Invisible ships

The invisible ships (or ships not seen) myth claims that when European explorers' ships approached either North America, South America, or Australia, the appearance of their large ships was so foreign to the native people that they could not even see the vessels in front of them. It is likely based on a passage of Joseph Banks' diary describing the HMS Endeavour's arrival in Botany Bay. Banks wrote that the natives did not appear surprised or concerned from a distance, but unlike the myth, once the ships approached land they were confronted by armed men. Though the common versions of the myth are apocryphal and not based in science, it has been promoted by New Age personalities, prominently in the 2004 film What the Bleep Do We Know!?