BERRIEN COUNTY, MI — The sky glowed a fiery orange as the sun set over Lake Michigan, Wednesday, March 4, and a local photographer spotted something unusual on the horizon: a view of the Chicago skyline.

The phenomenon was captured from Weko Beach in Bridgman, Michigan, by Jeri Raycraft, whose image above shows a seemingly impossible silhouette of the iconic Chicago skyline more than 50 miles across the lake.

It is called fata morgana, something the American Meteorological Society describes in depth on its website.

“A mirage, but the specific physical circumstances under which fata morgana should be applied to a particular sighting are ill-defined,” the website states. "The best that can be said is that the mirage interacts with features in the landscape to present a scene of sufficient ambiguity that viewers often arrive at quite fanciful interpretations.

The phenomenon that seems to bring Chicago closer to the Michigan shoreline has been captured before, and has been explained as an optical effect from light being bent due to changes in air temperatures over the water.

This is also not the first time Raycraft has seen signs of Chicago’s skyscrapers in the distance. Raycraft, a native of the St. Joseph area, said she has personally observed the phenomenon several times over the years. But this year she had equipment in hand to capture the unique vista.

Last summer, she purchased a long lens, a Sigma 150-600 mm to be precise, which she used Wednesday to capture the beautiful image of the silhouetted skyline. You can view more of Raycraft’s work on her Instagram, @Jeriraycraft.

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