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IT IS INTERESTING TO KNOW
Do People Really See Mirages?
Sometimes a person wandering in a desert may be so thirsty
and sun-parched that he begins to see things that aren't there. This
is a hallucination, and not a mirage, for mirages really exist, and
can be seen by anyone in the area at the time they appear!
A mirage is a trick of nature. In a desert, there is a layer of
very dense hot air above the ground. This layer of air bends light
rays passing through it, distorting the images of distant objects.
Sometimes, a distant mountain may seem to float in the air;
other times, a mirror image of the mountain may be reflected off
the layer of dense air; and still other times, light rays bouncing off
objects beyond the horizon are bounced back and forth in the layer
of dense air, and then the objects seem to be much closer than they
are. That's why people in the desert sometimes see lakes that turn
out to be mirages — the reflection of water beyond the horizon or
of the sky itself. Mirages can be seen at sea and in the polar
regions too!
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