With “Flying Dutchman” one usually refers to the sighting of a ship floating above the sea horizon regardless of the physical cause: superior/inferior mirage, Fata Morgana, horizon erased by haze …
The origin of this folkloric name comes from Northern European legends: the Flying Dutchman refers to a ghost ship that sails forever with no precise destination and whose fate would prevent it from returning to land. According to historians, the famous Dutchman in question was Willem Van Der Decken who in 1729 set sail from Amsterdam for the seas of Java, in command of a sailing ship of the East India Company that had been christened “Flying Dutchman” for the speed with which it flew over the waves.
Flying Dutchman caused by an inferior mirage
Flying Dutchman caused by haze that erases the horizon
Flying Dutchman from Fata Morgana
(click on the photo to learn more about the Fata Morgana)
It is not a Fata Morgana
Flying Dutchman caused by haze that erases the horizon (photo by Samuele Pinna)
Fata Morgana
Bibliografia nei testi consigliati
