The green flash
You know the green flash in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie? Well, it's a real thing, and here's a picture of it:
Explanation: Have you ever seen a "green flash"? These neat optical oddities occur at sunrise or sunset and only last for a few seconds. They are essentially caused by variations of astronomical refraction near the horizon. They can often be seen over the ocean when the cold current combines with the warm air above to create a temperature inversion layer (or layers). Each of these layers "bends" sun rays to create a sort of mirage in which the sun looks to be in three slices. The more inversion layers there are, the more "slices" there are. The mirages intensify the nearly invisible green and blue colors on the sun's upper edge, sometimes it has a few moments of intense brightness before fading (hence, the "flash"). There are many types of "green flash", and not all of them require an ocean horizon. Source
And now I know for sure that the Pirates movies ripped off Benchley's books, because they quoted the portion of the Girl of the Sea of Cortez with the green flash almost word for word.
Explanation: Have you ever seen a "green flash"? These neat optical oddities occur at sunrise or sunset and only last for a few seconds. They are essentially caused by variations of astronomical refraction near the horizon. They can often be seen over the ocean when the cold current combines with the warm air above to create a temperature inversion layer (or layers). Each of these layers "bends" sun rays to create a sort of mirage in which the sun looks to be in three slices. The more inversion layers there are, the more "slices" there are. The mirages intensify the nearly invisible green and blue colors on the sun's upper edge, sometimes it has a few moments of intense brightness before fading (hence, the "flash"). There are many types of "green flash", and not all of them require an ocean horizon. Source
And now I know for sure that the Pirates movies ripped off Benchley's books, because they quoted the portion of the Girl of the Sea of Cortez with the green flash almost word for word.