The Mirage I don't know if you have seen this on television or in a movie, but picture a person in the desert walking for days and dying of thirst. The weary traveler has their tongue sticking to the top of their mouth as it swells. Nothing would do them more good than to simply have a sip of clear, cool, refreshing water. So as they walk, they notice --off in the distance-- what appears to be an Oasis! They see beautiful palm trees! They smell the scent of water, and so they run for all they are worth! When they arrive, they plant themselves face down and begin to gulp down... sand! "How can this be," says the parched brain of the weary traveler, as they cough and gag their way along trying to get the sand out of their mouth? "How could I have been so wrong? This thing looked so real, and I could just taste it!" Then they realize they have been looking at a mirage. The Oasis was not real, and their brain has been playing tricks on them.