Can YOU see him? Take the test to see if you can spot Jesus in objects thanks to unusual brain phenomenon

With his flowing locks, long beard, and worn robes, Jesus is one of the most instantly recognisable figures in the Western world. 

So it comes as no surprise that his face is also regularly spotted in inanimate objects. 

This is due to 'face pareidolia' - a common brain phenomenon in which a person sees faces in random images or patterns. 

'Sometimes we see faces that aren't really there,' explained Robin Kramer, Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology, at University of Lincoln, in an article for The Conversation. 

'You may be looking at the front of a car or a burnt piece of toast when you notice a face-like pattern. 

'This is called face pareidolia and is a mistake made by the brain's face detection system.'

This week, an optical illusion went viral, after viewers were baffled to spot Jesus' face when squinting at what first appears to be an ordinary photo of three young women. 

So, can you spot Jesus in these photos? 

What is pareidolia?

Pareidolia is a brain phenomenon in which you see or hear something significant in a random image or pattern.

While you might not have heard of the phenomenon, it's likely you've experienced it, according to Kevin Brooks, a Senior Lecturer in Human Visual Perception at Macquarie University. 

'This is something with which everyone has at least some experience, whether exercising their imagination as a cloud-gazing child, or seeing images in a textured ceiling during the last few waking moments of the day,' he explained in an article for The Conversation. 

Visual pareidolia - seeing something in an object - is the most common form of pareidolia. 

However, you've probably also experienced auditory pareidolia. 

Back in 2018, you may remember a viral video in which a toy made a noise, which people could heard as both 'brainstorm' or 'green needle'. 

Astonishingly, what you hear comes down to what you are thinking about at the time of watching it - even though it's the same recording.

So you can pretty much choose what you want to hear. If you heard 'green needle' first, watch the video again while thinking about 'brainstorm'.

Meanwhile, an auditory pareidolia that same year had listeners either hearing a man say the word 'yanny' or 'laurel'.

Why do we see faces?

Faces are 'somewhat special', according to Professor Brooks. 

'From birth, humans show a fascination with faces that continues throughout our lives,' he explained. 

'Given that babies’ blurred vision serves to exclude more distant objects while the faces of family members and friends are thrust into view, it is not surprising that we all become face experts, training our brains to search for and identify faces in any situation.

'As social animals, we constantly surround ourselves with faces, putting this skill to the test every day.'

Why Jesus' face in particular?

Religious figures including Jesus and the Virgin Mary are some of the most common faces to be spotted in objects. 

Back in 2004, a woman from Florida sold a 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich for a whopping $28,000, just because it had a pattern of browning which she claimed 'resembled the Virgin Mary'. 

Meanwhile, 'Shower Jesus' - a pattern of mould resembling Jesus Christ - sold for $1,999. 

According to Professor Brooks, religious icons have a 'habit of turning up in unlikely places'. 

'Although devotees herald the blessings bestowed upon them by these apparitions (before selling to the highest bidder), science takes a more sober view, ascribing the phenomenon to coincidence, aided by a few quirks of neural processing that underlie our everyday perception,' he said. 

As for why many people tend to see religious figures, Professor Brooks suggests that could be due to the lack of photos of them. 

'Many of the faces that are often reported, such as Jesus and the Virgin Mary, are individuals who predate photography, and whose facial identity cannot be known, other than through iconography,' he wrote.

'As such, the stimulus could match any one of many possible representations of Jesus or the Virgin Mary, making such apparitions more likely still.'