You might see a halo around someone's head?..................~Wise

Q. Where's the scariest place you might see a halo around someone's head? How about your own head?

A. The story is told of an 18th century climber scaling Mount Brocken, highest peak in the Harz Mountains in Germany, when suddenly he glanced up and saw before him in the haze a human figure with a halo around its head, says Larry Gedney in the "Alaska Science Forum." "Understandably startled by this apparition, he lost his hold and fell to his death."

Called the Specter of the Brocken, such apparitions have long been reported. It is now known that what is actually being seen is a shadow of the climber, surrounded by colored rings in the mist. But the shadowy figure often looks bigger than it really is--since distance is hard to judge--i.e. a haloed giant! (This rainbow-like full 360- degree circle--called a "glory"--is more commonly seen today by frequent fliers who spot it around the shadow of their plane on clouds below.)

In a less scientific era, says Philip Laven in his online "Glories and the Brocken Specter," it's easy to see how people might have interpreted these rings as a divine sign. "Perhaps the idea that saints have halos around their heads originated from reports of glories."

"The bottom line is," says Gedney, "if you are camping in the high mountains when the sun is behind you, there is a mist or cloud in front of you, and you see a ghostly figure with a halo approaching, don't panic. It's only you."

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