This Optical Illusion Photo of Two Girls Has a Creepy Third Face in It
This photo may look like it only has two girls in it — but there’s actually a terrifying third face in this image.
TikTok creator and illusion expert Dean Jackson shared a viral video featuring an optical illusion photo that most viewers miss at first glance.
@beatonthebeeb Pareidolia is seeing faces when none exists. It is dependent upon distance from the image. As this video demonstrates. #Pareidolia #mindgame #perception #opticalillusions #opticalillusion #weirdscience #mindgames ♬ original sound – Dean Jackson
The black-and-white photo shows two girls sitting in a field, appearing to chat casually — until Jackson points out that there’s actually a third face hidden in the photo.
“There’s a face staring back at you from that picture,” Jackson says. “But only one in 10 people will see it holding their phone at the normal distance.”
Many viewers were caught off guard by the hidden figure, with some describing it as extremely unsettling.
For those who can’t spot it right away, Jackson recommends placing the phone upright, turning around, walking five steps away, and then looking back at the photo. According to him, this helps nine out of 10 people see the hidden face. At about 10 steps back from the image, nearly everyone sees the spooky face.
An Example of Pareidolia
This image, which shows an optical illusion where a third face appears to be hidden in the T-shirt of the girl on the right, is an example of pareidolia. Pareidolia is a common phenomenon where the brain mistakenly sees faces or other meaningful images in random patterns or objects.
As Jackson, who has been behind several mind-bending optical illusions, explains in the caption of the TikTok video, “Pareidolia is seeing faces when none exist. It is dependent upon distance from the image.”
This happens because our brains are wired to quickly detect faces, which helped our ancestors stay safe, according to a report by the Mail Online. The effect often becomes clearer when viewed from a distance or while squinting. While the illusion may seem spooky, it’s completely natural and not supernatural.
“We tend to classify anything vaguely face-like as a face until proven otherwise — it’s safer that way,” Professor Kevin Brooks, a psychologist at Macquarie University, tells the Daily Mail.
“Evolutionary psychologists speculate that we evolved this mechanism to help our survival, and increase our chances of passing on our genes, bringing forth another generation of people who are also good at face detection.’
Image credits: Header photo via TikTok/@beatonthebeeb.
