Brocken spectre moving around. A Brocken spectre is the shadow of the viewer cast onto cloud, which appears far larger than the person casting it, due to difficulty in judging the distance to it. It is often surrounded by a glory, a concentric set of small rainbows. The name Brocken spectre comes from the German mountain the Brocken, whose peak is above the clouds in the region, making the conditions perfect for the phenomenon. This Brocken spectre was filmed on Red Screes in the Lake District, Cumbria, UK.