Watch: Local spots ‘golden ghost ship’ off coast
Monday, 15 June 2026
David McKee photographed a rare atmospheric phenomenon from Kaikōura about 7.48am on Saturday.
The image appeared to show a ghostly ship or floating city hovering above the horizon.
The sight was a Fata Morgana, a mirage caused by unusual layers of warm and cold air.
The photo was taken in Kaikōura. An earlier version of this story said the photo was taken in Northland. (Amended at 11.50am on June 15, 2026)
A Kaikōura resident has captured a rare atmospheric phenomenon that appeared to resemble a ghostly ship floating above the horizon.
The image was taken about 7.48am on Saturday, when local David McKee noticed the unusual sight while looking out from his home.
“I saw that and thought, that’s pretty weird,” McKee told Stuff.
Living on a hill overlooking the ocean, McKee has a clear view of the horizon and says he has watched thousands of sunrises over the past three decades.
“I’d never seen anything that looked quite like that … and I’ve been looking out the window for 30-odd years.”
Without his camera nearby, McKee used his phone’s zoom function to photograph the phenomenon.
The image showed what appeared to be a towering ship, floating castle or city suspended above the ocean, and when the photograph was shared online there were a lot of theories offered.
“Was amazing - looked like a city in the sea,” one person wrote, while another described it as a “golden ghost ship”.
Others compared it to the mythical Atlantis, or aliens.
McKee said he quickly realised the image was being created by the rising sun interacting with a small patch of cloud sitting on the horizon.
“I knew it was sun coming up through cloud,” he told Stuff, “but it certainly doesn’t look like that, does it?”
He said the unusual shape and appearance made it easy to understand how sailors in centuries past might have believed they were witnessing something supernatural.
“It certainly does look pretty spooky.
“You can see how people come up with The Flying Dutchman sort of ghost ship scenario.
“I’d imagine 100 years ago at sea, you’d see that sort of thing and think, ‘What on Earth’s going on?’”
One of those who witnessed the phenomenon was peninsula resident Kathy Brown, who said the sight emerged surprisingly quickly as the sun rose.
“I first looked and thought, ‘Gosh, that looks extremely unusual’,” Brown said.
“As the sun kept coming up, it made it look like it was a whole city in the sea. It was quite spectacular because it’s normally just sea, but it looked like there was actually a city there.”
Brown, who has lived on the peninsula for 21 years, said she had never seen anything similar despite spending years watching sunrises from the area.
“I’ve seen a lot of sunrises, but never, ever seen anything quite like that. It was pretty spectacular.”
She said photos and videos failed to fully capture what she saw with the naked eye.
“When I took photos, it seemed quite in the distance. But when you’re actually looking at it, it felt like it was right there.
“I don’t think we’ll ever see anything like that again.”
Tristan Meyers, an analytical meteorologist and forecaster at Earth Sciences New Zealand, said the strange image appeared to be a type of mirage caused by atmospheric conditions.
“Normally, light travels in straight lines. But when there are strong temperature differences between layers of air, light bends, or refracts, causing these distortions.”
Meyers said some ship spotters believed the object could have been a cruise ship on the horizon being distorted by the effect.
“However, it could also be distant thunderstorm anvils peaking over the horizon.”
The phenomenon is known as a Fata Morgana, a rare type of mirage caused by unusual atmospheric conditions.
It occurs when layers of warm and cold air act like a lens, bending and distorting light travelling across the horizon.
The effect can dramatically alter the appearance of distant objects, making ships, islands and clouds appear elevated, stretched or transformed into floating castles, cliffs or cities.
Fata Morgana mirages are considered a likely explanation for many historical stories of phantom vessels, including the legendary ghost ship The Flying Dutchman.