Brocken ghost - what is it?

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

In the 19th century, there was a Franco-Algerian war in northern Africa. One soldier (apparently French) was sent to investigate. Suddenly, ahead of him in the fog, he saw the silhouette of a man. The soldier went towards him, the figure also approached. The fighter decided to kill the unknown with his sword, but as soon as he pulled it out of its scabbard, the figure melted away.

Lovers of the unknown and the supernatural may decide that the soldier met with a guest from the underworld. However, apparently, he witnessed the Brocken ghost - an unusual phenomenon, but well studied by modern science. Broken ghost - what is it? How to explain this phenomenon?

How does a "ghost" appear?

Brocken ghosts are quite an interesting phenomenon. It can be seen everywhere. Most often, for this, the witness must be upstairs - in the air or on top of a high mountain, and in front and below a cloudy or foggy veil should spread.

Brocken ghost - what is this phenomenon? The sun must be behind the observer. The light from him falls into the fog, on which his shadow forms. To the observer, it often seems huge, because he involuntarily compares its size with the size of the surrounding objects, which are much further away and, naturally, seem small. The "Ghost" can make certain movements: it either follows a person when he moves, raises his arms or performs other actions, or fluctuates on his own due to the movement of clouds, density fluctuations in the cloud. At such moments, the shadow really creates a terrifying impression and can scare an unprepared person.

Witch Mountain in Germany

The phenomenon got its name "Brocken ghost" from the sharp mountain Brocken in Germany, which is part of the Harz ridge. Due to local climatic conditions, the “ghost” is constantly observed here. This happened continuously for many centuries, because of which Brocken and his "ghost" were firmly entrenched in the folklore and beliefs of the ancient Germans. Saxon tribes performed magical rites at the foot of Mount Broken to propitiate the deity Corto. In their opinion, huge ghost spirits live on the top of the mountain, one of which, apparently, was Corto. These spirits could transform into humans and animals. From time to time they descended from the mountain and went to roam the surroundings, casting terror on the nearby villages.

On the same mountain Broken, according to another famous belief, witches and sorcerers gather for their coven on Walpurgis night. By the way, these are not just myths. On Walpurgis Night (April 30 to May 1)pagan peoples had a holiday of the beginning of spring, which was usually celebrated with songs and dances around fires. When the Germans had just begun to accept Christianity, many adherents of the old customs continued to celebrate this holiday, for which they went to the mountains. Many of them gathered on Mount Broken. There were many women among these hardened pagans, especially the elderly, and this gave them a strong reputation as witches. So Broken strengthened his status as a place associated with evil spirits.

Gloria

But back to the "ghost". Often it is accompanied by an additional phenomenon - gloria. These are colored rings surrounding the figure of the observer, a kind of multi-colored halo. It appears due to the diffraction of light. In China and Japan, gloria has long been called the "light of the Buddha"; it is believed that only people with a pure heart can see this halo. Unfortunately, this belief is not true: Gloria can be seen by absolutely anyone.

Very often the Brocken ghost, surrounded by gloria, is seen by observers from the aircraft - pilots and passengers. In this case, very suitable conditions are created for the formation of this phenomenon: the sun's rays fall on the plane, as a result of which a huge projection is created on the cloud "cushion" below - the figure of a flying liner, surrounded by multi-colored radiance.

Elementary physics

At first glance, the Brocken ghost is an unknown inexplicable phenomenon. But if you look at it from the side of physics, then you can get it even while standing on the ground. Do it earlyin the morning, when the streets are covered with fog. Position the light source so that it is behind your head. In this case, a figure will appear. True, this experiment is not always successful, because often the fog covers the entire street, so the observer is also inside it.

A similar principle, as many guess, lies in the operation of the projector and the movie camera: the light of the lamp passes through the film with the image, the shadow of which, greatly enlarged in size, is projected onto the screen.

And Broken again

Let's say a few more words about the German "witch mountain". During the years of the existence of the GDR, it housed the base of the odious secret service - the Stasi. This is a kind of hybrid of the Gestapo and the Soviet KGB. And the reason for choosing such a place was simple: the state border between the GDR and the FRG passed through the Harz mountain system, and it was convenient for East Germans to observe their capitalist brethren from here. Thus, even in the 20th century, Brocken became a gathering place for secret forces.

Today, the building occupied by the Stasi at the time houses a museum dedicated to the natural beauties of the Harz and modern German history.

As for the "ghost", it can be constantly observed in many mountain systems. Tourists in this regard are well aware of the mountains in Wales, as well as the Hawaiian Haleakala National Park.

Scientific interest

Today, a Brocken ghost can only scare a very impressionable or ignorant person, especially if he has read books about paranormal phenomena before that or lookstransmission of relevant topics. Physics solved the mystery of unusual shadows in fog a long time ago. For the first time, scientists became interested in the Brocken ghost in the 18th century: in 1780, the German scientist and theologian Johann Silberschlag described this phenomenon. Little is known about this thinker in our country, but one of the craters on the Moon was named after him.

In 1797, the figure of the "giant" on the mountain was seen by another scientist - Howe. He was standing at the very top, when suddenly a strong wind came up. Howe was afraid that his hat would fly away, and grabbed it; to his surprise, the "giant" made the same move. The researcher began to jump, wave his arms, walk from side to side, and the figure repeated after him. Then Howe realized that the mysterious vision was just a shadow of himself.

Ghosts in Clausthal

The inhabitants of the small town of Clausthal-Zellerfeld can be called happy in a sense. After all, this city is located right next to Mount Broken, which means that they can constantly observe an unusual phenomenon of nature. The glorious past of the city is connected with the “witch mountain”, when mining was actively carried out on it. In the first half of the twentieth century, their development ended, but the city continues to develop thanks to other sectors of the economy.

The Brocken ghost or an unusual self-portrait in Andalusia

Brocken ghosts sometimes appear in unusual forms. Such a phenomenon was observed by a group of scientists who once climbed to the top of one of the mountains in Andalusia. It happened in the morning: the sun was just rising, and the whole western side wascovered in thick fog. Turning back, the scientists saw a huge "photo" that showed all of them, their dogs, and even the rock they were standing on. The image was framed with multi-colored radiance. As the sun rose higher, the "photo" melted away.