Fata Morgana (mirage) A Fata Morgana seen from the coast of Queensland, Australia. Fata Morgana as seen oઢ the coast of Manhattan Beach, CA on March 9, 2014 A Fata Morgana is an unusual and complex form of superior mirage that is seen in a narrow band right above the horizon. It is an Italian phrase derived from the vul- gar Latin for “fairy” and the Arthurian sorceress Morgan le Fay, from a belief that these mirages, often seen in the Strait of Messina, were fairy castles in the air or false land created by her witchcraft to lure sailors to their death. Although the term Fata Morgana is sometimes applied A Fata Morgana oઢ the Santa Cruz shoreline as seen from Moss Landing, California. A Fata Morgana of a boat A Fata Morgana changing the shape of a distant boat to other, more common kinds of mirages, the true Fata Morgana is not the same as an ordinary superior mirage, nor is it the same as an inferior mirage. Fata Morgana mirages distort the object or objects which they are based on signicantly, often such that the object is completely unrecognizable. A Fata Morgana can be 1