Ghosts captured the mountain region in Crimea? - PHOTOS

This eerie ghost-like figure left a group of trekkers stunned when it suddenly appeared over a mountain range, but it was nothing more than the rare natural phenomenon known as a Brocken Spectre.

Ukrainian photographer, Mikhail Baevsky was part of the trekking group which came across the unusual spectacle at Chatyr-Dag mountain region, in Crimea, Southern Ukraine.
But the ghostly figure Mr Baevsky photographed is actually his own shadow magnified hundreds of times as it is cast upon the surface of clouds opposite the sun.

The stunning illusions are created when a low sun shines behind someone looking down into fog from a ridge.

The heads of the figures are often surrounded by rings of coloured light, an effect caused by the diffraction of visible light.

To add to the frightening effect, the ghostly figures can sometimes appear to move, often very suddenly, due to the drifting of the clouds.

Photographer Mikhail, 61, a university chemistry lecturer, trekked up to 1,200 metres above the cloud levels to get a glimpse of the phenomenon.

He said: 'I love being out taking pictures and even when it gets down to some freezing temperatures around -15 degrees I'm still out climbing the mountains looking for the perfect image.

'As a scientist, I know the physics behind why this shape happens but because that day I saw this a few times it was as if I was being chased by a ghost.
'The beginning of the day was so cloudy that I just presumed that I wouldn't be able to capture anything.

'We were tempted to turn back at 900 metres because it was so cloudy but I'm really glad we persevered and carried on heading up as at around 1,200 metres the fog started to clear otherwise I'd never have been able to see this.'
The Brocken spectre got its name because of early sightings on the Brocken, the highest peak of Germany's Harz Mountains.
It can appear on any misty mountainside or cloud bank, or even on some occasions, from an aeroplane so long as the conditions are right.

Amazingly, the ghostly figures can sometimes appear to move rapidly when the cloud layer moves or there are variations in its density.

German scientist Johann Silberschlag first observed the phenomenon in 1780 but since then they have been seen and recorded many times in the region.
The extraordinary sight involves the light behind a climber casting their shadow often in an odd triangular shape.

The shadow can also fall on water droplets of varying differences from the observer's eye causing confused depth perception.

Among mountain climbers though there is a superstition that whoever sees a Brocken Spectre will die in the mountains the very next day.

The team also headed up Angar-Buran and Eklizi-Burun mountains in search of a sighting.
The region is famous for the stunning landscapes and breath-taking wonders which attract people from all over the world.

/dailymail.co.uk/