The Case of the Guitar Player

The Mystery of the Shining Road

Why? Unknown.
Location: Route 40, Middle of No Where. An optical phantom?
A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon, in which light rays are bent to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French mirage, from the Latin mirare, meaning 'to appear, to seem'. This is the same root as for mirror. Like a mirror, a mirage shows images of things which are elsewhere. The principal physical cause of a mirage, however, is refraction rather than reflection.From a distance the road looks wet.
The mirage actually reflects things in the real world.
But when you get close, there is nothing on the road at all!