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((Short description|Atmospheric optical phenomenon))
((For|the 2023 video game |Broken Spectre((!))''Broken Spectre''))
((Refimprove|date=September 2012))

[[File:Solar glory and Spectre of the Brocken from GGB on 07-05-2011.jpg|thumb|200px|A Brocken spectre within [[glory (optical phenomenon)|glory]] rings]]

A '''Brocken spectre''' (British English; American spelling: '''Brocken specter'''; ((lang-de|Brockengespenst))), also called '''Brocken bow''', '''mountain spectre''', or '''spectre of the Brocken''' is the magnified (and apparently enormous) shadow of an observer cast in mid air upon any type of [[cloud]] opposite a strong light source. The figure's head can be surrounded by a bright area called ((lang|de|[[Heiligenschein]])), or [[Halo (optical phenomenon)|halo]]-like rings of rainbow-coloured light forming a [[glory (optical phenomenon)|glory]], which appear opposite the Sun's direction when uniformly-sized water droplets in clouds refract and [[backscatter]] [[sunlight]].

The phenomenon can appear on any misty mountainside, cloud bank, or be seen from an [[aircraft]], but the frequent fogs and low-altitude accessibility of the [[Brocken]], the highest peak of 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 often been recorded in literature about the region.

== Occurrence ==
[[Image:Brocken Spectre at California Place.jpg|thumb|upright|A semi-artificial Brocken spectre created by standing in front of the headlight of a car, on a foggy night]]

The "spectre" appears when the sun shines from behind the observer, who is looking down from a ridge or peak into [[mist]] or [[fog]].<ref>((cite web| last= McKenzie| first= Steven| title= Shades of grey: What is the brocken spectre| url=  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-31447148| website= [[BBC News Online]]| date= 17 February 2015| accessdate= 3 January 2020 ))</ref>
The light projects the observer's shadow through the mist, often in a triangular shape due to [[perspective (visual)|perspective]].<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.atoptics.co.uk/droplets/globrock.htm|title=Brocken spectre|work=atoptics.co.uk))</ref>
The apparent magnification of size of the shadow is an [[optical illusion]] that occurs when the observer judges their shadow on relatively nearby clouds to be at the same distance as faraway land objects seen through gaps in the clouds, or when there are no reference points by which to judge its size. The shadow also falls on [[drop (liquid)|water droplets]] of varying distances from the eye, confusing [[depth perception]]. The ghost can appear to move (sometimes suddenly) because of the movement of the cloud layer and variations in density within the cloud.

== References in popular culture and the arts ==

[[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]]'s poem "Constancy to an Ideal Object" concludes with an image of the Brocken spectre:
<blockquote><poem>
And art thou nothing? Such thou art, as when
The woodman winding westward up the glen
At wintry dawn, where o'er the sheep-track's maze
The viewless snow-mist weaves a glist'ning haze,
Sees full before him, gliding without tread,
An image with a glory round its head;
The enamoured rustic worships its fair hues,
Nor knows he makes the shadow he pursues!</poem></blockquote>

[[Image:Night spectre of the brocken.jpg|thumb|Another night Brocken spectre created by headlights of a car]]

Lewis Carroll's "[[Phantasmagoria (poem)|Phantasmagoria]]" includes a line about a Spectre who "...tried the Brocken business first/but caught a sort of chill/so came to England to be nursed/and here it took the form of thirst/which he complains of still."

[[Stanisław Lem]]'s ''[[Fiasco (novel)|Fiasco]]'' (1986) has a reference to the "Brocken Specter": "He was alone. He had been chasing himself. Not a common phenomenon, but known even on Earth. The Brocken Specter in the [[Alps]], for example." The situation, of pursuing one's self, via a natural illusion is a repeated theme in Lem. A scene of significance in his book ''[[The Investigation]]'' (1975) depicts a detective who, within the confines of a snowy, dead-end alley, confronts a man who turns out to be the detective's own reflection, "The stranger... was himself. He was standing in front of a huge mirrored wall marking the end of the arcade."

In ''The Radiant Warrior'' (1989), part of Leo Frankowski's [[Leo Frankowski#Conrad Stargard series|Conrad Stargard series]], the protagonist uses the Brocken Spectre to instill confidence in his recruits.

The Brocken spectre is a key trope in [[Paul Beatty]]'s ''[[The White Boy Shuffle]]'' (1996), in which a character, Nicholas Scoby, declares that his dream (he specifically calls it a "Dream and a half, really") is to see his glory through a Brocken spectre (69).

In [[James Hogg]]'s novel ''[[The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner]]'' (1824) the Brocken spectre is used to suggest psychological horror.
[[File:Glory of the Pilot.jpg|thumb|Shadow of an aeroplane cast by the sun on nearby clouds]]
[[File:Widmo Brockenu obserwowane z samolotu.jpg|thumb|Brocken spectre observed from an aeroplane]]

[[File:Solar glory from Crib Goch 1.jpg|thumb|right|A solar glory and brocken spectre from [[Crib Goch]] in 2008]]
[[Carl Jung]] in ''[[Memories, Dreams, Reflections]]'' wrote:
<blockquote>
... I had a dream which both frightened and encouraged me. It was night in some unknown place, and I was making slow and painful headway against a mighty wind. Dense fog was flying along everywhere. I had my hands cupped around a tiny light which threatened to go out at any moment... Suddenly I had the feeling that something was coming up behind me. I looked back, and saw a gigantic black figure following me... When I awoke I realized at once that the figure was a "specter of the Brocken," my own shadow on the swirling mists, brought into being by the little light I was carrying.<ref>((cite book |title=Memories, Dreams, Reflections |author1-link=Carl Jung |first1=Carl |last1=Jung |first2=Aniela |last2=Jaffé |year=1989 |publisher=Vintage |page=88 ))</ref></blockquote>

In ''[[Gravity's Rainbow]]'', Geli Tripping and Slothrop make "god-shadows" from a Harz precipice, as [[Walpurgisnacht]] wanes to dawn. Additionally, the French–Canadian quadruple agent Rémy Marathe muses episodically about the possibility of witnessing the fabled spectre on the mountains of Tucson in [[David Foster Wallace]]'s novel ''[[Infinite Jest]]''.

The explorer [[Eric Shipton]] saw a Brocken Spectre during his first ascent of Nelion on [[Mount Kenya]] with [[Percy Wyn-Harris]] and Gustav Sommerfelt in 1929. He wrote:
<blockquote>Then the towering buttresses of Batian and Nelion appeared; the rays of the setting sun broke through and, in the east, sharply defined, a great circle of rainbow colours framed our own silhouettes. It was the only perfect Brocken Spectre I have ever seen.<ref>((cite book |title=That Untravelled World |author1-link=Eric Shipton |first1=Eric |last1=Shipton |year=1969 |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton |pages=55–56 ))</ref></blockquote>

The [[progressive metal]] band [[Fates Warning]] makes numerous references to the Brocken Spectre in both their debut album title ''[[Night on Bröcken]]'' and in lyrics on a subsequent song called "The Sorceress" from the album ''[[Awaken the Guardian]]'' that read "Through the Brocken Spectre rose a luring Angel."

The design of Kriemhild Gretchen, a Witch in the anime series ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'', may have been inspired by the Brocken spectre.<ref>((cite web|url=http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Kriemhild_Gretchen|title=Kriemhild Gretchen|work=puella-magi.net))</ref>

In [[Charles Dickens]]'s ''[[Little Dorrit]]'', Book II Chapter 23, Flora Finching, in the course of one of her typically free-associative babbles to Mr Clennam, says " ... ere yet Mr F appeared a misty shadow on the horizon paying attentions like the well-known spectre of some place in Germany beginning with a B ... "

"Brocken Spectre" is the title of a track on [[David Tipper]]'s 2010 album ''[[Broken Soul Jamboree]]''.

In the tokusatsu series ''[[Tensou Sentai Goseiger]]'', Semattarei of the Brocken Spectre is one of the enemies that Gosei Angels must face.

In the manga ''[[One Piece]]'', Brocken spectres make an appearance in the Skypiea story arc.

In the anime ''[[Detective Conan]]'', Brocken spectres are mentioned in episode 348 and episode 546 as well.

In "[[The Problem of Pain]]" by [[C.S. Lewis]] the Brocken spectre is mentioned in the chapter "Heaven".

In chapter 12 of ''[[Whose Body?]]'' ([[Lord Peter Wimsey]]) by [[Dorothy L. Sayers]].

The Brocken Spectre occurring is proven by lawyers to explain circumstances in a case in episode 9 of "[[Innocence, Fight Against False Charges]]", a 2019 Japanese drama.

==See also==
* [[Diffraction]]
* [[Earth's shadow]], the shadow that the Earth itself casts on its atmosphere
* ((lang|gd|[[Am Fear Liath Mòr]])), "Big Grey Man" in [[Scottish Gaelic]], a supposed supernatural being found on Scotland's second-highest peak, [[Ben Macdhui (Scotland)|Ben Macdhui]]
* [[Dark Watchers]], supposed supernatural beings seen along the crest of the [[Santa Lucia Mountains]], in California
* ((lang|de|[[Gegenschein]]))
* [[Glory (optical phenomenon)]]
* ((lang|de|[[Heiligenschein]])), an optical phenomenon which creates a bright spot around the shadow of the viewer's head
* [[Opposition surge]], the brightening of a rough surface, or an object with many particles, when illuminated from directly behind the observer

==References==

((reflist))

==Further reading==
((refbegin))
*((cite journal |last1=Shenstone |first1=A.G |title=The Brocken Spectre |journal=Science |year=1954 |volume=119 |issue=3094 |pages=511–512 |doi=10.1126/science.119.3094.511|pmid=17842741 |bibcode = 1954Sci...119..511S ))
*((cite book |author-link=Samuel Griswold Goodrich |last=Goodrich |first=Samuel Griswold |url=http://fulltext10.fcla.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?cc=juv;subview=fullcitation;idno=UF00002079 |title=Peter Parley's Wonders of the Sea and Sky |year=1851 |access-date=2007-07-26 |archive-date=2007-12-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225215022/http://fulltext10.fcla.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?cc=juv;subview=fullcitation;idno=UF00002079 |url-status=dead ))
*((cite book |last=Minnaert |first=M. |title=The Nature of Light and Colour in the Open Air |url=https://archive.org/details/natureoflightc00mmin |url-access=registration |series=Dover Books on Earth Sciences |year=1954 |publisher=[New York] Dover Publications |isbn=9780486201962 |type=Paperback ))
*((cite book |last=Greenler |first=R |title=Rainbows, Halos, and Glories |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1980 ))
*((cite book |last1=Dunlop |first1=Storm |title=The Weather Identification Handbook |year=2002 |publisher=Harper Collins UK |isbn=1-58574-857-9 |page=141))
((refend))

==External links==
((commons category|Brocken spectres))
*[https://archive.today/20130114001726/http://www.fellwalkingclub.co.uk/content/view/431/%20 "What are Brocken Spectres and How Do They Form?", an article on the Online Fellwalking Club page] (dead link, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120307015328/http://www.fellwalkingclub.co.uk/advice/faqs/what-are-brocken-spectres-and-how-do-they-form.html 2012 archived version])
*[http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2004/12/brocken-spectre-in-scottish-highlands.html A Cairngorm example], from the [[Universities Space Research Association]]
*See a picture and a YouTube videoclip taken by Michael Elcock here [http://white-cottage.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/another-brocken-spectre.html]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-50981682 Snowdon walker captures rare Brocken spectre], [[BBC News Online]], 3 January 2020
* [https://panoramicireland.com/blog-ireland-guide/croagh-patrick-pilgrimage-brocken-spectre-ringed-glory-irish-mountain Brocken Spectre panorama]
* [https://vimeo.com/103259951 "Time-lapse video of Brocken specter cast by Mt. Tamalpais fire lookout in Marin County California."]
[[Category:Optical illusions]]
[[Category:Atmospheric optical phenomena]]

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