The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1890-07-03
MYSTERIOUS MIRAGES.
Optical Illusions That Have Aston
ished Those Who Saw Them.
Various Forms OF fOne of N aturc's stvarr.u
Phenomena- = Remarkable sights w.t.
messed on the shore Of Lakc On
tarlo ana at Rochester.

This wOnderful phenomenon taxes
several forms, according to the state Of
the atmosphere, but those most gener.
ally seen are the looming mirage and
the Fata Morgana.
In looming mirages distant objecta
show an extravagant increase In vertic-
al height without alteration In breadth,
says the New York Observer. Distant
hummocks Of Ice are thus magnified
into immense towers and pinnacles, and
q ship Is sometimes abnormally drawn
out until It appears twelve or thirteen
times as high as 1t E long. Rocks are
seen drawn up to ten or twelve times
their proper height. Houses. as we'll -
human beings and animals. appear In
like exaggerated shape.
Another form OF mirage Is when
ship, or some other object near the
water. seems greatly elongated, and U
second inverted image meets It from
above Sometimes the proper image Of
the object Is elevated far above the
lake or sea, while the second image
strangely appears inverted beneath It;
the whole surrounded by q sheet OF sky,
which is mirrored and repeated within
1t.
DR.. Vince, on Aug ust Q. 1906, at seven
p. M, saw from Ramsgate, at which
place only the tops Of Dover Castle tow
ers are usually vi sible, the whole Of tho
castle. 1t appeared as though lifted up
and bodily placed on the near side OF
the intervening hill. 30 perfect wes
this illusion that the hill itself actually
could not be seen through the figure.
Some forms of mirage are lateral
as we'll as vertical. arising from
unequal density Of two contigu-
Gus vertical bodies OF OR. Thus,
on Lake Geneva, boat has been
seen dou ble,' the two images some dis
tancc apart. Persons have been dupli-
Gated in the same way. Any one on o
hot day, by placing. his eye near to
heated wall, may see lateral mirages Of
objects at distance, and nearly on
line with the wall.
Here, on the shores Of Lake Ontario,
many beautiful and wonderful mirages
are witnessed. The lake is so wide the
opposite side is not at all visible. And
yet during some peculiar states Of the
atmosphere it is clearly outlined. A
gentleman witnessed Q most perfect
mirage from Sheldon's Point, Oswego.
It was about one o'clock in the After
noon when splendid Wow of the Can
ada shore was given. It extended from
o point nearly opposite Oswego City to
Cape Vincent, at points on the jefferson
County shore. Whole blocks Of the
city Of Kingston were visible and local
tiles distinctly defined. From Sackett's
Harbor. Point Peninsula, ton miles
distant, has appeared not more than
two or three miles away, and SO plainly
In view that the limbs OF trees were Wis
ible. Stony Island stood out plainly in
view, and far beyond 1t could be seen
Gallop and Duck Island. Even the Can
ada shore in the vicinity Of Long Point
and Prince Edwards Bay was at times
plainly in sight
In Syracuse, distant city, remark
able mirage was Witnessed by many per.
sons. 1t lasted two hours and was best
observed from University hill looking
northwest over Onondaga lake. Lake
Ontario was plainly visible, and stretch
ing out at an angle OF 25 degrees OF the
horizon it looked like an ocean. Prof.
Comfort says that few years previoas q
similar mirage occurred, and 1t was SC
distinct that by means of glass he
could discern town. probably Kings,
ton.
Portions Of Rochester and sections o,
the country lying south Of it have been
seen out in the lake six and ten miles
distant, as though the city was standing
erect in the air. Trains Of moving cars
and other objects were clearly defined.
the aerial phenomena continuing 70,
nearly an hour.
A well-known lake captain has also
witnessed q wonderful mirage out or
Lake Ontario. While on his way from
the st. Lawrence up the lake and nea,
the islands known as the False Ducks
and while standing at the wheel, there
suddenly burst into view the city o1
Oswego thirty-one miles distant with
the gas lights in the streets and oil the
appearance town lighted up would pre-
sent from hill in the immediate vioin
ity at night. The lighthouse at Oswe
go, as we'll as others on tho lake shore
below as far as Saclsett's Harbor, were
distinctly seen. 1t was sort Of nigh
mirage, and a rarc sight indeed. II last
Cd for several minutes. then slowly
faded away into darkness.
At Rochester, which is about twenty
miles inland from Lake Ontario, mir
age Of the most surprising character
was witnessed by many. The entire
northern sky as far as the angle, OF
bison, was lighted above the landmark
with the blue wators Of Lake Ontario
while rejecting from her bosom ooult
be seen the mountains, hills, valleys
bays and rivers Of the Canada shore In
land for miles. The coast could b,
plainly seen mirrored over stretch o
Atty miles, and 90 perfect at one time
that the forests could readily be dis
tinguished. The reader can form som,
idea Of its grandeur by knowing that
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