Mirage

mirage
    n 1: an optical illusion in which atmospheric refraction by a
         layer of hot air distorts or inverts reflections of distant
         objects
    2: something illusory and unattainable
    

Mirage \Mi`rage"\, n. [F., fr. mirer to look at carefully, to
   aim, se mirer to look at one's self in a glass, to reflect,
   to be reflected, LL. mirare to look at. See {Mirror}.]
   An optical effect, sometimes seen on the ocean, but more
   frequently in deserts, due to total reflection of light at
   the surface common to two strata of air differently heated.
   The reflected image is seen, commonly in an inverted
   position, while the real object may or may not be in sight.
   When the surface is horizontal, and below the eye, the
   appearance is that of a sheet of water in which the object is
   seen reflected; when the reflecting surface is above the eye,
   the image is seen projected against the sky. The {fata
   Morgana} and {looming} are species of mirage.
   [1913 Webster]

         By the mirage uplifted the land floats vague in the
         ether,
         Ships and the shadows of ships hang in the motionless
         air.                                     --Longfellow.
   [1913 Webster]
    

87 Moby Thesaurus words for "mirage":
      apparition, appearance, bafflement, balk, bamboozlement, befooling,
      betrayed hope, blasted expectation, blighted hope, blow, bluffing,
      buffet, calculated deception, circumvention, comedown, conning,
      cruel disappointment, dash, dashed hope, deceiving, deception,
      deceptiveness, defeat, defrauding, delusion, delusiveness,
      disappointment, discomfiture, disillusionment, dissatisfaction,
      dupery, enmeshment, ensnarement, entanglement, entrapment, failure,
      fallaciousness, fallacy, fallen countenance, false image,
      falseness, fata morgana, fiasco, figure, fizzle, flimflam,
      flimflammery, foiling, fond illusion, fooling, forlorn hope, form,
      frustration, hallucination, hoodwinking, hope deferred, illusion,
      image, kidding, letdown, looming, outwitting, overreaching,
      phantasm, phantom, phasm, phenomenon, presence, putting on,
      self-deception, setback, shape, snow job, song and dance,
      sore disappointment, spoofery, spoofing, subterfuge, swindling,
      tantalization, tease, trickiness, tricking, victimization, vision,
      willful misconception, wishful thinking