Photo of the Day 478

Desert of Death, Afghanistan

Photograph by Thomas J. Abercrombie

Like drifting clouds, hilltops mirrored in a mirage appear to float behind a Land Rover. The illusion is created by heat waves shimmering in the 120-degree (49-degree-Celsius) temperatures of the Dasht-i-Margo—Afghanistan's so-called "Desert of Death."

(Photo shot on assignment for "Afghanistan—Crossroad of Conquerors," September 1968, National Geographic magazine)