We see patterns and attribute meaning that

isn’t there

Pareidolia and the case ofN-RAYS!!

Expectation Effects

“Research has shown that when people expect to perceive a certain stimulus (for example, see a light or hear a tone), they often do perceive it -- even when no stimulus is present.

e.g. people told to walk down a corridor until you see a light flash; some stop, say they see a flash, when no light had flashed

Pareidolia

- a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and/or random stimulus (often an image or sound) being mistakenly perceived as recognizable.

e.g. images of animals or faces in clouds, seeing the man in the moon, and hearing messages on records played in reverse.

Pareidolia

the clockhas a “sad face”

Pareidolia

Percival Lowell’s drawings of “canals” on Mars, as viewed through

his telescope

Pareidolia

what Marsreally lookslike

Pareidolia

The Face on Mars: Viking 1978

Pareidolia

what the “face” mountain really looks like

Pareidolia

Pareidolia

“Backmasking” - hearing recognizable speech in audio played backwards

fun... Jeff Milner’s website

Pareidolia

Rene Blondlot

“Discoverer” of N-Rays(1903)

Sources of N-Sources of N-Rays:Rays:

•heated silverheated silver•various gas various gas mantlesmantles•ironiron•large steel large steel filesfiles

Detect with Detect with phosphorescentphosphorescentscreenscreen

Sources of N-Sources of N-Rays:Rays:

•heated silverheated silver•various gas various gas mantlesmantles•ironiron•large steel large steel filesfiles

Detect with Detect with phosphorescentphosphorescentscreenscreen

wood paper ironsilvergold

micaquartz

paraffin

passes through

focused byaluminum

lenses

diffracted byaluminum

prismsblocked by water, rock

salt

Explosion of interest in N-rays

Papers in Comptes Rendu (a respected French scientific journal:

1903: 41904: 541905: 0 Why?

American physicist Robert Wood discovered that Blondlot (and everyone else) had fallen victim to pareidolia.

Oops...

N-ray N-ray sourcesource

slit in wet cardboard

aluminumprism

spectrum of N-raysrevealed by phosphorescentdetector

Blondlot and coworkers allfound same four peaks

In the dark, Wood In the dark, Wood removedremoved the prism ... the prism ... should have should have destroyeddestroyed the diffraction pattern on the the diffraction pattern on the

detector. But Blondlot and coworkers detector. But Blondlot and coworkers still got still got perfect results!perfect results!