If you’ve ever looked out to sea on a calm summer day and spotted a ship that looked like it was floating above the water, you weren’t imagining things.

The page Maltese Islands Weather explained that this mesmerising phenomenon is actually a common optical illusion known as a Fata Morgana, or sea mirage in English – ‘klomi tal-baħar’ in Maltese. And it’s something locals and seafarers around Malta are quite familiar with, especially during the hot, still days of summer.

Despite its magical appearance, it’s all science. A Fata Morgana occurs when there’s a temperature inversion, that is, when a layer of warmer air sits above cooler air near the land or sea surface. On particularly calm days, this difference in air temperature bends (or refracts) light rays in unusual ways, causing distant objects like boats or islands to appear distorted, stretched, or even hovering in mid-air.

These optical illusions often appear just above the horizon and can be especially striking over flat, open stretches of water like the Maltese coastline.

Because summer in Malta brings very calm seas and stable weather, the conditions are just right for temperature inversions to form. That’s why you’re more likely to spot this eerie and beautiful effect between late spring and early autumn, particularly in the early morning or late afternoon when the contrast between land and sea temperatures is most pronounced.

From shore, ships and other marine vessels may look like they’re floating, fragmented, or strangely warped – cut off from the water entirely, and sailing among the clouds. Some even appear upside-down or stacked! While it might look supernatural, rest assured: it’s just nature bending light in fascinating ways.

Have you ever seen a ship that looks like it’s floating?