Never before have I seen anything quite so magical as this mountain-top halo in the form of a rainbow.
What would you do if you were hiking on a mountain and suddenly saw what appeared to be a portal to another dimension? Well that’s exactly what happened to 39-year old Adrian Conchie.
Conchie was walking on a fell in the Lake District when he looked down and clocked the spectacular display, known as the Brocken specter.
Also called Brocken bow or mountain spectre, is the magnified (and apparently enormous) shadow of an observer cast upon clouds opposite the Sun’s direction. The figure’s head is often surrounded by the halo-like rings of coloured light forming a glory, which appears opposite the Sun’s direction when uniformly-sized water droplets in clouds refract and backscatter sunlight.
The phenomenon can appear on any misty mountainside or cloud bank, even when seen from an aeroplane.
Conchie described the apparition of nature as “magical” and “absolutely incredible.”
He was on an 11-mile hike at Swirl How near Coniston when the Brocken specter appeared to him.
“I had always wanted to see one after seeing pictures online and hearing about how amazing they are from friends,” said Conchie. “When we got to the summit I looked down and there it was—it was so vivid.
“I thought it would disappear there and then but it stayed for a few minutes, it was a really magical experience.”
Miraculously, that wasn’t the only Brocken spectre they saw that day!
Conchie and his friend Bryony stumbled upon another rainbow halo later that very same day up a nearby mountain called Wetherlam.
It must be the time for such things to appear, as Conchie isn’t the only one who has recently seen one of these beautiful natural masterpieces.
Just two weeks ago, on New Year’s Day, Rhys Pleming was climbing Snowdon, in Wales, when he discovered a Brocken spectre as well.
“I just gazed at it. Some people walked past it without even knowing what it was,” said Pleming.
Pleming wasn’t initially going to head out for the hike with his friend, Dale, and says “I was hesitant on going as I was out drinking for new years.”
“Dale goes up every year for new year but I was 50/50 about going. But I’ll be forever in his debt.”
Both Pleming and Conchie have seen this incredible phenomenon, wouldn’t you like to see it too?
Source: mysticalraven.com
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