Robert Lyons wrote:

We were at cruising altitude, mid-trip. The air was clear, except
for a thin haze layer below us, perhaps midway between the aircraft
and the ground. Visible in that haze was an image of the sun, cast
presumably by tiny lakes below us. Larger lakes didn't work - the
cast reflection would get too large and out-of-focus.

Sounds similar to an effect called "sun dogs". I've only seen it once, and then
only from the ground.

George Patterson
If you're not part of the solution, you can make a lot of money prolonging
the problem.