Case file · Folklore / legend
Ibn Battuta sees the rukh at sea
Sailing back from China in 1347, the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta wrote that the crew saw what looked like a mountain rising from the sea and cried that it was the rukh, the giant bird, which would destroy them; a wind carried them away.
1347 CE · 12.00, 112.00 · status: account
The account
His Riḥla, dictated in 1355, records the sailors' terror and prayers. The rukh (roc) appears in many Arabic and Persian sea tales. Position approximate (South China Sea).
The sceptical view
A distant island raised by a mirage (looming) fits the description well.