Optical Illusions Created by Mother Nature

An underwater waterfall 

This illusion is created by sand deposits lying along the coast of Mauritius. They look like a huge waterfall underwater.

A picture

In fact, this is not a picture painted by an expressionist artist. In the foreground there are dead trees during a sunset, and in the background there are red dunes of Namibia. As we can see, the tricky game of light and shadows creates a hard-to-believe image.

A rough sea

Looking at clouds like these, one may imagine a rough sea above his head instead of the sky. Undulatus asperatus are a rare type of cloud that usually look frightening like this. But don’t be fooled by the appearance, for asperatus clouds are never accompanied by a hurricane or storm.

A magic lake

Lake Uyuni is famous for the distorted perception of space it creates due to the absence of any objects on its surface. During rainy seasons alkaline soil of the lake transforms into a huge mirror. Salt cells are covered by a very thin layer of crystal clear water, which reflects the sky and totally erases the skyline.

On the edge of a cliff

It seems like the man in this picture is walking on the edge of a cliff, but in fact it’s the bank of a river flowing inside Glen Canyon.

An abyss

Do you see two boys jumping into the abyss? In fact, it’s a picture of Jacob’s Well, which is located in the state of Texas. Jacob’s Well is a huge artesian spring with a 12-foot diameter mouth and a 30-foot descent. The water is so crystal clear that jumping in it feels like jumping in empty space.

A tree shape

Is this a creek bed or a tree? Well, it’s neither a river nor a tree. Those tree-like shapes in Baja California (Mexico) are formed in the sand due to the high amplitude of tides in the shallow waters that appear because of strong streams.

The stone waves

On the border between Arizona and Utah, you can see some unique rock formations. They have been forming for millions of years out of sand dunes, gradually turning into solid rock. The continuous impact of both winds and rains over a long period of time played a major role in the creation of this bizarre formation.

A mountain road

When looking at this picture for the first time, one sees a road that runs across the top of a mountain chain. But in fact, it’s a picture of the Colorado River perceived incorrectly by our vision because of the color and shades of the river.

A burning tornado

What you’re seeing here is not a picture of a burning tornado (which doesn’t even exist), but a picture of the river Rio Tinto in Spain, full of waste from mining activity. As a result of mining works, the river has become acidic. The bright red color of the water is caused by the high percentage of heavy metals in it.

Phantom suns

This phenomenon is known as parhelion, and it is usually caused by the refraction of sunlight from ice crystals drifting in the atmosphere.

A spider web

This image seems to be the perfect photo of rain. But if you look closely, you will notice that each of these drops is just hanging on a spider web.

A two-headed zebra