In making a mirage, the desert, the heat, and theair are not mistaken; they don’t conspire to trick you. Physics is working as expected. The mirage isreally there, it’s just not water. It is us, the thirsty travelers, who mistake the mirage for an oasis orsee it as a cruel trick.
I like the acknowledgment here that the mirage is "real" and that the agent in the relationship is the perceiver, the viewer. It keeps the human experience front and center.