Have you ever looked at an object or building and thought, “hey that kind of looks like a face!”? It’s actually a psychological phenomenon known as pareidolia. Pareidolia involves a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant; it’s a form of apophenia (seeing meaningful patterns or connections in random or meaningless data).
Online you can find entire communities dedicated to finding faces in everyday objects, places and buildings. On Flickr, the group FACES IN PLACES has over 6,365 members and a staggering 23,563 pictures. And on Reddit, there is a subreddit called /r/Pareidolia with nearly 40,000 members!
You can also find countless Tumblrs, blogs and hashtags dedicated to this fascinating phenomenon that so many of us experience. Below you will find a collection of some of the Sifter’s favourite examples. There are literally thousands more, so be sure to check out the sources below if this type of stuff entertains you.
Photograph via lighthugger on Reddit
3. Evil Boxes Plotting Something Sinister
Photograph by Barbara Dunkelman | @Blawndee on Twitter
4. Happy Headlights
Photographer Unknown
5. Faceplant
Photograph via boredboarder8 on Reddit
6. Say Cheese!
Photograph by Paul Galvin on Flickr
7. Suspicious House in Prague
Photograph by Sergio Morchon (Dr. Jaus on Flickr)
8. Maniacal Moccasin
Photograph by ylsouiresemekat on Reddit
9. Stick-tory!
Photograph by colourmebread on Reddit
10. Bewildered Banjo
Photograph via Gemma Wilson on Flickr
11. Blissful Birds
Photograph Unknown
12. The OMG Wall
Photograph by Wout (eworm on Flickr)
13. A Pipe or Three Wisemen?
Photograph by redsoxfanumero1 on Reddit
14. Sad Kiwi is Sad
Photograph by mulletarian on Reddit
15. Playful Plugs
Photograph by Alain Sadun (*naigiri on Flickr)
16. I Just Want to Sing
Photograph by Bill Kennedy (Le Fromagier Extraordinaire on Flickr)
17. Om nom nom nom
Photograph by Patrick A. Albright, U.S. Army
18. Come on baby light my fire!
Photograph via Pray_IV_Reign on Reddit
19. Holy Sh*t it Looks Like a Woman!
Photograph by albinoclaw on Reddit
20. Sloppy Sandwich
Photograph by Stella Stenroos on Flickr
21. Level-Headed
Photograph by Richie Brooks on Flickr
22. Hmmmmm
Photograph via Buzzfeed
23. Droooool
Photograph by jdiknight02 on Reddit
24. Get Off My Lawn
Photograph via Donkeyslapper84 on Reddit
25. That Sinking Feeling
Photograph by iamterris on Flickr
26. Ohhhhh
Photograph by Steve Reed on Flickr
27. Petrified Peppers
Photograph via I f*cking love science on Facebbok
28. I Can’t Believe It
Photograph by zarx on Reddit
29. Pleasant Pots
Photographer Unknown
30. Drunk Octopus Wants to Fight You
Photograph by Kidsturk on Reddit
31. :P
Photograph by onnola on Flickr
32. Oh My
Photograph by Daneil Flickrski on Flickr
33. Dry Not to Smile
Photograph via Eva-Lotta Lamm (evalottchen on Flickr)
34. BBQool
Photograph via fartfelon on Reddit
35. RAWWWWR!
Photograph by editthis7 on Reddit
36. Chocolate Moai
Photograph via CollegeHumor
37. Wood Troll
Photograph by wideeyedrevelation on Reddit
38. Wall-E
Photograph via PotentialBillionaire on Reddit
39. Zipper FIsh
Photograph via Andreas (raumoberbayern on Flickr)
40. hehehehehehe
Photograph via bbun.com
41. Cheer Up
Photograph by Qoen on Flickr
42. Drink it up
Photograph by nickdegrott on Reddit
43. Happy Little Tune
Photograph by ieatsouls on Reddit
44. Sad Monkey :(
Photograph by photomonde.fr
45. The Snowman
Photograph by Numbet on Reddit
46. Tissue Cross-Section of Marram Grass Leaf
Photograph via Anomalocaris on Reddit
47. COOKIE!?!
Photograph by the-hang-man on Reddit
48. “I Believe I Can Fly”
Photograph by TheBedazzler on Reddit
49. Louie!
