What is the truth about the ships in the Suez Canal that appeared to be flying on the horizon?

Weather of Arabia - Yesterday morning, Wednesday, in the Suez Canal region in Egypt, a rare visual phenomenon occurred, documented by a video clip and photos, in which ships appeared as if they were flying and hovering on the horizon, and other forms upside down over the waters of the Suez Canal.

The Egyptian Meteorological Authority commented on this event and said through a post on Facebook : "This is a rare phenomenon called Fata Morgan, and it is a rare and complex form of mirage. A large distortion of the object or body occurs and is often difficult to identify.. It usually occurs Fata Morgan in polar places or in deserts. It may include any kind of distant object, including boats, islands, and the coast."

She continued, "Often, Fata Morgana ends quickly. They are several images upside down (right side up) stacked on top of each other and alternately compressed and stretched..."

She added that the scientific explanation for the phenomenon is that it "occurs as a result of the deflection of light rays when they pass through layers of air at different temperatures in a steep thermal inversion where an air stream was formed. The thermal inversion is the state of the atmosphere where there is warmer air in a specific layer above a layer of air. significantly cooler. This thermal inversion is the opposite of what it is usually; the air is usually warmer near the surface, and cooler at a higher level."

In calm weather, a layer of warmer air may settle on cooler, denser air, and an atmospheric channel is formed that acts as a lens through which light rays are refracted, producing a series of inverted and erect images. Fata Morgana requires a channel; thermal inversion is not sufficient Alone to produce this type of mirage.While thermal reversal often occurs without an air stream, there cannot be an air stream without there being a thermal reversal first..The Meteorological Authority page was informed this morning of the occurrence of this weather phenomenon at the Gulf of Suez and it appeared Ships are high and upside down on the horizon on the surface of the sea, and this phenomenon quickly faded.

Read also: How does the upper mirage occur, and what are the other forms of images of the mirage?