A man from Darwen was pleasantly surprised when he managed to capture a rare optical phenomenon on camera.
Rick Pack was walking along the Darwen hills near Darwen Tower on Saturday (18 December) when he spotted a shadowy figure walking in the clouds beside him.
Unbeknown to him, he captured something called a Brocken spectre which is a large shadow of a person cast onto cloud and mist instead of the ground.
It can appear as if a person is walking in the clouds and the shadow can sometimes be seen surrounded in a colourful halo of light, known as a glory.
Rick, 49, said: “I walk around the Darwen Moor most days just to try and keep fit.
“On Saturday, I was walking along and noticed the shadowy figure and noticed the lights shining around it. I thought to myself ‘what is that’ and took a photo.
“I realised quite quickly it was my shadow because it was walking at the same pace as me.
“However, I didn’t know exactly what it was at first but Googled it and found out that it was a Brocken spectre– and that it also isn’t the most common thing to see!”
Rick shared the photo with his family and friends – including his 80-year-old father who mentioned he had only seen the phenomenon “once before”.
What is a Brocken spectre?
According to the Met Office, the term Brocken spectre was coined by German pastor and natural scientist Johann Silberschlag in 1780, a reference to the Brocken peak of the Harz mountain range.
The Met Office added: “When an observer stands on a hill which is partially enveloped in mist and in such a position that their shadow is thrown on to the mist, they may get the illusion that the shadow is a person seen dimly through the mist.
“The illusion is that this person or 'spectre' is gigantic and at a considerable distance away from them.
“The sun shining behind the observer projects their shadow through the mist, while the magnification of the shadow is an optical illusion which makes the shadow on nearby clouds seem at the same distance at faraway landmarks seen through the cloud.
“Similarly, the shadow falls upon water droplets of varying distance which distorts perception and can make the shadow appear to move as the clouds vary and shift. This all combines to make the rather disorienting effect of a giant shadow moving in the distance”
The optical oddity is mentioned in classical literature, including in the works of Charles Dickens and Lewis Carroll.
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