Hello Timothy,
I've seen this happen while at sea on the USS Simon Lake
oooh, fun! If it ever happened in our vicinity (two years mostly in SE Asia) I must have not been on watch.
I'm trying to think of a Traveller equivalent.
Perhaps there are 'conditions' under which ship appears to be much closer/larger than it really is. See that 500,000-ton Free Trader just off the port bow?! But sensors would reveal it's an illusion and as I don't think you do much optically from a bridge in Traveller anyway it wouldn't work... ah well, it was just a thought.
Perhaps the 'conditions' are such that sensors give the iffy readings?
Sensor Op: Captain's there's a Beowulf just a 1000 klicks ahead.
Captain: That close?
Sensor Op: Yes, and readings say it's... urh, Captain, I'm reading a Beowulf class that's 500,000 tons.
Captain: Ah yes... have you not done your stage two exam reading yet? That'll be the kuiper-oort shadow [1] giving you a ghost blip. Give it three minutes and try again.
tc
[1] I'm pretty sure there are people on this list who could come up with *much* better double talk...