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Origin[]
Brocken spectre. This is not actually on Brocken, but was taken in the Tanzawa Mountains in Japan; despite the name, the phenomenon is not unique to Brocken and can occur in any misty mountain region.
A Brocken spectre, also called Brocken bow, mountain spectre or glockenspectre is the apparently enormous and magnified shadow of an observer, cast upon the upper surfaces of clouds opposite the sun. The phenomenon can appear on any misty mountainside or cloud bank, or even from an aeroplane, but the frequent fogs and low-altitude accessibility of the Brocken, a peak in the Harz Mountains in Germany, have created a local legend from which the phenomenon draws its name. The Brocken spectre was observed and described by Johann Silberschlag in 1780, and has since been recorded often in literature about the region. However it can be seen in any mountain region. |}