Brocken spectre

Occurrence

The "spectre" appears when the sun shines from behind the observer, who is looking down from a ridge or peak into mist or fog. The light projects the observer's shadow through the mist, often in a triangular shape due to perspective. 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 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.

Ulloa's halo

Before the first reports of the phenomenon in Europe, two members of the French Geodesic Mission to the Equator, Antonio de Ulloa and Pierre Bouguer, reported that while walking near the summit of the Pambamarca mountain, in the Ecuadorian Andes, they saw their shadows projected on a lower-lying cloud, with a circular "halo or glory" around the shadow of the observer's head. Ulloa noted that

This was then called "Ulloa's halo" or "Bouguer's halo". Ulloa reported that the glories were surrounded by a larger ring of white light, which would today be called a fog bow. On other occasions, he observed arches of white light formed by reflected moonlight, whose explanation is unknown but which may have been related to ice-crystal halos.

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:

Lewis Carroll's "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 (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 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.

Carl Jung in Memories, Dreams, Reflections wrote:

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:

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.

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.

In October 2024 the BBC News website reported that a wildlife photographer from East Yorkshire in the United Kingdom captured a photo of a Brocken Spectre whilst out bird watching in Bridlington.

Another sighting of a Brocken Spectre was published on the BBC News website page, 'Your pictures of Scotland: 10-17 October' in October 2025, taken at Beinn Each a Corbett near Strathyre, Scotland.

References

References

1. McKenzie, Steven. (17 February 2015). "Shades of grey: What is the brocken spectre".
2. "Brocken spectre". atoptics.org.uk.
3. (June 3, 2018). "A Slice of Glory". NASA.
4. Adam, John A.. (2002). "The mathematical physics of rainbows and glories". Physics Reports.
5. Paul Murdin. (25 December 2008). "Full Meridian of Glory: Perilous Adventures in the Competition to Measure the Earth". [[Springer Science & Business Media]].
6. (1991). "Ulloa's observations of the glory, fogbow, and an unidentified phenomenon". Applied Optics.
7. (1989). "Memories, Dreams, Reflections". Vintage.
8. (1969). "That Untravelled World". Hodder and Stoughton.
9. "Kriemhild Gretchen". puella-magi.net.
10. Oda, Eiichiro. (February 2, 2010). "One Piece, Vol. 32 "Love Song"". Viz Media.
11. Scott-Holm, Charis. (October 25, 2024). "Photographer captures ghostly shadow in the Bempton Cliffs mist".
12. Scotland, BBC News. (October 17, 2025). "Your pictures of Scotland: 10-17 October."".