Brocken specter in Central Balkan National Park, Bulgaria

© Maya Karkalicheva/Getty Image

A ghost on the mountain. Brocken specter in Central Balkan National Park, Bulgaria

With Halloween around the corner, we present the ghostly image of a Brocken specter. Despite appearances, and the season, there’s nothing paranormal about a Brocken specter. It’s the magnified shadow of an observer cast in midair upon a cloud opposite a strong light source. Brocken specters are rare but climb a mountain at dawn up to the misty slopes and you may be fortunate enough to witness the effect. While the specter, also known as a Brocken bow, mountain specter, or specter of the Brocken, can appear anywhere in which conditions are right, the thick fogs of the Brocken, a peak in the Harz Mountains in Germany, have created a local legend from which the phenomenon draws its name. The Brocken specter was observed and described by Johann Silberschlag in 1780 and has since been recorded often in literature about the region.