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More than a century after the sinking of the Titanic, scientists and historians are still trying to understand what happened on that fateful night. New hypotheses, including the one that declares a Fata Morgana type mirage was involved in both the collision with the iceberg and the failed communications between the Titanic and the Californian, are being introduced on a regular basis. This article is the first in a four‐part series that examines the mirage theory of the Titanic disaster. In this part, a few ways in which a temperature inversion (which is required for a mirage to form) could have developed at the site of the disaster at the time of the collision and subsequent sinking are explored. A high‐pressure cell, an icy river of melt‐water and the Gulf Stream are all examined as factors that could have contributed to the formation of an inversion. It is demonstrated that the development of a steep temperature inversion at the wreck site, though rather unlikely, cannot be excluded completely.

The Titanic saga has mystified people for more than a century. One of the most debated questions is why the iceberg was spotted too late to avoid the collision. A recent theory declares that the lookouts could not have seen the iceberg earlier because a mirage‐associated haze camouflaged it. Many Titanic researchers do not believe the haze was real. Lord Mersey, British Wreck Commissioner, said, I mean the evidence before and after the accident is that the sky was perfectly clear, and therefore if the evidence of the haze is to be accepted, it must have been some extraordinary natural phenomenon. This article (the second of four articles that look into the Titanic mirage theory) discusses the hazardous nature of icebergs, examines the testimonies of the Titanic’s lookouts and other eyewitnesses in regards to the haze, and offers some arguments regarding a few natural phenomena that could explain the origin of the haze. The article argues that the haze could very well have been real – and not due to some extraordinary phenomenon, nor a mirage, but rather due to a relatively common phenomenon known as ‘sea smoke’.

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This article (the third of four articles that look into the Titanic mirage theory) presents eyewitness accounts of the Titanic's distress rockets and the appearance of the stricken liner and compares them with the ways mirages manifest themselves. It is argued here that flickering lights and twinkling stars could have made the signals from Morse lamps undetectable. However, they do not indicate the certain presence of super refraction. The presence of a mirage cannot be ruled out; however, this investigation demonstrates that even if a mirage was present, it had no significant effect on any aspect of the tragedy.