Editing Crossing the Red Sea (section)

=== Mirage effects ===
Fraser has proposed that the waters that "were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left" could have been a [[Fata Morgana (mirage)|fata morgana]] mirage,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fraser |first1=Alistair B. |title=Theological Optics |journal=Applied Optics |date=1 April 1975 |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=A92-3 |doi=10.1364/AO.14.000A92|pmid=20134969 }}</ref> magnifying and blurring the water on either side of a narrow strip of land and causing it to appear as a solid wall projected in the air. The occurrence of a fata morgana is dependent on a precise combination of winds and temperatures, but could have lasted for the duration of the Israelites’ journey through a body of water.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wilford |first1=John Noble |title=New Explanation Offered For Mirage Phenomenon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/22/archives/new-explanation-offered-for-mirage-phenomenon.html |work=The New York Times |date=22 October 1975}}</ref><ref name="Information1976">{{cite book|last=Fraser|first=A. B.|title=Was the parting of the Red Sea a mirage?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hoE2e3e-jIYC&pg=PA130|date=15 April 1976|publisher=New Scientist|page=130}}</ref> Katzper objects that the Egyptians drowned "upon the sea-shore in the sight of Israel", and therefore the crossing cannot be explained solely by optics. McKeighen objects that the crossing occurred during the night, and therefore a mirage would have been difficult to observe. Also, a strong east wind could be incompatible with the exact temperature profile needed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Katzper |first1=Meyer |last2=McKeighen |first2=Ronald E. |title=Theological optics |journal=Applied Optics |date=1 February 1976 |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=323 |doi=10.1364/ao.15.000323|pmid=20164970 }}</ref>