Neptune at Horta

I usually ignore the cloud/water illusions which supposedly resemble angels, faces, aliens….etc. It’s simply because they are too big of a stretch, at most of the times. Here and then something passes my filter, and in those rare cases it’s questionable if there was photoshopping involved. However, Ricardo Carvalho’s submission intrigued me. Perhaps the story behind this photo made it look even more interesting. Apparently, on 15th February 1986, on a Saturday between noon and 16 hours, the Azores suffered the greatest storm of the century, with wind reaching velocities of nearly 250km/h. Jose Henrique Azevedo took photographs before and after the storm. Waves reached heights of between 15 and 20 meters and, when they broke, as high as 60 meters. Two years later when Jose wished to show proof of this event, to visiting yachtsmen, he printed two of the photos. Having done so, he discovered that at the moment when he had photographed a particular breaking wave it had taken on human form – and thus became known as Neptune at Horta. Can you see the Neptune’s face? What do you think of it?

62 Replies to “Neptune at Horta”

  1. Ya I see the image very clearly. I think it’s Poseidon the Greek god of seas.[img]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Poseidon_sculpture_Copenhagen_2005.jpg[/img]

    1. No, it’s not Poseidon. It’s Neptune. That’s kind of the whole story. Neptune was lord of the seas as was Poseidon though they were very separate religions. Greek and Roman

    2. well the Romans pretty much took most of the greek gods and gave the majority of them different names so “Neptune” is really Poseidon. But Im just saying so you think that Poseidon and Neptune are 2 different gods. Just the same god but two different names

    3. That’s the point! It *is* supposed to look like the god of the sea! That’s why it’s called ‘Neptune at Horta’. Neptune is the Roman name for the god of water and the sea… ;)

      Nice natural illusion, Vurdlak!

    4. It may be two different religions, but I know for a fact that they were the same person. They just simply had separate names. Hence the “different religion” bit. Plus none of that mythology crap is real, so get over it. BTW, there is no such thing as gods.

    1. It’s at the tip of the rock. A beard at the bottom, a pointy nose in the middle, and a mermaid tail looking tuft of hair at the top.

    2. If you look from left to right it appears as if he is coming up for breath. From left to right you have his hair, eyebrows, nose and beard but you do have to look closely.

    3. he is facing NOT in the direction of the land but kind of in the sky. And Z2d4th, you can’t read. It’s already stated its NEPTUNE not Poseidon.

  2. I think it’s on part of that wave hitting the rock. I see a face profile looking to the upper right of the screen. He has a big chin.

  3. This is an awesome turn of events and I say so as well due to the fact that the next day the love of my life was born and so I interpret this photo as a water baby bearer and a a happy or somewhat jubilant one that it reached sad to say storm proportions…Any way awesome shot & water babies are the best =)

  4. It’s a cool picture and because it’s a real photo taken at the right time makes it even more awesome. Neptune is the roman name for Poseidon btw.

  5. I see several things. I see a wolf. I see a ‘monster’ type thing, but nothing that I would say “hey, there’s Neptune”
    Would be nice to have a link to another pic that might “outline” the illusion.

    1. “anon says:

      I don’t see shit. Don’t ever post an illusion like this ever again”

      You’re in the minority. Everyone else seems to like it. It’s not all about you, so get over yourself.

    1. I can’t believe anyone else saw the dog/wolf/dragon thing besides me. I thought that was me having an active imagination xD

  6. If it’s not cleverly shopped it is a good image capture. Although much like capturing a cloud formation, It is much harder to capture such an image in a wave since it comes and goes very quickly. It would be a rare coincident indeed to snap a picture at just the right moment to produce the effect. In the event it is in fact legit, it may be a frame of video. It would be far easier to flip through frames and catch just the right one with a recognizable image. It could be any number of likenesses. One would need only to be looking for a suitable frame.

  7. Mighty Optical Illusions is really one of my favorite features in this vast world of the web; it’s the first thing I check in my daily surfing.

    This one is fun (all be it frightening) as a visit from the watery god in the 80’s.

    I suppose since it is from the pre-digital photographic world, Carvalho’s print could always be proven if ever in question. It was much harder to fudge negatives.

    Thanks for another great one

  8. That is a really cool pic and does look like Poseidon. Normally you would expect something like that to be pretty heavily photoshopped but it looks pretty natural to me.

  9. What of the wolf’s head behind the face? There is a wolf climbing the rock behind the face, or if you look at the shadows a different way, is it the face of a Chinese dragon?

  10. That is definitely Neptunian. Very Kewl. I love seeing things in rocks or waterfalls, ocean waves, mountains, etc.

  11. Took me a minute — I was looking in the right place but reading it way different — I see Godzilla! (The face is G’s back spikes, and G’s face is to the left, with the mouth open.)

  12. I agree that it could be either gods, they are both gods of the sea, but in different religions. I would prefer it to be Poseidon though, but that’s just what Rick Riordan does to your brain.

  13. OMG IM OBSESSED WITH GREEK AND ROMAN GODS AND NEPTUNE AND POSEIDON ARE THE SAME PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  14. I see the face, but also if you look closely the upper lip could be his face while the lower lip is his sholder, his nose looks like an arm up with a fist about to pound the sea shore.

    But maybe I have a very vivid imagination.

  15. I had trouble seeing it at first, but now I see it.

    I you’re having trouble, this might help. . .

    Imagine the brown rock as a pillow. Neptune is lying on that pillow with just his head out of the water, and from the neck down is still in the water. So he is lying on the far right side of the pillow. Neptune’s head is the wave that is crashing into the brown rock. He is lying on this pillow looking up into the sky at the top right corner of the photo. There is a white bit of the crashing wave that is touching the rock, that’s the back of his head and his white hair. His face is a little darker gray. You will see his profile and can see a tuft of hair on his forehead, an eyebrow, an eye, a pointy nose, a cheekbone, some lips, and a puffy beard on his chin.

    A profile of Neptune:

    [img]http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Arts/Poseidon/Poseidon1.jpg[/img]

    1. Also,I’m talking about the profile of Neptune(who,by the way,is the same as Poseidon),and the beard especially looks that way.

  16. For those who can’t see it, here’s an outline[img]http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j43/alicorn2/RandomStuff/NeptuneOutlined.jpg[/img]

    1. (Oops, hit submit too soon)

      So, he’s laying on his back with his head resting on the rocks. I’ve outlined his forehead down to his chin, beard is just below where the red line stops.

  17. there are so many faces in this image. zoom in and look at the dark blue inside of the wave. and see him riding with his arm in the air at the top of the wave

    1. If you look carefully you can see a guy holding a dagger riding the wave on the opposite diagonal to the face.

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