192717159/Final-Report-of-the-Scientific-Study-of-Unidentified-Flying-Objects