It doesn’t come up much anymore, but the classic catchphrase of old Superman media had a couple of people saying, “It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman!”
Although we won’t be dealing with any flying champions of truth, justice, and the American way today, we will be dealing with some fascinating photos that tap into a similar energy.
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For many of these, it’ll either be hard to tell what you’re looking at, or it’ll involve something that isn’t quite what it seems. If you look a little closer, however, these will all become clear.
Not to worry, the aliens haven’t landed yet. In fact, that strange dome isn’t even there.
And no, it’s not Photoshop either. What we’re actually looking at is the reflection of a lamp from inside this window.
Believe it or not, this woman who goes by Mimles achieved this look entirely with makeup.
That may seem impossible until you take a close look at the area where the fish’s scales meet its head. That gives you a good look at where her face ends and her elbow and arm begins.
This picture was uploaded with a simple question: Is the camera pointing up or down?
It might take a bit of thinking, but it will likely become clear that the camera is pointing up because most doors do a lot more good when they’re closer to the floor than they are to the ceiling.
This guy’s hairstyle isn’t as unusual as you might think.
After all, the only role he had in that streak on his head was his choice of standing under that bar because it’s a shadow.
If you’ve guessed that there’s something unusual in that corner, you’re right. Now you just need to guess what it is.
Since we’re not used to seeing them fit so perfectly in a space like this, you’d definitely be forgiven if “moth” wasn’t any of your first guesses.
It seems like this guy’s missing a pretty major piece of his laptop here.
Indeed, it seems that way, but this photo was just taken at such an angle and at such a quality that his very thin screen wasn’t visible.
This was certainly not what the uploader expected to find while renovating their bedroom.
It may be a little hard to tell, but someone apparently decided to fill with wall with a vast collection of empty cigarette packs. And yeah, they checked.
You might notice that this person’s hand is a lot smoother than usual and there’s a reason for that.
They were working with cement and apparently, enough of it got inside of their gloves and rubbed against their hand enough to smooth out the creases.
There’s a good reason why somebody kept this old photo of a ship.
If you guessed that this is because it’s the Titanic, then you’re cleverly undeterred by the fact that it doesn’t look all that big here.
But yes, this is one of the last known photos anyone ever took of the doomed ship.
Using a banana to put an object’s size into perspective is a popular practice on Reddit, but it wouldn’t work in this case.
After all, this person doesn’t have a particularly short arm. That’s just a very large banana.
One might expect a snake to be this size, but that’s not what this man is dealing with.
In fact, it seems he’s managed to wrangle a giant earthworm. Apparently, that’s just something you can run into if you spend enough time in Ecuador.
Not only is there no clock on the floor, but it’s not even displaying the time of day.
Instead, the wood panel it’s in front of is actually the door to a dishwasher and it’s projecting the estimated cleaning time left on the floor.
I wouldn’t have known this was an option.
It seems like this person got a French manicure, but that’s actually impossible.
That’s because we’re actually looking at the hand of a newborn baby. And as a warning for any parents-to-be, a baby’s fingernails are reputed to be surprisingly sharp.
At first glance, it may seem strange that someone bothered taking a picture of a puddle.
However, it probably won’t be long before you notice that this “puddle” is surrounded by trees and features a dock with people on it.
That’s right, this is actually an aerial view of a lake.
I certainly don’t blame you if you’re having trouble figuring out what we’re even looking at.
But to answer that, there’s apparently a building in downtown Austin, Texas that is genuinely this colorful and cool-looking.
If this odd glow in the clouds seems like a rainbow to you, you’re half-right.
According to The Weather Network , it’s a circumhorizontal arc, which is commonly called a “fire rainbow.”
It occurs when sunlight passes through tiny ice crystals in the atmoshpere, but it has to be just under the right conditions. Usually, this is during the summer at a very specific point in the afternoon when the sun appears very high up.
Believe it or not, this massive ring of fire is actually coming from the gun.
It happens very quickly and is the most likely to appear when firing a Desert eagle with .50 AE ammo because it requires a lot more gunpowder and doesn’t burn it very efficiently.
That leftover powder can then create what’s called a vortex ring like this.
Some people can make some impressive modifications to their computers that make it look like there’s a light show inside, but that’s not what’s happening here.
Instead, the light show is the entire point of this product because it’s a glass lamp with an array of LED lights inside.
These sorts of illusions always make me feel crosseyed.
Admittedly, I can’t make it look like they are upside down. Once my brain decided they were right-side up, my brain decided it was fact.
This looks like a photo of an ultra-modern home.
But it’s actually a screenshot of a seriously impressive creation in Minecraft.
It’s really hard to wrap one’s head around how this view is possible.
At least, until you learn that those are skylights and the space the photographer is in has a vertical garden on one wall.
This house appears to have some serious architectural trickery going on.
But it doesn’t. The actual trickery is that the entire illusion is made with just paint. The wall is completely flat.
This dog is absolutely flabbergasted.
Something about this pic is really disturbing, but it’s actually just a hollow marrow bone held in the dog’s mouth.
The look on the guy’s face looks like the pic was taken at the exact moment he realized the other guy was feeling up his girl.
Except that he isn’t. The hand actually belongs to the hugger.
This hug looks like it hurts.
Except that if you look closely, you can just barely see an extra leg and foot near the bottom. This is actually a group hug.
Here’s another neat example of reflections playing tricks.
This time, the reflected light fixtures looks like classic UFOs floating over the city.
If I saw this, I might rethink eating that ice cream.
This is just what it looked like after the mixing attachment was pulled out from the middle, but it really looks like a demonic eye staring up are you, doesn’t it?
Legs should not bend that way, but there’s actually another person out of frame.
I mostly chose this pic for the opportunity for a short PSA: DO NOT take your shoes off and put your bare feet up on a table in a public cafe.
That’s disgusting.
At first glance, this looks like a NASA picture of Jupiter.
But the bird-like blob is actually a bird. The image is actually of a heron taken through binoculars.
This image contains both a road and water.
But you’d be forgiven if you were struggling to see where each one starts and ends. The wet asphalt is reflecting the sky the same way as the water.
I’d forgive you if the majestic doggo distracted you from the weird perspective of this image.
It feels a little bit off because that it’s the sky in the background. It’s actually a lake and the photo was taken looking downhill.
This image looks like some strange, wooden space station orbiting over the Earth.
But it’s actually a dock over an incredibly clear lake. So the dock is perfectly reflected and you can see the lakebed too.
This is a classic perspective prank, but it’s really well executed.
Having a second person in frame makes the illusion even better. She looks like a little figurine.
If water levels ever rise enough for Kiev to have oceanfront properties, then things have gotten serious.
Thankfully, there’s no water in this pic. It’s actually trees on the horizon.
Doesn’t the desert just look incredible when you’re flying over it?
I mean, that’s probably also true, but this isn’t a pic of the desert from above. It’s actually just a patch of sand on a beach.
Um, I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but your baby is broken.
This is pretty trippy, because I’m still not entirely sure where the rest of the adult’s body is. The blankets don’t seem bulky enough.
If you ask this woman when the baby’s due, she won’t understand you. Yet, if you say, “congratulations,” she will.
That’s because what we’re looking at here isn’t a baby bump, but rather a plush toy she won at this arcade.
Boy, that kid sure has a giant head, doesn’t he?
Admittedly, this illusion is a bit of a cheat, since the photo has to be cropped to create it. But it’s still cool.
Is it an itty-bitty stereo atop a normal one or a normal one on top of a giant stereo?
It’s actually two pictures in a collage. The white line between the images just happens to line up perfectly.
This isn’t the result of any trickery or light bending in the water and distorting the image we’re seeing.
In reality, it’s simply a picture of former NBA player Manute Bol going for a swim. Before his death in 2010, he was 7’7”.
