Did You Ever See A Face In Your Cup of Coffee? You’re Not Crazy
Have you ever seen a face in the clouds or in your morning coffee? No, you're not crazy. Learn about the phenomenon known as pareidolia.
Have you ever seen an angel, a castle, a dog, or a monster in the clouds? Or maybe a grilled cheese sandwich that looked suspiciously similar to a celebrity? Maybe a face appeared in your morning cup of Joe. We’ve all seen everyday things that look like something or someone else. The good news is that it doesn’t mean we’re a little crazy or overly imaginative. Instead, the ability to look at random objects and see familiar things is a perfectly normal phenomenon called pareidolia, a word from the Greek meaning, “resembling an image.”
The Theories and Science of Pareidolia
For many years, scientists had a variety of explanations for this phenomenon. Some thought that seeing faces in the clouds was a symptom of psychosis while others, including famous scientist Carl Sagan, thought that pareidolia came from an evolutionary need to recognize people or potential threats quickly.
In actuality, pareidolia comes from our need to organize random information into patterns. That’s why, when glancing at something simple like an electrical outlet, most people would agree that it looks like a face.
This search for patterns isn’t limited to sight, either. While it’s much more common to see a face or object in a random place, people can hear pareidolia, too. If you’ve ever listened to static on your radio or the roar of your vacuum cleaner and thought you heard someone speaking, you’ve experienced auditory pareidolia.
Where To See Pareidolia
Pareidolia pops up everywhere—not just clouds—but in tree bark, among clustered leaves, on a piece of toast, in a cup of coffee, or anywhere else. The best places to look include spots with random patterns, like the grain of plywood or the shapes made by a rock formation.
It’s such a common phenomenon that there are many well-documented instances of pareidolia.
When you look at the Moon, you can see several famous pareidolic images, including the Man in the Moon. The Moon’s smiling face is actually patches of light and dark terrain. Among those spots of light and dark, people have seen a variety of different things, including a man with a rifle and dog, a rabbit, and a woman. There are even some fascinating images of faces on Mars.
Pluto on Pluto?
In fact, the images of Pluto from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is another example of pareidolia. Some say they see a heart, others say they see the cartoon character, Pluto! What do you see? Tell us in the comments below!
Examples of pareidolia are all around us. In fact, wherever you are, you can probably look up and seen an object in the clouds right now!
Amber Kanuckel
Amber Kanuckel is a freelance writer from rural Ohio who loves all things outdoors. She specializes in home, garden, environmental, and green living topics.
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- Amber Kanuckel#molongui-disabled-link
- Amber Kanuckel#molongui-disabled-link
- Amber Kanuckel#molongui-disabled-link
Five days after losing my labrador retriever his sweet face appeared in my cup of coffee. While sobbing, I looked up and said; “I know that was you.” THANK YOU BRY
I see a monkey when looking at the bubbles the when I looked up close it looks like a evil eye that’s dark on the bottom in between the split on the bottom and on the left looks like a kid with a big eye and two front teeth buck teeth I might be looking hard and a man in the doorway blurred in the back ground
I see faces all the time in objects, clouds, curtains,coffee cups, it fascinates me. I am an artist and have always viewed my world differently anyway, but it’s a nice thing to do in the summer lying on the grass seeing the animals in the clouds passing by….
I see patterns in many things in my house. My entrance door I see a lion, on my granite I see different figures, on my fence sometimes I see fairies. When I explain it to people, they see it too!
Recently I had moved in with my son to help him pay half of his expenses so that he could attend university fulltime. I would share with him various things of my day and one was of a simple quiet time on the porch I would take for myself each day. Sitting on the porch in the countryside I would see many things all around me. I would describe these times and he literally thought I was psychotic and having hallucinations. He suggested that I stay at a Behavior Health Hospital to have a rest and just check medicine I have for anxiety. He talked me into it. Unknowingly to me, he planned to put me away in a nursing home in a locked dorm where all my rights would have been taken away from me. I am 61 years old and I have all of my marbles, trust me.
I had been detecting a sense of uneasiness about him for a while and while at the hospital stay I quickly found out that he did not want me anymore. He had concocted a notion and plan that I should be put away because I told him about seeing images in the clouds, images through the woods.
I have since learned that we are not meant to share everything about our lives with everyone. Some are just not able to hear, understand or receive it. That is all well and good. For me I can always talk to God and the Angels. Again, this is what I have come to know in my life. And my life is not everyone’s journey. It is mine.
Much love to all.
Hi, I’m also one who see’s everything under the sun ? my hubby working on a big greasy rig doing welding job, leaning and getting grease on his jeans, I am spraying them with spray off, as I get to the right lower leg with grease on it, I see a animal face(it’s amazing!) my Daddy said it looks like a cocker spaniel face. Well I’ve got pictures of this unique face and no one can explain how from rubbing up against that greasy rig, this amazing face is there. God works in mysterious ways??❤️ So just know your beautiful and loved by God! Hugz bunches too!
You sound just like my aunt Patricia! Everything is messages from the angels. For a while she was seeing things in everything, glasses of water, all the chicken feathers are an angel each. Most of my family is fed up with her and makes fun of it. I think it’s a bit over the top, but I appreciate her sharing her thoughts with me, so I would rather patiently accept the eccentric things she shares as well. I’m sorry your son repaid your kindness with this situation. Good luck to you int he future. I am also learning that some things you just cannot share, but I hope we both can find who we can have that with in the future.
I have captured many faces and eyes in the clouds including animals daily I know God revealed His Prophet to me even saying so after I took the pictures I dont know many whom had similar experiences earlier today I thought I look
Tina Otey
I can see historical & weird images of people in curtains, carpets, tiles in bathroom. I even discussed it with my friends. But they thought i was crazy. But now i have a proper word for it. So f them all.
I have a special repository for Everyone interested in Pareidolia and maybe it will start the much deeper story.
Please, see the https://pareidolion.net – soon – started 21 September !
I always see eyes, animals, people, devil, angels. I’ve seen crosses.Yes, they change for me too. It depends on the way you look at it. The I’mage will turn into something else. I thought it was some kinda video …. My friend asked “ what video”?. Thought I was losin it??
Omg that’s what I see in this cup a evil eye
I saw a bird in the coffee, a bear holding a fish on the moon, the clouds look like a flying bird, and the last one looks like heart to me.
Coffee I see a monkey taking a bite of something. The moon I see a bear and a dog. My girlfriend and I were on our way home and we both saw a perfect image of my face in the cloud it was perfect and we both saw it crazy part both of our phones were dead so we couldn’t take a picture what do you think it means ? It was like a photograph