The creepy effect was captured by Valery Demin, a researcher at the Arctic Geophysical Institute. "When several layers of different temperatures form in the athmospere, it causes the lense-effect deflecting the sunshine. This so-called superior mirage can be either stretched or inverted."
Demin adds this odd phenomenon only occurs during winter and requires a combination of factors: cold still air, clear sky and no clouds. The woods and mountains are reflected in the mirage as if it were "a busted kaleidoscope".
READ MORE: Dancing Northern Lights in Russia's Arctic Port of Murmansk
The Murmansk Weather Service office reports the Kola Peninsula has been under the influence of an anticyclone centered in the North Urals resulting in especially cold weather in the Subarctic.