Monday, September 20, 2010

The Strange Face in the Mirror





(Above: What do you think she saw?)

Here's a fun experiment. All you need is a mirror and a dimly-lit room. Sit with your face about a foot and a half from the mirror. Stare at your own reflection. In about a minute, you may begin to see something unusual.

Here's what other people have reported seeing:

Strange changes to one's own face
A parent's face
The face of an unknown person
The face of an animal
The face of a monstrous being

Creepy! So try it, and report back! (More information available here!)

15 comments:

Patsee said...

Not to be a spoilsport, but...

I think they're overstating the effect. Ever heard of the rods and cones in your eyes? The rods detect light; the cones, color. Because the cones are located in front of the rods, the rods don't detect light/dark differences as well in dim light because it's harder for the light to hit them. The apparent changes in your face in the mirror are the result of the difficulty your eyes have in the dim light.

Rebecca said...

I saw a gray evil looking smiley face over my shoulder!Cool! What did you see?

Kinga said...

I'm a little scared to try this! Some of the comments below the article REALLY scared me. It makes sense, though.

Kitty said...

That's soo cool OoO I'll try it soon XD

:(:) said...

hmm...EENteresting...

Anonymous said...

i am NOT going to try that!! mirrrors fascinate me, but if its not a very well lit room they creep me out sooo much. i wonder what would happen if me and my frind tried this in the playroom of her house, we think its haunted. she wont go in there alone and if she actually does she grabs a dozen light blue things for protection (i told her about haint blues and she took the idea waaay too far). that also reminds me of the mirror of erised, from harry potter. and the strange changes and unknown faces could be from past lives, like the faces of older incarnations or something of the sort. are you going to try it?

MushroomCloud said...

Not that vie ever done that or that I recommend it! :)

MushroomCloud said...

Well if you duck tape someone to a chair during school it also has an interesting effect. Just saying...

munna said...

oh god. i already knew this from personal experience but i didn't know it was an actual thing that had been studied!

one restless night when i couldn't get to sleep i got up and ended up staring in the mirror in my bedroom for a minute or two. i didn't see anything scary or see anyone else but what i experienced was very odd. it was almost like i was looking at myself the way someone else would.
you know how when you look in the mirror ...you just see yourself? it's really hard to tell exactly what you look like to other people. you just see YOU. not even a person. idk how to describe it.

but when i was looking at myself it was like i was nearly outside of myself and about to discover who/what i really was and how other people see me. like presque vu. like being on the edge of an epiphany.
that's the best i can do to explain it.

Scribbler said...

When I do this, I see my facial expression change. Like, I don't change the way I'm looking AT the mirror, but I'll see my expression change. It's odd how beautiful I become in there, when it's dark, and my features are cast in a different light.

Anyways, thought it might be fun to report something odd, but not terrifying. Toodles! :)

charstar said...

oh awesome I gota try that!!

Anonymous said...

First time I tried this, my face looked like it disintegrated into dust. The second time, I looked like an Egyptian and the white of my eyes seemed to glow... creepy & fun at the same time!

Anonymous said...

@ anonymous (6:48) yeah! it reminded me of the mirror of erised too!!!!!

i haven't done it yet, but will when i get the chance!

Anonymous said...

this kind of reminds me...once my best friend and i were handing out flyers around her neighborhood and we went up to this one kind of creepy looking house, and there was a window with textured glass right by the door. it was really weird...we were both looking at the window and trying to see what was behind it; at first it looked like a vase of flowers, but then it looked like a half-human-half-rabbit face (it was kind of hard to describe it--but that's sort of what it looked like) was staring out at us. we both freaked out, got a rush of adrenaline and sprinted back towards her house. when we went back a little later for a closer look, we were sure it hadn't been anything, but still, it was a weird trick of the eyes...and we had both seen it....we laugh about it now, though. it sounds so absurd!

kikistrike'sgrrl said...

Cool recently i have been looking at myself in the mirror and not recognising myself. it scares me and i actually have to think for a minute "Who is that????"

Creeeeeeppy