If the weather is just right you can see across Lake Erie to Canada as if it’s only a few miles away!

Lake Erie is 50 miles wide. That means the U.S. shore is 50 miles away from Canada. Locals have long attested to being able to see trees and buildings on the Canadians side of Lake Erie when the weather is clear. 

Eyewitnesses say that Canada only appears to be about three miles away when the weather is perfectly clear. Then when the weather turns slightly, Canada slowly fades away and can’t be seen. 

Experts say it is simply a mirage. During an atmospheric inversion, a layer of cold air blankets the lake and is followed by increasingly warm layers of air. When an atmospheric inversion occurs, it causes light to filter through the layers and bend from across the lake. It forms a type of lens and makes it can create the illusion of distant objects. 

(Source)