The Moonbow of the Smoke That Thunders
On full-moon nights at Victoria Falls, a pale rainbow arches through the spray in the dark: a rainbow made by moonlight.
What was reported
Victoria Falls, on the Zambezi between Zambia and Zimbabwe, is known locally as Mosi-oa-Tunya, 'the smoke that thunders', for the great cloud of spray that rises from it. Around the full moon, when the sky is clear, a rainbow forms in that spray at night.
To the eye it often looks silvery-white, but long-exposure photographs show its full colours.
Explanations offered
A moonbow, or lunar rainbow, forms like a rainbow, with moonlight instead of sunlight shining through water droplets. Moonlight is so faint that our eyes can barely see colour in it. Victoria Falls, with its huge spray, is one of the few places where it appears regularly.
- When
- Every full moon
- Where
- Victoria Falls, Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe
- Witnesses
- Visitors on full-moon nights
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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