Optical Illusion Mystery as Mom's Body Vanishes in Family Photo

A puzzling family photo where a mother's body appears to have vanished has left people scratching their heads about how it could be seemingly invisible in the picture.

In a stunning family photo uploaded to the confusingperspective Reddit group on November 10, which can be seen here, user jormaco admitted to having no idea where their mother's body was in the picture.

The Reddit user shared the photo of a younger version of themselves, their sibling, and their mother while they posed outside in Edmonton, Alberta, in the late 1990s.

But eagle-eyed observers would see that, while the young children appeared normal in the photo, there was something strange about the mother.

A closer look revealed that the mother's arms and head could clearly be seen while her torso and legs seemed to be completely absent from the photo.

"It looks normal at first but becomes a real head-scratcher the more you look at it," jormaco told Newsweek.

"I could never figure out what's exactly going on with my mom's body but the shadow definitely confirms it's there.

"I've had a lot of comments saying that this photo is edited, but it isn't, that's just how camera quality was back in the day."

"I can only speculate on where her legs are, but my guess is that she's crouching down or leaning forward with her right leg placed to the right of the bike and her left is directly behind my body. But we've never been able to figure it out."

Optical Illusions Explained

According to a 2019 article published on The University of Queensland Brain Institute website, in Australia, the brain tries to fill in gaps in information that result in an optical illusion.

"To figure out what it needs, our eyes tell our brain what the things around us look like. The problem is our eyes only know a handful of words to describe what they see," the article said.

"Sometimes, our brain gets confused by what the eyes are trying to tell it. This can mean the brain thinks things are moving when actually they're still. Or you might 'see' shapes, shades, or colors that aren't really there."

Online Reaction to Post

The majority of people who commented on the photo joked about the illusion with others left puzzled about where the mother's body could be.

Reddit user Flatmonkey said: "Clearly your mom doesn't have a body, she is a floating head with arms and you are trying to pretend otherwise."

BellaFrequency added: "She sacrificed her body to have you, so go tell her thank you."

While PsychoPiper commented: "I can see the shadow just fine and still have no idea what's going on."

Deluxe posted: "My mind is absolutely broken. I still can't figure out how her legs are positioned."