We see faces and familiar shapes everywhere we look. In clouds. In the bark of trees (or Ents as they prefer to be called). In the brick wall in the office kitchen. And just glancing at a car, we can tell that some of them are happy (or less than enthusiastic) to see us.
If you tend to see inanimate objects with faces, too, then you’ve encountered the wonderfully weird phenomenon known as pareidolia! It’s an experience a lot of human beings share because we’re wired to look for familiar patterns in random streams of information.
Bored Panda has collected some of the most interesting photos showing things with faces, so scroll down, upvote your faves, and let us know which of these cool photos you liked the most and why. Oh, and let us know if you can’t spot a funny face in any of the photos! We spoke with professor Kang Lee from the University of Toronto about seeing objects with faces in detail, so be sure to read on for the full insightful interview.
And when you’re done with this list, have a look through our earlier posts about pareidolia right here and here. And let’s not forget about this one right here - it's filled with interesting things!
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This Is Why Literal Fairy Tales Exist
I Thought That Lady Was A Muppet
What The Hell Is So Funny Steve?
"Pareidolia illustrates the interaction between the visual cortex and the frontal cortex of the human brain. It suggests that our brain is highly sensitive and expecting to encounter and process some special classes of objects in our environment because they are biological and socially important to our adaptions to the environment," professor Lee explained to us.
"For example, when you are walking in a dark street in the evening, your brain is on high alert to detect whether any threat will jump out any moment. In this case, you are more likely to have face or human pareidolia because it is important for you to err on the side of caution if you mistake a tree as a human being."
The professor pointed out that this is the reason why pareidolia often occurs in ambiguous situations. "However, for some people, their frontal cortex’s expectation for certain objects (e.g., faces) become so high that they see faces in many situations where no faces exist."
"Even in this kind of situation, it is normal. There is nothing wrong with these individuals," he stressed. "Pareidolia is different from paranoia or delusion or abnormal vision of individuals with psychosis. In fact, a recent study shows that those people with pareidolia tend to be more creative. Also, people who are religious may be able to see religious icons in non face objects as well."
These Two Rocks Look Like A Mother Breastfeeding Her New Born Child
I Want To Believe
Let Us Out
Professor Lee highlighted that pareidolia as a phenomenon shows how powerfully our imaginations (which comes from our frontal cortex) can affect our perception (which takes place first in the visual cortex which is located in the occipital lobe in the back of our head).
He added that pareidolia also tells us that "what we see are not things over there in the world but actually the co-creation of what is out there physically and what is in our mind mentally through our expectations and imaginations."
"Pareidolia is a broader phenomenon as it extends to touch and sound and other sensory channels. For example, you sometimes sense your phone vibrating when it is not, it is a tactile form of pareidolia. When you hear voices in a noisy environment, it is an auditory form of pareidolia."
Dragon Tree
Pulled The Door Handle Off And He Was As Shocked As I Was
Pigeon Poops Portrait Of Itself On A Leaf
“If someone reports seeing Jesus in a piece of toast, you’d think they must be nuts,” professor Lee previously told BBC Future. “But it’s very pervasive. We are primed to see faces in every corner of the visual world.” According to him, our imaginations exert a very powerful influence over our perceptions.
(On a semi-related note, no wonder we keep bumping into things—we're too busy imagining what it’d be like to fly on the back of a fire-breathing dragon.)
Whatever This Chair Is Going Through I Can Relate
There Is A Lion Wearing Sunglasses On The Belly Of This Grasshopper
A Cute Dog But Actually Just Rust
According to Live Science, people who are religious or have very strong beliefs about the supernatural see faces in objects and landscapes more often. Cosmologist Carl Sagan thought that pareidolia is a survival mechanism that helps us recognize faces from a distance and determine whether we’re being approached by an ally or an enemy.
Meanwhile, legendary artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci saw pareidolia as an artistic device: “If you look at any walls spotted with various stains or with a mixture of different kinds of stones, if you are about to invent some scene you will be able to see in it a resemblance to various different landscapes adorned with mountains, rivers, rocks, trees, plains, wide valleys, and various groups of hills.”
There’s also something called the electronic voice phenomenon, aka auditory pareidolia, where people hear hidden messages that were supposedly placed there on purpose by songwriters. And that… that’s given rise to plenty of conspiracy theories, like the one that began circulating in 1966 that musician Paul McCartney had supposedly died and been replaced by a lookalike. Conspiracy theorists looked for clues in The Beatles songs and album covers.
The Snow On Top Of This Mountain That Looks Like A Lizard
I See Sid
This Overflowing Cupcake Ended Up Looking Like An Elephant
I Found A Piece Of Driftwood That Looks Like A Dragon's Head
Scared Switches
This Ashy Potato That Looks About Done With Life
This Boiled Egg Exploded While Cooking And Looks Like A Snail
Chomp
Looks Like There's A Goddess In This Orange
I’m Flying
My Car Seems Pretty Happy About The Snowstorm
"Yer A Hazard, Harry"
Bubbles That Form A Little Cat Shape
This T. Rex Shaped Cactus
This Shadow Looks Exactly Like A Man’s Head. Lone Peak, Big Sky, Montana
I Wonder Which Song Was On
Dog Stick I Found
The Pattern On My Dog's Chest Looks Like A Cat Mid Sneeze
She’s Having Twins
This Orchid Really Looks Like An Eagle
What Did He See
Alien Pickle
My Drink Looks Like A Crocodile Is Looking At Me
The Ice In My Glass Sort Of Looks Like A Face
This Pure-Bread My Friend Got At A Restaurant
Found A Rock That Looks Like A Shark
Stupid Sexy Flanders
These Bacon Slices Look Like An Evil Clown
The Happiest Little Bagel
I Found A Mussel With Natural Googly Eyes
This Roof Console That Fell Out Of Place Looked Pretty Surprised
This Walnut That Looks Like An Owl Face
Bit Of Fluff On My Bed Looks Like A Person Running Up A Hill
The Lighting On This Toilet Makes Me Feel Like I'm Peeing On The Smiling Wide Open Mouth Of My Own Shadow
I Am The Eggman
My Coffee Looks Like It Just Forgot About A Meeting
Piebald Ball Python
Am I Tripping Or Is There A Chihuahua Face On My Girlfriend's Naan Bread?
My Child’s Car Seat Didn’t Take Kindly To Being Washed
My Lock Got A Bit Scratched Up And Now The Middle Looks Kind Of Like A Horse
This Framed Photo Of A Slice Of Toast That Looks Like A Dog Peaking Out Of The Toaster
As awesome as that looks, can we pause here and acknowledge the fact that someone took a photo of a slice of toast, and framed it?!
Yip Yip Yip Yip Yip Yip Yip Yip
This Burnt Cheese Looks Like A Penguin
Kissing Your Car Crash
Welcome To Mexico - Buenas Noches, Amigos
This Ice Cream Is Very Happy
This Crack On The Stairs Looks Like A Cat
A Lot Of Digletts
Not Sure If My Burger Is Disrespecting Or Provoking Me
Thicc Meat
This Dirt Stain Of Edgar Allen Poe Peaking Out At Work
This Locust With A Lion's Face On Its Back
This Projector Support At My English Class Is So Happy To Do His Job
Found This Stump That Looks Like Cthulhus Skull
My Mom Sent Me This And Asked, "Am I Going Crazy Or Does This Look Like A Little Old Lady With Her Legs Crossed Holding Something In Her Lap With A Handkerchief On Her Head?"
Goofy Building Ruined My Landscape Shot
This Cloud Looks Like A Farting Squirrel
Ever Notice How A Hammer Looks Like A Man About To Swing A Baseball Bat?
My Boyfriend’s Scoop Of Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Looks Like It’s Smiling
Lamp’s Reflection In My Sunglasses
This Dead Fly Looks Like Soldier With Flamethrower
The Shadow From My Towel Rack Looks Like Donald Trump
Tire Mark On Highway Looks Like Hummingbird
Is Something Trying To Climb Out From My Jar Of Nutella?
This Cactus Looked Happy To See Me
They’re In The Trees
My Chicken Sandwich Looks Vaguely Like Johnny Bravo
He’s Trapped
Found A Little Cow On The Underside Of My Dog’s Collar
At Costco, My 3 Year-Old Says “That Big Boat Is Crying!”
This Router Thingy Looks Like It's Panicking
This Wood Grain On My Desk That Looks Like A Dog
The Foam In My Beer Looks Like A Smiling Dog
Was Cleaning The Ceiling Panels At My Work When This Guy Suddenly Ambushed Me
Such Cake Much Sweet
This Bike Helmet Looks Like A Happy Sloth
A Women Face Appeared Behind My Sister
Turned Around In The Office When
I Accidentally Spilled Milk During Breakfast This Morning In The Shape Of A Bust
This Little Guy In My Sheet Music
This Salsa Container Has Condensation That Resembles A Gorilla's Face
This Cloud Looks Like Sonic The Hedgehog
My Beer Foam Looks Like A Mouse Having A Beer At The Bar
The Paint Peeling On This Building Kind Of Looks Like The Head Of A Lion
My Cake Naturally Formed An Evil Smiling Face
There's A Face In My Sausage
Collapsed Crane In Lithuania
Is There A Dude Praying In My Filter?
Our Library Scanner Looks Like A Xenomorph
I Just Discovered A Sentient Warrior Living Inside The Top Of My New Water Bottle
This Splash Of Water On The Ground That Looks Like A Dragon In Flight
Why The One Is Sad And The Other Is Surprised?
My Sloth Looks Like A Steering Wheel
The Gap Between Two Eggs Looks Like A Bald Man Yelling
My bathroom had that horrible covering growing up, blue with gold splatters. In the gold splatters was a witch profile, a pig with a chefs hat, a butterfly net and a ton of others. It was always fun to try to find new ones.
I did that with my bathroom floor while doing my business. There was a pattern of Shaggy from Scooby Doo
Load More Replies...My bathroom had that horrible covering growing up, blue with gold splatters. In the gold splatters was a witch profile, a pig with a chefs hat, a butterfly net and a ton of others. It was always fun to try to find new ones.
I did that with my bathroom floor while doing my business. There was a pattern of Shaggy from Scooby Doo
Load More Replies...