Few phenomena have the power to confound as many different types of people as pareidolia. It doesn't discriminate by culture or religion. It causes Christians to see Jesus and Mary, Muslims to see the names of Allah and the Prophet, Jews to see the Star of David, Hindus to see the monkey-god Hanuman, and Buddhists to see — you guessed it — the Buddha. Even atheists who haven't devoted themselves to skepticism have puzzled long and hard over the famous face, and more recently, Bigfoot, on Mars. Now video has surfaced on YouTube of pseudoscientist and perennial attention-seeker Richard Heene (yes, Balloon Boy's dad) seeing things on the red planet too. If you'd prefer the filler edited out, the remix is highly entertaining. [more inside]
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis on Aug 11, 2010 - 20 comments

FACE AHOY
posted by stresstwig on Nov 23, 2009 - 43 comments

And finally tonight, Jesus...
posted by finite on Mar 9, 2009 - 81 comments

Things That Look Like Other Things. Also known as pareidolia, it's the phenomenon in which our brains perceive familiar things (especially faces and human forms) in random places. See also The Pareidolia Museum and the Flickr pareidolia pool. [Previous pareidolia-related threads here]
posted by amyms on Mar 28, 2008 - 40 comments

He's everywhere! previously on hot chocolate, shrimp, dental X-rays, a dog's ass and now on a couch. And we can't forget about the $28,000 grilled cheese sandwich. Religious pareidolia is here to stay.
posted by Afreemind2007 on Jan 3, 2007 - 22 comments

Three Invitations to a Far Reading "But what if some poems aren’t meant to be read at all? What if they are meant to be viewed? What if, like TV, they are meant to be surfed? " [via]
posted by dhruva on Jan 2, 2006 - 9 comments

Apophenia, pareidolia and type II statistical error are the product. People looking for signs, visions, miracles and portents are the market. Actual products can get you in trouble, but offering your services as a psychic or spiritualist seems to be safe. You will need a good memory and some public speaking ability. If you're good you can even try to tell the target audience what you're really doing and they'll do their best to convince you that your powers are real. Good luck.
posted by snarfodox on Mar 31, 2004 - 4 comments

Pareidolia. This is my new favorite word. Seeing things that aren't there, whether it's Jesus or Satan, is just one of the neat tricks the human brain plays on itself. Here's a great collection of pareidolic photos, collected by thefolklorist.com. (Warning: Java)
posted by majcher on Oct 6, 2003 - 13 comments