Mirage
Mirage explained in an easy to understand way:
Imagine you're looking at a spoon in a glass of water, and it appears bent or broken at the surface. This visual trick is similar to how a mirage occurs when light bends as it passes through air layers with varying temperatures and densities. Just like the water changes the path of light, causing the spoon to appear distorted, different air layers in the atmosphere refract light, creating the illusion of distant objects seeming closer or appearing where they aren't.
Practice Version
Mirage: The image of a distant object created when refracted light passes through air layers of different densities. Mirage. A mirage is an optical illusion where light bends in the air, making objects appear displaced or distorted.