You don't necessarily need to go to a special museum, art gallery or hall of mirrors to experience some mind-bending optical illusions, take a look around you, they happen all the time in everyday life!
Compiled into a list by Bored Panda, what we have here are serendipitous moments of chance, creating weird and wonderful illusions that are sure to make you look twice and think, what the hell?
From people seemingly floating on air to things that appear to be on fire, this list will put your brain's powers of observation and logic to the test. Scroll down below to check it out for yourself, and don't forget to vote for your favorites!
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View Of My Parents' Backyard This Morning
This Huge Concert Crowd Is Actually A Cotton Picker At Night
Frost Of The Roof Of My Car This Morning Looks A Bit Like A View Of The Earth From Space
Pic Of Two Plump Pigeons Perched On The Ledge But Ended Up Getting A Picture Of Two Massive Pigeons Looking For Their Car
My Dogs Appear To Have Merged This Morning
The Snow Slowly Melting On The Front Porch Looks Like An Ice Tornado
Long Dog With A Section Missing
These Espresso Martinis Look Like Bar Stools
I thought "seats on those the bar stools looking like cookies" is an illusion here. Guess I am just hungry. :-/
When The Sun Is Directly Overhead In Hawaii, It Looks Like A Bad Video Game Render
Mirage Of Coffee Shop Window Makes It Look Like This Car Sells Pies Out Of The Boot
This Photo From Inside A Tent Looks Like Photoshop
For The Past 10 Minutes I've Been Trying To Explain To My Sister-In-Law That It Looks Like Her Legs Are Over Her Husbands Shoulders... She Doesn't See It
😂Omg I need coffee, not only does it look like her legs are on her shoulders but it also looks like she has a jetpack in her butt 😂😊.. 😅
This Tree Looks Like Straight Up Broccoli
I Took A Picture Of A Monkey And The Glare Made It Look Like It Was Taking A Wicked Selfie
The Reflection Of The Lamp Gives My Glasses Eyeballs
The Way The Sunlight Hits These Leaves And Makes Them Look Like They're On Fire
Found This Bike The Other Day And It Confused Me About Our Reality. Is It Broken Or Not Broken?
They Look Like Tiny Men Training In The Pool
Caught The Reflection Of The Light In The Window, Looks Like It's Floating In The Sky!
Sunset Reflection Looks Like Demonic Uprising
When My Buddy's Dog Leaps Over Grates Her Body And Legs Disappear And It Looks Like A Dog's Head Is Just Floating Down The Street
My New Profile Pic, Compliments Of Hurricane Sandy
This Hurts My Brain...
Example Of A Mirage Known As Fata Morgana. It's Believed That This Optical Illusion Is What Give Birth To The Myth Of The Flying Dutchman
Can You Imagine Walking Into Your Bedroom Only To Find That A Black Hole Had Appeared In The Middle Of Your Bed
My Sister Looks Like A Female Centaur
My Fiance Took This Pic That Makes The Cat Look Like He's Made Out Of A Head And Just One Massive Arm
This Picture Makes It Look Like I'm Holding A Decapitated Camel Head
This Pattern Makes It Look Like The Floor Suddenly Drops Off
Lightning Struck Right When This Guy Went To Take A Picture Of A Storm, Causing This Neat Illusion
Perfectly Aligned Kite
Our Two Cats Look Like They Were Cross-Stitched Onto The Carrier
Amazing Icelandic River Almost Looks Like An Optical Illusion
Accidental Optical Illusion: Cruise Ship At Coal Harbor
When I Take Pictures Of My Blind Dog W/ The Flash On It Looks Like There Is Fire In Her Eyes
The Shadows Of These Windows Make An Optical Illusion
If you focus long enough, it will feel like windows are coming out of building in 3D and at some point will start looking like maze of water pipes zigzagging around.
A Picture I Took At The Airport A Few Days Ago, It Looks Really Scifi-Ish, Like A Battlestar Galactica Spaceport Or Something
My Friend Had A Bug On His Windshield That Made Him Look Like A Godzilla Monster
Due To The Lighting, Angle And Mirrored Glass, This Building Looks Nearly Invisible
Ships That Seem To Float In The Air
I Took A Picture Of This Puddle In Geysir National Park In Iceland, And It Looks Like An Aerial View Of A Beach
This Piece Of Lint On My Window Sill Looks Like A Gun Wielding Soldier Wading Through Water
Corgi Jumps From Plane
This Hotel's Carpet And Lighting Combo Produce A Really Trippy Effect
That Looks Like It Should Hurt
This Man On A Carousel Looks Like He Has Pig Legs
A Pallet Burned In Such A Way That It Looks Like Different Birds Sitting Next To Each Other And Enjoying The Fire
This Photo I Took Of A Goose Makes It Look Like A 40ft Tall Dinosaur
The Reflection Of The Light On My Coffee Looks Like A Glowing Castle
These Are Stacked Metal Pipes
The puddle on the right looks like that side of the is cracking and rising
Making Cookies And The Reflection Looks Like A Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie
This Fallen Post Looks Like A Discarded Cigarette
Former UK Prime Minister David Cameron Hovering
From A Distance, These Wheelbarrows Look Like 2 Amish Men Sitting Next To Each Other
Are These Legs Shiny And Oily Or Are They Legs With White Paint On Them
This Photo Of Me Standing Behind A Grill Looks Like I'm On Fire
This Car Door Looks Like An UFO Above The Forest
It Took Me About 20 Seconds Of Trying To Figure Out What Was Happening
My Laptop's Number Pad Has The Black Dot Illusion
Unintended Optical Illusion At Work Made Me Think My Ruler Was Bent
It isn’t I held a pencil up to the picture, but it made it look like my pencil is bent too.
This Watusi Bull Looks Transparent Through It's Spots
Patterns On The Floor Of The Florence Cathedral
Perspective
This Fungus Looks Like Fire
Due To The Chair Leg And This Guy's Posture, It Looks Like He's Wearing High Heels
My Dog’s Flopped-Over Ear Looks Like The Face Of A Baboon
This bugs me so much! I just want to reach into the photo and unflop the doggos ear!
Tried To Take A Photo Of A Grasshopper On My Windshield, But It Looks Like Its Giant And Destroying The Town
This Sliced Ham Looks Like It's Out Of Focus
Plants In Background Makes It Look Like He Has A Kick Ass Mohawk
The Way My Phone Is Placed In This Cupholder Makes It Look Transparent
This Dying Leaf Looks Like It's Pixelating
The Reflection Of The Lights In The Room Behind Me Make It Look Like The Sky Has A Trap Door
The Optical Illusion Of This Photograph Makes It Look Like There Is A Micro-Human Next To My Mate
This Building Looks Like A Movie Prop
Mom Thought I Was Smoking A Joint
I Balanced A Coin On A Ring, The Coin Looks See Through
This Frozen Trail Looks Like A River
My Friends Dog Is An Optical Illusion
Dam Overflow Drain Looks Like An Optical Illusion
Delivery Truck Looks Like Giants Are Peeping Over The Fence
The Way I Took This Picture Makes My Friend Look Like She's Floating
Did My Friend Piss His Pants? Nope, It's Just The Reflection Of The Chairs In The Room
The Algae On This Moat Looks Like Green Concrete
This Rock Is Actually In The Water
For A Second I Thought There Is A Tiny Iphone On The Table Next To Me
Was Walking In Melbourne And Found A Almost Invisible Building
I Took A Picture In Color But It Seems That It’s In Black And White
It Almost Looks Like They're Holding Up A Photograph
I Managed To Photograph One Of Thailand's Mysterious Floating Islands
Someone In My Office Designed This Tiling Not Knowing It Would Create This Illusion When Laid
This Looks Dangerous At First Glance
The Lids On These Tubs Of Popcorn Make It Look As If The Contents Are Spinning Really Fast
Floating Man
Jim was born with no legs. But he strives to succeed with maintaining a normal, everyday life.
Ordinary Room Lighting Creates A Cube Optical Illusion
If you look at the white ledge it's concave, if you look at the corner of the cube it's convex!
I Took A Photo Of A Bird On A Tree Branch Through A Telescope And It Created The Illusion Of A Giant Moon Backdrop
This Picture Makes It Look Like My Dad And Daughter Are Disappearing Into The Void
The Angle Of This Photo Makes The Bottom Step An Illusion
Hex Wrench Illusion
This Rice Field
So I Managed To Capture This Optical Illusion
This Building Looks Like It Had A Rendering Error
This Mushroom On My Pizza Looks Like An Eye
This Cloud Looks Like A UFO
These are Lenticular clouds. As air travels along the surface of the Earth, obstructions are often encountered. These include both natural features of the Earth, such as mountains or hills, and man-made structures, such as buildings and other structures. These disrupt the flow of air into "eddies", or areas of turbulence influenced by these obstructions. I live under a mountain and I have seen them a few times. I took a picture of several in a row once. I wish I could find it.
The View From My Plane Looks Like I Left The Atmosphere
Walked Into The Kitchen To Find My Cousin In Her True Form
Catching An Illusion Like This Is Priceless
The Reflection Of My Finger Looks Like Teeth
Walking Under Water
I’ve been staring at this for five minutes, but I still don’t geg it! Can someone please explain?
This Puddle Reflecting The Sun Looks Like A Portal To Space
These Lights On The Ground That Look Like The Start To A Video Game Quest
Engage Hover Mode
The Hotel Across The Street Looks Like A Bunch Of Lan Ports
A Lake In Tanzania
This Woman Seems As If She's A Giant Lounging In The Ocean On A Large Mountain
A Hallway After Too Much Vodka
At First Glance, I Thought This Woman Was Horribly Deformed
This Building Looks Like It’s Just A Facade
Two Headed Goat
The Opening In This Wall Looks Like A Piece Of Art Hanging On It
No Legs On This Cameraman?
This Tree Looks Like A Graphics Glitch
This Chrome Tissue Holder Creates An Optical Illusion
My Wife's Dress Makes It Look Like I Have Hoofs
From This Angle, These Houses In Bourges, France Look Like They Have No Volume
Foot Print In Sand Forms An Optical Illusion
This Root Looks Like A Small Monkey
Buildings Within Buildings
My Friends Cuddling Dog Looks Like A Giant Furry Face
This Flattened Piece Of Green Onion Looks Like A 3D Box
Camouflage
A Giant At The Muscle Beach
Dat Ass... Wait A Second!
This Plug Makes An Optical Illusion On My Phone Charger
This Tree Looks Like It's Upside Down
I Saw A Great Illusion This Morning. It Looked Like The Moon But Was Just The Rising Sun Highlighting A Water Tank
This Opened ATM Creates An Optical Illusion
This Post From Eric Andre Doesn't Look Like One Picture
This Optical Illusion Building In Singapore
Take A Seat...
The Way The Snow Melted In My University's Courtyard Makes The Floor Look Like A Video Game
The Carpet Of This Hotel Had 3D Looking Flowers Printed On It
The Six Deer On My Lawn Create Time Lapse Illusion
This Guy's Headphones And Ear Ring Made A Cool Optical Illusion
The Way My Brother's And My Arms Appear Fused Together
This Cardboard Box And The Drain In Front Of It Together Make It Look Like It’s Floating
This Floor Looks Like It's Glitching Out
This Bay Wall Looks Like A Guitar Neck
The Grain On My Plank Of Cedar Creates An Optical Illusion
My School’s Bathroom Tile Does The Black Dot Illusion
These Are In Fact The Same Length
This Tree Is An Optical Illusion
My Buddy's Hoody Looks Like My Other Buddy's Shoulder, Thus Creating An Illusion Of Depth
These Two Toilet Paper Rolls Make An Optical Illusion
I was thinking no way are the the same size, but measure with your fingers, and pull them across to the other...and BAM same size!
This Apartment Complex Has The Grey Dot Illusion
I Made A Silicone And Plaster Mold Of My Face, The Inside Makes An Optical Illusion
This Parking Deck Looks Like It Has Poor Anti-Aliasing
Just Me And My Cat Chillin
Fork And Knife Gave Me A Cool Illusion
This Vent In My House Has The Black Dot Illusion
The vent also looks like it has a grinning skull made of dust in it