Among the most famous of the phantom ships is the legendary Flying Dutchman. This sailing ship, feared by mariners as an omen of disaster, supposedly appears during stormy weather off the Cape of Good Hope, at Africa's southern tip.
According to one version of the legend, Van der Decken, the captain of the Flying Dutchman, swore that he would round the cape even if he had to sail straight into the wind. Because of this oath, Van der Decken was condemned to sail forever against just such an adverse wind.
The Flying Dutchman legend has often been used in literature. It also served as the basis for Richard Wagner's opera `The Flying Dutchman'.
Phantoms, whether observed on land or at sea, can often be explained as optical illusions. Mariners are familiar with the sight of ships sailing through the sky above the horizon--a simple mirage caused by the refraction of light rays. The Flying Dutchman legend may have originated in the account of a superstitious seaman who saw such a mirage but did not understand its nature.
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