By Vurdlak on December 15, 2006, with 167 Comments
Can you see the face of an angle in this unbelievable photo?! It took me a while, but when I noticed it, I can’t stop seeing it! Wonderful! You can clearly see a face in the middle of the picture, but jump inside this article if you can’t see it. This very nice illusion was submitted by Joshua Bernasconi. It is similar to Jesus in Sellhurst Park, Google Jesus illusion, God’s creations…
Joshua: “I am a student at a middle school. One day my Bible teacher showed me this amazing photo of an angel. Because I didn’t see it at first I was disappointed, but after about 5 minutes it suddenly revealed itself to me. I’ve tried the best I can to outline it for you, so just bear with it. Besides its beauty, the picture is also an illusion at first… until you finally see it. I also have an artistic friend who’s painting this for me, and when he does, I will send you a picture. Pretty awesome, ehh!?”
Joshua: “The story is that one day a lady was driving down to her parents home in Iowa, and decided to stop and take a picture of the reflection of the stars and trees on a lake at night. When she finally developed the roll, she thought that the picture came out bad, but that it was unusually pretty, so she entered it in some photo contest. People began questioning her on the body that is seen in the picture. Just like everyone else, it took her a few minutes to pick it out. When she finally did, she was faint. For the last picture just follow this: H=head, W=wings, N= neck, A=arm, T=torso”. 
(43 votes)
it’s lame.. it’s like playing that look at the clouds game and making shapes.
it’s lame.. it’s like playing that look at the clouds game and making shapes.
oh, now i see her/his eyes, nose and mouth. it took me awhile. the face is in profile. at first i thought it looked like a bat. neat.
WHAT ABOUT THE FACE IN THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER THAT IS LOOKING UP AND SCREAMING? DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE THAT?
That’s scary. Very detailed face, though.
The face is very detailed, but I think everyone is trying to see a face straight on. The “angel face” is actually a profile. LIke she is looking over her shoulder.
It looks like a bat, if it’s angel then it has a big flat head.
I see Pegasus
I SEE SEVERAL DEMONS AROUND THE ANGEL! I’LL SHOW YOU TWO OF THEM,
ONE IS ACTUALLY UNDER THE ANGEL’S WINGS WHILE THE OTHER ONE IS ACTAULLY KISSING THE ANGEL ON THE CHEEK!
HOW IRONIC!
From:
Freakish Joker
I know this is late, but I’ve held this photo in my hands before. It’s not from Seattle, it’s from California. I don’t want to give out too much info. The photo actually had the local photo place’s stamp on the back.
I never thought I’d see this picture again.
There’s other photos on that camping trip with it that show it without this effect.
i see something like a cross between a dragon/fiend/bat/demon
or if you look at it differently then its like a guy in a suit of some sort and only his head down to he upper chest is exposed
I grew up in Iowa and (like christopher glass above) held this photo in my hands… in 1993 or 1994. I was totally into photography at the time… manipulating in the darkroom AND in photoshop so I knew what it took to doctor a photo. Even I thought this was real and had been told the story of the lady driving… I also never thought I’d see it again… I actually did a search today b/c I thought about it. I was so excited to find it and kind of bummed when I read conflicting stories.
I still want to think it’s real…
I worked with Cindy Perry at Teen Challenge of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the early 90′s. I have a copy of the picture that she gave to me.
As to the photo’s tech aspects (I have been a professional artist, photog and filmmaker for 35 years): the picture is undoctored and I have have seen the other pics from the roll of film–no other anomalies. Cindy is an excellent photographer with good equipment. Photoshop was first marketed in 1990 and I saw the pic in 1989, so, no photoshopping.
As to Cindy’s believability. She is a very trustworthy, respectable person who has no reason to lie. In fact, I believe she is one of those people who is above reproach. She was very skeptical about the whole event–she is a rather skeptical person to begin with. She even fretted over whether she could have created some double-exposure or whatever but had no explaination. Her story was basically as described in the article, she took the pic at night on her way to her parents’ house in Iowa. She saw a beautiful scene of a starry sky reflecting in a lake and stopped to shoot the scene. Nothing spectacular.
As to seeing the “angel”–it took me a while to see it, 5 or 10 minutes of her explaining. Nut when I saw it, I was amazed. Most people take many minutes to see it. The article crudely outlines the “head” but is actually including the two “upper” wings extending over the head. Cherubim are traditionally described as having four wings (Seraphim having six).
Is it an angel? Can’t say for sure but the photo has intrigued me since I first saw it. I hope Cindy is doing well.
that aint an angel…its like a bat
this is beautiful,the outlining i think, even though very helpful, makes you see the angel a certain way..if you look closely you can see the outline of his face clearly, above his head (looks like a helmet or something)is actually a part of his wings, the bottom of his wings are not jagged they are covered by the white foggy stuff..and adding a neck that isn’t there, it is part of his chest… and it should be made mention it is a male angel..not female.. it truly is an illusion..
wtf… thats the batman symbol… :P not an angel
ok, it’s really early in the morning, so i might not be seeing what i’m suppose to, but i see a face over what is labeled head… but it is a cool picture. something you might see at the in the museum of science.
If you want to see THE most unbelieveable and 100% REAL GENUINE TRUE Photograph of an Angel… just take a look at this…
http://www.cjholding.co.uk in the AIR Gallery. © copyright cjholding 2003 or see the real thing – the Signed Limited Edition is on display visit The Studio Gallery in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.
REMEMBER.. this is from 35mm film, no tricks, no slow shutter speeds, no enhancing, just 100% straight print from negative film & TRULY PURE PHOTOGRPAHY.
angel. where did that come from? wishful thinking maybe, if anything a red and black colour scheme says demon not angel
I aDdEd THis ComMEnT JuSt To mAkE iT 101 cOmMeNts! :) bUt cOOl IlLuSiONs!
=>….Awesome. The (little) angel face in the middle is what gave it away for me.I am an ateist,so was not looking at it in a religious sense.Therefor,belive me when i say,there really is a so called angel there.nice 1
when i looked at it upside down (first pic) i saw a walrus…
It’s very clear to me, even in the first picture. I don’t see how you CAN’T see it. But yeah, I don’t get the headdress thing either.
looks more like a bat
Deffo a bat – to me…
I didn’t need the outlines, but WOW!
Utter bull. Angels don’t exist anyway…
if you mean by ‘angel’ is a white person with wings, yes, you can see some shapes that kinda look like one.
the opportunity for people to denounce faith has caused them all to overlook that this photo was photoshopped. clever misdirection is key to a good illusion. ;-)
I really dont beleve in angles but… COOL AWESOME!
I don’t see it – were is the face?
bit rubbish really not really an angel more like a bat
If that’s an angel then I am Jesus.
All I see is a little blobby thing that sorta resembles a very vague face and then after that, bat wings. Not angel wings. Bat wings.
It doesn’t even have a body.
Even if this was photoshopped, it’s a very clear manipulation of suggestion and the process within the human mind that causes us to see faces within things.
The only thing I see, apart from Blobby Bat Man, is perhaps an ultrasound image, or a photo of space.
It is not, my friends, an angel.
I don’t know what it is but it kinda creeps me out
all I see is wings. And my first thought was, ‘this is a really ugly picture’.
ITS BATMAN!!!!!!!!!!
I’ll post some pertinent info once again. For those who are claiming the pic was “photoshopped”–Photoshop hit the market in 1990, I saw this photo in 1989. The photo was in no way manipulated either in a darkroom (Cindy did not have access to a darkroom nor did she develop her own pics) and certainly not by computer/digital manipulation.
I worked with Cindy Perry at Teen Challenge of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the late 80′s and early 90’s. I have a copy of the picture that she gave to me.
Again, as to the photo’s tech aspects (I have been a professional artist, photog and filmmaker for 35 years and have done many forensic evaluations of various digitized images over the years): the picture is undoctored and I have have seen the other pics from the roll of film–no other anomalies. In fact, the other photos on the roll fully support her story–she simply took a picture of a lake with reflections of the stars in a night sky while on the way to her parents’ house in Iowa. Cindy is an excellent photographer with good equipment. She had no explanation for the strange outcome. She was very skeptical about the whole event–she is a rather skeptical person to begin with. She even fretted over whether she could have created some double-exposure or whatever but had no explaination.
As to Cindy’s believability–I know her to be an absolutely trustworthy, respectable person who has no reason or desire to fabricate tales. In fact, I believe she is one of those few people who is above reproach.
As to seeing the “angel”–it took me a while to see it, 5 or 10 minutes of her explaining. I was stunned and intrigued when I finally saw the “angel”. The article crudely outlines the “head” but is actually including the two “upper” wings extending over the head. The face is turned to the left and seen in profile. The marked photo shows the chest in the “N” section, the right shoulder above the “A”, the eye and nose are just below the left side of the “h”. Interestingly, Cherubim are traditionally described as having four wings, two large lower and two smaller upper to “cover” the head (Seraphim having six wings).
Is it an angel? I can’t say for sure but the photo has intrigued me since I first saw it. My best to Cindy wherever she may be.
It looks like a whole lot of nothing. If I had to see something in it, it would be a shark in a bat suit. Silly fundies.
I don’t know about what SteveM said, but this photo is obviously photoshopped in some way. It’s and Angel in some canvas work I’d say. If you care to look in the bottom right hand corner of the photo, there are the warped faces that appear with the ‘angel’ in the painting. Sorry Steve, either she didn’t know about the photo shopping or.. she isn’t that trustworthy.
Peace all
Joshua: “I am a student at a middle school.”
Anyone else question the amazing writing ability of a middle school student? Just saying…..
Anyway, the picture looks more like one taken from Hubble than off a lake of a reflection of the stars on a lake. You don’t see nebula’s when looking at the stars from earth atmosphere.
Look guys! I believe in Fairies and God….
First I search in Internet and youtube there is a Fairy!!! And I believe In God!!! If you Believe in God, You will believe in Angels too
cause Angels is in Heaven, God is in Heaven too!
and and the picture are real its a REAL ANGEL!!!!
and its NOT A BAT! Maybe the Angel wearing a HAT….
GUYS, ME AND MY FRIEND LOOK 2 times THIS FAKE OR NOT ANGEL…. AND ITS A REAL ANGEL!!!!
I THINK ITS BAD ANGEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cor blimey, get ur head’z out ur a… what is up with u lot, u muzt be americanz or catholik’z n’ i don’t know which is worse
Utter twaddle. Blinded by your own faith. Science is the only thing you should believe in. EVERYTHING…….that’s EVERYTHING can be explained with science. If not now, then certainly in the future.
One more thing, the story “Joshua” relays does not fit with what I recall was explained by Cindy. As to when the pic was taken, okay, but as to the bit about entering it in a photo contest and all as some “pretty” abstract and her becoming “faint” upon seeing the “angel” image–that, I don’t recall and it hardly seems like Cindy, her actions or mannerism. I suspect some embellishment or changes to the story were made by the time this “word-of-mouth” tale reached Joshua.
As to “Coen”‘s suggestions, as I said, I saw the other photos from the roll, I even saw the negatives and the “angel” photo was the same on the negative.
Seeing distorted “faces” in the pic says little as to what really happened and goes nowhere to the validity of the photo or Cindy’s trustworthiness. One can see faces in wood knots and such–even the Virgin Mary appears in toast, potato chips and water stains on walls. The image of the “angel’s” face is clear and undistorted.
Whatever, as I recall, she was quite skeptical about what had happened, never demanded that it was an angel. She just simply thought it was a bizarre and unexplainable incident that’s explanation could just as well be that she happened to catch an angel! I have no explanation, for sure!
dude theres an a litle, more-cooler-looking angel right in yhe center flying out of the flames:)
guys, for you who keep saying things like “its just a blurry bat thing,” thats what i though at first too. then i looked away for a second, and suddenly i could clearly see the face of a pretty awesome looking angel. you just have to keep looking and ull see her…its a pretty cool optical illusion
For those who ABSOLUTELY CANNOT see an angel, who see ‘wonky bats’, ‘fugly bat wings’, ‘a shark in a bat suit’ or can’t see a face, here is a better outline by yours truly as opposed to the one done in the article.
Lines on the photo: http://img101.imageshack.us/i/overlaye.jpg/
Lines with rough shadow render: http://img96.imageshack.us/i/angelwshading.jpg/
And before you ask, no I am not a Christian nor do I participate in a cult worshipping angels and make it their life’s purpose to see winged saints and cherubs and seraphs in things like burnt toast and dog butts. I just see things in things better.
Sattelite photo, lake reflection photo or photomaniped oil-painting done by an old Chinese guy using his tongue, I had only one intention with my post, and that is to show people the image they could not see. I’m not here to argue.
@ SteveM: while I do see upright-standing mini wings on the figure’s head, my impression of 4 or 6-winged angels have all wings on their back, and drawing miniature wings on said figure’s head would turn her into one of those viking opera singers with the winged helms for me. And those do not have wings.
I saw your overlay and I can not thank you enough. I had been staring at this for an hour until I noticed your post. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!
Well as a conservative Christian, the bible teaches me that some angels have wings and some don’t but an angel is a spirit being, so how can it be captured. Well I have heard some out of the physical captured on cameras but honestly I cant see anything here even with the outline. I am sorry if I offended any person.
how can u take a pix of the stars looking like this without a telescope
I kind of seem the angel. It just a matter of using a little our imagination.
I don’t see anything in this photo.
“One day my Bible teacher showed me this amazing photo”
That about explains it.
It doesn’t even look like a reflection of anything. It looks like a painting.
Redds has provided an excellent overlay showing the positioning of the “angel” (although the “nightgown” seems a bit of an embellishment! LOL!) And, Redds, I agree that the wings would all come out of the back, those upper “mini-wings” appear, at least to me, to be behind the head and shoulders–those wings, according to tradition, were used to shield eyes (in the presence of God) and protect the head. I suppose they might have some aerodynamic use too, like cunards? Just speculating!
I love how defensive the ‘believers’ become over comments from people that see it exactly how it is. A picture, that kinda resembles something with wings, maybe. it isnt proof. people who want to see it, will. ive seen images of burnt toast that resemble jesus, but im not going to start preaching to the world that exists as ive seen his face on some heated bread! id love to believe there are ‘angels’, however there are many ways these images could be taken. again, they arent proof of anything. how many times do we see things that at first we cant explain and in the end turn out to be nothing more than a trick of light/shadow formation etc. its a cool pic with a good story, but it shouldnt be taken too seriously or cause arguments
@SteveM: My apologies for overdecorating, but I did immediately see the robe(or nightgown as you would prefer to call it) when I made out the angel’s face. I thought immediately of a nun’s habit, but since she didn’t seem to have to veil, I thought of the Mona Lisa, and how she had that low-cut dress that resembled the one the ‘angel’ was wearing. Mona Lisa = Perfect (Wo)man = Da Vinci = Angel drawings, blah blah blah. Vicious cycle and stuff.
It also gave the nice contrast to the belief that angels usually wore white robes that covered everything (even though in old drawings cherubs are near nakedness and other angels wore togas or other similarly revealing clothing) so the more I looked, the more I saw a black robe. Perhaps a renegade, fallen, guardian or battle angel, who knows? It’s only my interpretation.
Btw, thanks for the insight as to what the head wings actually are for. I never knew that. That’s an inspiring bit of info. I saw in my head a sight of hundreds of angels on bended knee with those tiny wings shielding their eyes from the blinding light of His form.
Were I to speculate, I would say they shot holy lazors at evil beings when their arms were cut off in battle. From a more appropriate and un-funny point of view, perhaps they used them to hide their vision while they performed unspeakable acts of slaughter, so as to keep their hearts and minds pure. :/ That sounded silly.
All that said, I think my overlay was pretty pointless since no one else but you seemed to read other people’s comments and see it. How do I get Vurdlak to post my overlay in the article? XD *shameless self-pimpage*
ITS PAREIDOLIA
sure dude, you can see what ever you want……..
that shit scares me DX i dont know why xD
Aaaaaaargh its not an angel its just your stupid imagination!!!!! >:/
you people just keep making stuff up,i believe
in god and angels and all that stuff but seriously
its just a stupid photo!!!!!
you dont have to make a big deal at of it saying its an angel,to me it just looks like a big blurry thing!!!!! >:/
Arrrrrrrgh its just your stupid imagination thers no angel its just a stupid photo!!!! >:/
Even after the hints, I saw a pope[like the vatican one] with burned up arms[his right one still burning at that].
And without the helpful hints, all I saw was a crow with a missing neck.[the black thing above the pope's head being the peck]
i dont believe this is true.. it is just some kind of image perception.. come on.
It looks like A frickin Demon to me
Yeah…. an angel. From someone who studies the bible… Yeah…
Well Dale maybe the ‘believers’ wouldn’t have to do any defending if the ‘aetheist and non-believers’ ould for ONCE resist announcing how ‘stupid’ we all are for believing in our religions, and if they weren’t just dyyying to rub in our faces their intellectual opinions on science and how everything we’ve ever had faith in is mumbo jumbo fairytales and how that makes them smarter than us in every way.
GEEZ.
hi,I found this site some weeks ago,it`s vwery nice :)
but about the pic – when i first saw it – there was nothing. then i read the description and started to lock for an angel,the first thing that I saw was a face in the “helm” of the face of the angel – it didn`t seem right,i kept on loocking i saw all the “illusional”image but I still can see this face in his helm … it`s like a hooded face of a man with eyes closed.
it`s cool :)
if rly you are bilive to GOD.that is not ANGEL ……….l will see coment of LILY
YA THAT WHAT SHE RAID OLL TRU
this photo only stopit tinks
comon peable you tink esy to SEE ANGEL ….
if you like to see real ANGEL. pay to pls tray to PREY TO GOD .me l like to see angel of haven
pls god you are beles us
couse l love GOD .THAT IS TRU
First of all the picture can be anything, but what i hate is when people rag on christanity, you no what i think of yall stupid ass evoulition bull shit
well first of all GET A LIFE PEOPLE who going insane saying we believe in god coz there is no such.two its a bat being hit by lightning in its ass,third plz dont wast ur time arguing with religious dummies well thats coz there dumb ,they will never understand the truth coz there dumb
To i.love.illusions…
This is not a photo shopped image. I have one of the originals that was given to my by a good friend of the woman who actually took the photo. The story that I have is that she was driving down a road in Iowa and seen a double rainbow and wanted to take a picture of it for her daughter, which she did, when she had it developed, this is what she had. This photo was taken long before photo shop came into existance.
You have to REALLY want to see it. It is NOT wonderful, it is NOT beautiful, it is certainly NOT a proof of the existence of God… all it is is a coincidence that gives you a face in water reflection.
Even though the coincidence is pretty cool
it is not a water reflection it is in outerspace
It really pains me to see that the “angel” pointed out doesn’t look remotely like an angel compared that small figure in the center. You can see the wings spread and a more reasonable head. Also, by it’s feet is an arch shape. I’d consider THAT the angel illusion.
Looks more like a bat to me.
Same here it totally looks like a bat :P Or maybe a bird….
~~That Guy~~
I TOTALLY SAW THE ANGEL after like 2 minutes of staring :) I LOVE IT!
Hey but there are actually two angels in the picture not just one!!!!
All it looks like to me is a nebula in a galaxy far far away lol Sorry, But no angel’s here!
I see the angel perfectly without the outline..the outline kinda causes the wings to look funny but really they seem as they’re expanding into the darkness and the angel is wearing a huge crown thing , looking at whats behind her. Her hair, her eyes, her nose, her hair, its all there (:
thats like a bird or something
Its weird how people will just look at somethin nice, and suddenly decide tht somethins in there even though it doesnt evemn remotely look like what its supposed to. Can anyone REALLY see an angel there, or who just sees a bit or negative space shaped like a bat?
My parents have had this picture hanging in our house since I can remember, its a very old and real picture, im 21 now so id say ATLEAST that old if not longer. The angel does seem to have a crown and where this kid has circled the head, look to the right side of it. I want to say the face reminds me of the old statues, i believe of ceasar or sumthing? Take a closer look you guys, w/o the outline thing, just by itself. It may take a minute, but I DO KNOW its there :)
C~Rae