Pareidolia
oracknows | February 10, 2017It always amuses me how antivaccine activists have such a love-hate relationship with academia, particularly the higher echelons of academia. On the one hand, they routinely denigrate academics because inevitably well-designed, well-executed epidemiological studies testing the hypothesis that vaccines are correlated with the risk of autism always come up empty. That's because vaccines don't cause autism. I used to hedge a bit when I said that, but over the 12 years I've been doing this, I've covered more studies than I can remember testing this very hypothesis, and a clear pattern has emerged…
oracknows | April 5, 2012I have a soft spot for pareidolia, as regular readers know. It amuses me to no end to see Jesus and Mary popping up on freeway underpasses, tacos, toast, pieces of sheet metal, Lava Lamps, and the like. I thought that I had seen it all--until now:
His image has been seen on rocks, windows - even a tortilla as recently as Ash Wednesday.
Now, in the days leading up to Easter Sunday, it appears yet another strange image of Jesus has emerged.
Erika Scheldt, 24, claims she photographed a stingray with a glistening depiction of Christ on its back after it washed ashore a South Carolina beach on…
oracknows | November 3, 2011I must admit, I'm rather happy that October is over, as that means that the local news stations doing all sorts of brain dead fluff stories about the paranormal. On the other hand, if I were still living in Cleveland, I'd miss out on awesome pareidolia like this:
Here's what they're talking about:
And here's more of a close-up:
I have to admit, I can see the resemblance. I can also see that it's almost certainly nothing more than a reflection off of the camera lens. Also remember that this picture was taken with what looks like a cheap cell phone camera. It is, however, fantastic…
oracknows | June 30, 2011
Regular readers know that I'm a bit of a connoisseur of pareidolia, so much so that I even have a category devoted to it. For those not familiar with the concept, pareidolia is nothing more than seeing patterns in things. One of the most famous examples is seeing faces, animals, or other objects in clouds. Among the religious, a particularly common strain of pareidolia is to see Jesus or Mary in patterns on anything from pancakes, to sheet metal, to windows, to trees, to doors, to MRIs. Even Ikea isn't immune. I've even seen a story of Satan appearing on a bathroom tile and wondered if it…
oracknows | December 19, 2010Everyone knows how much I live pareidolia. It never ceases to amaze me how the human mind can impose imagery on everyday things. We've seen Jesus on toast, on sheet metal, in rocks, on trees, and in windows. We've seen the Virgin Mary on a similar bunch of things--even a Lava lamp or a freeway underpass.
However, this is the first time I've seen both Mary and the baby Jesus in hard candy.
Hmmm. Personally I don't see it, even with the picture of Mary and baby Jesus put right next to the candy. It looks more like a map to me. Perhaps my faith isn't strong enough.
oracknows | September 16, 2010It's no secret that I'm a bit of a connoisseur of pareidolia.
The various shapes and contortions the human mind can impose on clouds, stains, pancakes, trees, toast, Lava lamps, toilet seats, and even medical imaging tests never ceases to amaze me. We are pattern-seeking creatures, and our brains will go to great lengths to impose familiar patterns onto objects. Sometimes, however, I have to call 'em as I see 'em, and this bit of pareidolia is just lame: Satan on a bathroom tile:
A family abandoned their bathroom fearing it had been possessed by the devil after an image of Satan appeared…
oracknows | April 26, 2010If there's one thing Christians tell us, it's that Jesus is inside each and every one of us. Who knew that this was literally true? Don't believe me? Take a look at this MRI:
Apparently they've been wrong all these years when they said that Jesus lives in every man's heart. He actually lives in the lung. I guess that's all the more reason for smokers to quit smoking. You wouldn't want to smoke out Jesus, would you?
At least this sort of pareidolia makes it difficult for believers to show up to worship, although if this patient's identity is ever revealed it wouldn't surprise me if he…
oracknows | December 2, 2009Alright, I'm officially tired of the latest Age of Autism outrage. So, while I wait for J.B. Handley to strike back (or not), let's move on to lighter subjects for a moment. And what better to cleanse the palate of the vision of cannibals eating babies as a metaphor for those who standup for science than a little pareidolia?
Yes, it's another Virgin Mary sighting, this time in a pancake:
Now, I've seen Jesus on a pancake. Heck, there's even a site dedicated to Jesus on pancakes. Besides, others have beaten this woman to seeing Mary on a pancake. This is actually a pretty lame Virgin Mary…
oracknows | October 19, 2009
I don't know how many of you have ever been to an Ikea, one the Swedish furniture stores that have sprouted across the U.S. over the last couple of decades, bringing Swedish design sensibility and off sized sheets to the the masses at affordable prices; that is, if you can stand the crowds. Apparently Jesus likes Ikea, too, as he has shown his holy visage at Ikea's Braehead outlet, near Glasgow. More specifically, Jesus has shown up on the door to the men's bathroom at that particular store. This provoked one of the best lines I've ever heard about a pareidolia experience:
Last night one…
oracknows | September 5, 2009Praying to the porcelain god was never a more appropriate term:
Cue toilet and bathroom jokes...with Jesus!
oracknows | July 19, 2009While we're on the subject of pareidolia, it turns out that Mitchell and Webb have taken this topic on as well...
Awesome.
oracknows | July 18, 2009Everyone knows that I'm a bit of a connoisseur of pareidolia. Pareidolia, for those not familiar with the term, is a phenomenon where humans see patterns in various things, you know, like seeing Elvis in a flame or the Virgin Mary on a stain under a freeway overpass in Chicago or in a window blotch in Perth Amboy, or seeing Jesus on a shell, on the wall of a shower, on a sand dune, a potato chip, or (my personal favorite) a pierogi. Heck, there have even been Jesus sightings on a cat, a stain on a ceiling tile, and even on a rather odd location on a dog.
However, I really, really have to…
oracknows | March 15, 2009I have to admit that I've always had a soft spot for pareidolia, that phenomenon wherein people see things that aren't there because human brains are wired for pattern recognition. As a child (and even as an adult), I loved lazily looking up at the clouds and envisioning animals, objects, and people in the clouds. That's why very early on in the history of this blog I started posting about pareidolia, starting with an appearance of the Virgin Mary in Chicago under a freeway underpass for the Kennedy Expressway near where I used to live in the late 1990s, with my most recent installment having…
oracknows | January 19, 2009This was so good that I just couldn't resist.
Yesterday, I did a quick post about an amusing bit of pareidolia, in which the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus were seen in a Lava Lamp. Apparently, an Australian man going by the pseudonym of John Smith noticed the shape in the wax as he fired up a brand spanking new Lava Lamp, recognized it for the Holy Miracle that it was, and shut off the lamp before Satan's heat could melt the apparition. He then stayed quiet for over a year and then announced his discovery to all the world. Naturally, I and other skeptics, particularly you, my readers, were not…
oracknows | January 18, 2009Let's see.
We've seen the Virgin Mary on trees, under a freeway overpass in Chicago, a window in Perth Amboy, NJ, and even in the brain. We've seen Jesus himself show up on toast, on a piece of sheet metal, on a potato chip, on a pierogi, on a ceiling tile, and even on a cat. Heck, we've even seen Elvis Presley on a rock and Pope John Paul II in a flame.
What could be left?
Stupid Evil Bastard tells me it's Lava Lamps, maaaan:
AN Australian man says the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus have appeared in his lava lamp and ever since the "miracle" his life has been blessed.
The man who identified…
oracknows | September 20, 2008When it rains, it pours (so to speak).
Not wanting to be upstaged by that upstart Sarah Palin making an appearance on a piece of toast, prompting the observation that Sarah Palin is toast, the One True God has decided it is time to show who's really the King of All Pareidolia. I have to admit, though, He's chosen a strange way to do it and a strange place to appear:
That's right. It's Jesus on a ceiling tile:
ARKANSAS CITY, Kan -- He's popped up on trees, sandwiches and even a Cheeto and now Jesus is leaving his mark, so-to-speak, on a ceiling in Arkansas City, Kansas.
The image appeared…
oracknows | September 20, 2008We've had Jesus, Mary, and a variety of others make their holy presence known on blessed pieces of toast. Now it looks as though we have a new sacred image:
That's right, Sarah Palin has proven her most sacred presence by appearing on a piece of toast! What more evidence do you need that her being elected Vice President is ordained by God Himself and that God Himself will smite John McCain shortly after he takes office in order to usher in a Palin administration that will lead straight to The Rapture? And what did the owner of this most holy miracle do?
He's auctioning it on E-bay, of…
oracknows | July 30, 2008
Sadly, I haven't seen any good pareidolia stories lately, you know, stories in which someone, usually Jesus, Mary, or the Pope (or sometimes Elvis, who, let's face it, is basically the same thing as Jesus, Mary, or the Pope), shows up as a seeming image on some sort of object or other. It can be a piece of sheet metal, a tree, under an expressway underpass, and even on a dog on his--well, best not to say.
Cats, of course, felt left out in this pareidolia arms race. Consequently, one cat decided it was time to take action, as CNN reports. That's right! It's the Jesus Cat (not to be confused…
oracknows | December 14, 2007
It's almost here.
No, not Christmas, although that's almost here too. what I'm talking about is the fast-approaching 76th Meeting of the Skeptics' Circle, which is due to land at Aardvarchaelogy on Thursday, December 20, right in time for the holidays. (And what better time to indulge in a serious dose of skepticism than in the midst of all this pre-Christmas cheer?) Ebenezer Scrooge would be proud. Well, the pre-visitation Scrooge, anyway. The post-visitation Scrooge clearly believed in ghosts and other paranormal happenings, like visitations promised to happen in over three nights…
oracknows | October 17, 2007One of my favorite phenomena that represents better than perhaps any other how humans are wired to look for patterns, whether there is a pattern there or not, is the phenomenon known as pareidolia. As a Catholic-turned-sort-of-heathen, in particular I like Virgin Mary pareidolia, and have blogged about multiple such incidents. Of course, the Virgin Mary is not the only sort of image seen in pareidolia. Jesus shows up quite frequently as well.
Now, would you believe that the late Pope John Paul II is showing up in flames? No, really:
This fiery figure is being hailed as Pope John Paul II…