Friday, December 5, 2008

Seeing is believing...

Take a look at this picture and the description. It reminded me of what happens all too often in the paranormal community. People are so wrapped in what they "think" they see, they don't see the truth. - Tammy


Strange False Head Photo

posted by Dean Terry
At first this photo seems to be a couple with a large head floating between them. But look again - things aren’t always what they seem.

Most people who look at this old photograph will probably see a large bearded head between the two figures. It looks like an image of Jesus.

You’ll probably think it’s just a crude hoax from bygone days. But look again, carefully. This is not a hoax at all. What the photo actually shows is a child sitting on the man’s knee.

Block out the head’s “hair.” That’s just a collection of foliage in the background. The “eye” is the face the child, shadowed by a large white bonnet. The “nose” is the sleeve of the child’s shirt. And the “mustache” is the child’s arm, bent at the elbow.

Be patient. It may take you awhile to see this.

10 comments:

Bethily said...

No on is immune to pareidolia (well, I don't think so, anyway)! See http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/lenin.html for a nice write up on the topic. It can be cool and fascinating if you know a bit about it. But it can prove scary and disconcerting if you are prone to interpreting your perceptions as something paranormal. And it isn't just visual patterns that our brain is skilled at perceiving as something familiar, the same is true for other senses (think: EVP).

Tonya Hacker said...

Great blog Tammy!!!!!!!!!!!

WittyChick said...

Excellent analogy. It took me a bit before I could make out the child on the lap. That's insane! Thank God photogrpahy has improved since the day!

Janice Oberding said...

It took me a while to finally see the child's face...Interesting demonstration of how the brain fills in the blanks.

mooneybeams said...

Very cool, great picture. It does prove how our brain makes us see things that really, REALLY, aren't there at all. Interesting.

Unknown said...

Yeah, this is a FANTASTIC pareidolia pic. ( I see Rasputin by the way, not Jesus) This is the kind of thing, that we as researchers, need to continuously relay/illustrate to the public. Once people begin to understand and except what paredolia is, it should start cutting down on the bad or just misinterpreted pieces of "evidence" that are being submitted as "proof" of the paranormal.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I wonder if you had started out the entry different, if others would have seen the baby first, head second. Part of pareidolia is suggestion.

::P.s. I have no idea why the name is pinkghostie. I never created that account. This is my google account, but it was never attached to a blogger account..::

WittyChick said...

To Stuart:

I see William Shakespeare, not Jesus.

Anonymous said...

I looked at the picture before I read anything. I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to be seeing, and now that I read the rest of it, I have a hard time seeing anything but the face.
It looks like an unshaven John Lennon, by the way.