Fata Morgana

noun1

1. •
   A form of mirage seen just above the horizon, caused by a temperature inversion in the atmosphere, in which multiple upright and inverted images of a distant object appear to be stacked on top of each other in a highly distorted fashion; especially one seen at sea, and particularly in the Strait of Messina.

   • A mirage, or fata morgana, was lately witnessed at Stralsund, in Pomerania. — 1846