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Pareidolia: Seeing Faces In Clouds 15

Pareidolia: Seeing Faces

in Unusual Places

By Kim Ann Zimmermann

To some observers, it looked like an ordinary
grilled cheese sandwich. But to the Miami
woman who put it up for sale on eBay, and to
some people who viewed it, there was an image
of the Virgin Mary seared on this seemingly
run-of-the-mill snack.
The psychological phenomenon that
causes some people to see or hear a vague or
random image or sound as something
significant is known as pareidolia (par-i-DOH-
lee-a).
The word is derived from the Greek
words para, meaning something faulty, wrong,
instead of, and the noun eidōlon, meaning
image, form or shape. Pareidolia is a type of
apophenia, which is a more generalized term for
seeing patterns in random data.
on Palm Sunday in 2005. groups of hills," he wrote in a passage in one of
Some common examples are seeing a
In 2007 in Singapore, a callus on a tree his extensive notebooks.
likeness of Jesus in the clouds or an image of a
resembled a monkey, leading believers to pay Sometimes artists use this phenomenon
man on the surface of the moon.
homage to the "Monkey god." to their advantage by embedding hidden images
A cinnamon bun bearing a likeness of in their work. Observers often view other
Famous examples of pareidolia
Mother Teresa was first discovered at the Bongo objects in Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings,
Java Café in Belmont, Tenn. It was on display for example.
A prime example of pareidolia and its
for about 10 years, until it was stolen on In 1971, the Latvian writer and
connection to religious images is the Shroud of
Christmas day in 2007. intellectual Konstantīns Raudive detailed what
Turin, a cloth bearing the image of a man —
In 2012, many people made a he believed was the discovery of electronic
which some believe to be Jesus — who appears
pilgrimage to a tree at 60th Street and voice phenomenon (EVP). EVP has been
to have suffered trauma consistent with
Bergenline Avenue in West New York, N.J., to described as "auditory pareidolia." The
crucifixion. The negative image was first
see a scar on the tree that some believed looked allegations of hidden messages in popular music
observed in 1898, on the reverse photographic like the image of the Our Lady of Guadalupe have also been described as auditory pareidolia.
plate of amateur photographer Secondo Pia,
depiction of the Virgin Mary. The Rorschach inkblot test uses
who was allowed to photograph it while it was
pareidolia in an attempt to gain insight into a
being exhibited in the Turin Cathedral. Why pareidolia happens person's mental state. Since the cards have been
Some visitors to St. Mary's in Rathkaele,
designed without any specific image in mind,
Ireland, say a tree stump outside of the church
There are a number of theories as to the cause of this is an example of "directed pareidolia." []
bears a silhouette of the Virgin Mary.
this phenomenon. Experts say pareidolia
Damage to the Pedra da Gávea, an
provides a psychological determination for
enormous rock outside Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
many delusions that involve the senses. They
created an impression that many interpret as a
human face. believe pareidolia could be behind numerous
sightings of UFOs, Elvis and the Loch Ness
Many people thought images taken in
Monster and the hearing of disturbing messages
1976 by the Viking 1 mission showed a face on
on records when they are played backwards.
Mars that could have been the remnants of an
Pareidolia often has religious overtones.
ancient civilization.
A study in Finland found that people who are
In September 1969, conspiracy theorists
religious or believe strongly in the supernatural
claimed some Beatles records contained clues to
are more likely to see faces in lifeless objects
Paul McCartney's supposed death. Many heard
and landscapes.
the words "Paul is dead," when the song
"Strawberry Fields Forever" was played Carl Sagan, the American cosmologist
and author, made the case that pareidolia was a
backwards, a process known as backmasking.
survival tool. In his 1995 book, "The Demon-
This is a common urban legend often WATCH
Haunted World – Science as a Candle in the
repeated to this day. THE ‘X’ ZONE CHANNEL
Dark," he argued that this ability to recognize
In 1977, the appearance of Jesus Christ
faces from a distance or in poor visibility was an
on a flour tortilla set the international standard
important survival technique. While this instinct
for miracle sightings. It happened in the small
enables humans to instantly judge whether an
town of Lake Arthur, New Mexico, 40 minutes
oncoming person is a friend or foe, Sagan noted
south of Roswell.
Diane Duyser of Miami sold a 10-year- that it could result in some misinterpretation of
random images or patterns of light and shade as
old grilled cheese sandwich, which she said
being faces.
bore the image of Jesus, for $28,000 on eBay in
Leonardo da Vinci wrote about
2004.
pareidolia as an artistic device. "If you look at
In 2004, Steve Cragg, youth director at
any walls spotted with various stains or with a
Memorial Drive United Methodist Church in
mixture of different kinds of stones, if you are
Houston, Texas, discovered a Cheeto that
about to invent some scene you will be able to
looked like Jesus.
see in it a resemblance to various different
Donna Lee of Toledo, Ohio, saw an
image of Jesus on a pierogi she was preparing landscapes adorned with mountains, rivers, www.simulTV.com
rocks, trees, plains, wide valleys, and various