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Ghostly spectre appears in 'powerful' mountain phenomenon

Chris Dearden
BBC News
Lauren Wood spotted the illusion while walking in Eryri, also known as Snowdonia

A woman has described the "breath-taking" experience of seeing a rare ghostly shadow phenomenon while out walking.

A Brocken spectre optical illusion happens when a person's own shadow is projected onto low cloud, often surrounded by a rainbow halo.

Lauren Wood, a mountain leader from Menai Bridge, Anglesey, spotted it while walking on Crib Goch in Eryri, also known as Snowdonia.

She said her initial shock at encountering a ghostly figure of herself in the mist soon gave way to elation at an "awesome natural experience".

One Wild Life Lauren Wood takes a selfie on the summit of Yr Wyddfa - also known as Snowdon. The mountain drops away behind her for a few metres, and then there's a huge expanse of fluffy white cloud stretching beyond - the overall effect is that the mountain summit she's on looks like an island on a sea of white.One Wild Life
The weather conditions meant that Lauren Wood also saw a cloud inversion on top of Yr Wyddfa, which means the summit stands above a sea of cloud

Ms Wood was heading for the summit of Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, in the sunny spring weather.

The warmth of the sun after a chilly night meant there were clouds in the valley below, but it was clear up at altitude.

As she made her way along the steep ridge known as Crib Goch, she glanced down and saw a huge ghostly figure out of the corner of her eye.

"It made me catch my breath," she explained. "The mountainside falls away from Crib Goch quite steeply, so you don't expect to see anyone down there.

"It took a split second to realise it wasn't a person, but a Brocken spectre - a ghostly reflection of myself, in a triple rainbow halo.

"Until you've seen one, you don't realise what an incredibly powerful experience it is to see your own self projected into nature in a way more beautiful than you could imagine."

One Wild Life The craggy expanse of the mountains forms a backdrop as a dark shadowy figure stands at the bottom of the picture, surrounded by a vibrant rainbow halo.One Wild Life
Once she had got over the initial surprise, Lauren was able to make her Brocken spectre wave and dance

The weather conditions stayed in place for long enough for Ms Wood to get the Brocken spectre to dance and wave its arms, along with others who were also walking the ridge at the same time.

"One of the strangest things about the Brocken spectre is that you can only see your own one," she added. "You can't see anyone else's, unless they're standing right next to you.

"As an outdoor leader, I run courses to help people reconnect with nature, to slow down and be in the moment - this was definitely an example of what happens when you do.

"Seeing the Brocken spectre was quite a spiritual experience, a reminder that nature is so powerful that you never know what you're going to see in wild spaces."

One Wild Life The spiky craggy ridge of Crib Goch stretches away from the photographer with whispy cloud hanging on the right hand side of it, and blue sky in the background.One Wild Life
Spring sunshine and low hanging early morning mist were ideal conditions for Lauren to see the Brocken spectre

The name Brocken spectre comes from the Brocken mountain in Germany, and was invented by a scientist who observed the ghostly reflections in 1780.

The Met Office said: "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 gigantic person seen dimly through the mist.

"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 as faraway landmarks seen through the cloud."