'Flying' Boats?

Our eyes are relatively easily fooled. Indeed, our brains often 'approximate' images. A photograph, taken by a walker near Falmouth in Cornwall (SW England), of a giant tanker apparently floating in the air, above the surface of the sea caused media excitement (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/05/ship-hovering-above-sea-cornwall-optical-illusion). This type of image is termed a 'superior mirage'. It gets the name, not because it is better but because the image appears to be above its actual position. The effect is caused by the phenomenon of 'temperature inversion'. This occurs when a band of warm air sits on top of a band of colder air. The cold air is denser than its warmer counterpart. Dense air has a higher refractive index. Air with a high refractive index bends the light beams from an image, more strongly downwards. This makes the ship appear to be in a higher position than it really is. In this case, above the sea surface. Seeing is not always believing.