The Brockenspectre

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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 climbing enthusiast said the moment was 'creepy' as the illusion looked like a figure with a rainbow halo was moving towards him. The extraordinary sight involves the light behind a climber casting their shadow - often in an odd triangular shape. the spectre is simply a weather effect caused on a misty day when when the sun is behind a climber - their shadow is then projected forwards through the mist.

Although its elevation of 1,141 metres (3,743ft) is below alpine dimensions, its microclimate resembles that of mountains of about 2,000m (6,600ft). Most air travelers have observed glories in the vicinity of their aircraft's shadow on the clouds below. Today the old tower beside the lodge again is home to a weather station of the Deutscher Wetterdienst. In 2006, the granite blockfields of the Brocken, together with 76 other interesting geotopes, were designated as a "National Geotope".In David Foster Wallace's Pynchon-influenced Infinite Jest the characters Remy Marathe and Hugh Steeply also experience the Brocken spectre on a ridge in the desert outside Tucson. Readers, young and old alike will take Tomas to their hearts and be eager to discover how his journey ends.

The alleged hardness of Brocken granite is not the reason for the height of the mountain, but the geological fact that it was well protected by its weather-resistant hornfels crest for a long time before erosion set in.Above all, Tomas fears the Brockenspectre - a huge, shadowy creature that lives alone in the heights, waiting for unwary climbers. The Brocken Spectre phenomenon is an optical illusion created when low sun shines behind someone looking down into fog from a ridge. Only in recent geological times, since the tertiary period, did the typical, rounded, spheroidal weathering of granite outcrops and granite boulders of the Brocken take place. In addition there are restaurants and the Brocken Hotel, which is run by the Brocken publican ( Brockenwirt), Hans Steinhoff. A theory by Brazilian physicist Herch Moysés Nussenzveig suggests that the light energy beamed back by a glory originates mostly from classical wave tunneling (synonymous in the paper to the evanescent wave coupling), which is an interaction between an evanescent light wave traveling along the surface of the drop and the waves inside the drop.