Whatever floats your boat! Ship appears to be sailing across the sky in bizarre optical illusion

 

  • Colin McCallum was driving on a coastal road when he spotted a 'floating boat'
  • Optical illusion by the water and sky made the ship appear to sail among clouds
  • The puzzling footage was taken in Banff, Aberdeenshire looking at the North Sea

A bemused man has captured a stunning optical illusion showing a large boat appearing to float across the sky.

Colin McCallum spotted the red ship apparently hovering above the horizon as he travelled through Banff, Aberdeenshire on Friday.

At first awestruck, he filmed the unusual sight, before working out how the optical illusion had been created.

In the footage, low-lying cloud makes it difficult to see where the pale blue water ends and the similar coloured sky begins. 

Coupled with this, the section of water closer to the shore looks darker as it is in the shadow of another cloud formation.

The ship's keel is submerged in the water but it looks instead like a shallow vessel hovering above the horizon.  

Colin McCallum spotted a stunning optical illusion of a red 'floating vessel' on the horizon as he travelled through Banff, Aberdeenshire, on Friday

Colin McCallum spotted a stunning optical illusion of a red 'floating vessel' on the horizon as he travelled through Banff, Aberdeenshire, on Friday

Colin, a health and safety worker from Turriff, Aberdeenshire, shared the clip and his images onto Facebook later on that day, writing: 'Saw a real-life optical illusion in Banff today.'

Colin said: 'When I first saw the boat, I had to do a double-take because I genuinely thought it was floating. 

'Upon further inspection, however, I noticed that it was in fact just a remarkable optical illusion.'

At first awestruck, he soon worked out how the similar colouring of the sea and sky created an optical illusion of the large vessel appears to be sitting among the clouds

At first awestruck, he soon worked out how the similar colouring of the sea and sky created an optical illusion of the large vessel appears to be sitting among the clouds

He added: 'It was caused by a cloud formation closer to the shore which changed the colour of the water closer to the land.

'The boat, being further away, was in a cloudless area and therefore the sky reflected the sea - making it look like the boat was floating.'

He posted his video online, captioning it: 'Saw a real life optical illusion today.'

Social media users were left stumped by the footage, with some describing it as 'freaky'. 

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