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Pareidolia in ghost hunting is an often overlooked factor that can be a confusing experience for even the most seasoned investigator. To learn more about pareidolia and how to avoid pareidolia mistakes when ghost hunting, check out our paranormally good coffee selections and read on! Your senses will thank you!

Pareidolia in Ghost Hunting: Fact or Fallacy?

In the paranormal world, there exists a phenomenon that can twist perception and blur the lines between the mundane and the supernatural. As humans, our brains seek patterns in chaos, an adaptive survival instinct ingrained in our genetics. With this in mind, is it really all that surprising that what we see, is heavily influenced by our mind? As ghost hunters and paranormal enthusiasts, it’s necessary to make space for pareidolia and how it may appear in investigations and paranormal experiences alike. Although true that not everything one experiences as paranormal, is in fact paranormal, pareidolia can help sharpen your skills as an investigator so you are focusing on the right kinds of evidence.

Faces in Clouds

A common human experience of seeing faces or animals in cloud formations is one aspect of the fascinating world of pareidolia. Where things aren’t always what they seem, kinda like the movie The Labyrinth-a cult classic for a reason! Is what we see, just the best approximation of what our brains can process? When confronted with ambiguous or unknown stimuli, our minds conjure the familiar. Faces in trees or the clouds are good examples of our mind putting together patterns in elements that either change or have structures already similar to things or people we’ve seen before.

Shroud of Turin image

One of the most well documented human relics which many experience pareidolia around is The Shroud of Turin. The Shroud of Turin, dates back to the 1300’s and is a linen cloth bearing an image or outline of a man. The authenticity of the cloth has sparked intense debate since its acquisition. While some believe it to be the burial shroud of Jesus Christ and the imprint of his body is revealed on the cloth, others argue that the image is a result of pareidolia, our mind perceiving facial features and details in the irregularities of the fabric's weave. This picture found on Wikipedia is credited to Secondo Pia's 1898 negative of the image on the Shroud of Turin. Image from Musée de l'Élysée, Lausanne.

The Science of Pareidolia

According to a Psychology Today article, the human brain is set up to recognize facial features because of the importance expressions have for human interaction. For the human brain to perceive and interpret facial features in any human or non-human form, several different parts of the brain are triggered and work together. Some may even say, as humans we are hard wired to put together patterns in seemingly unrelated things to try to make snap decisions and process complex data.

Pareidolia in ghost hunting

When it comes to paranormal encounters, it is important to consider pareidolia and its influence on how we experience our world. If it is normal for us to try to create easily identifiable patterns out of what we see, then one could assume pretty quickly how that may influence a paranormal investigation or even an experience it feels like we are having. In the dark of night, where our vision is far less precise, our eyes may perceive danger where there is none relying on that fight or flight response that is ingrained in our biology. Proper debunking, and sharing of data across the paranormal community is a necessity for legit ghost hunters many argue, because of pareidolia and how it may manifest in images, or across our visual spectrum during investigations of haunted locations.

Tell us what you think! Is pareidolia part of your experience? Feel free to share this post and give us your take in the comments below! In the meantime, check out our coffee selection, other myths and lore blogs and get your spooky on!

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