BBC Experiment Optical Illusion

This image you see today is created by Rupert Sheldrake, and was part of a TV experiment in 1983 with 2 million BBC viewers. Sheldrake wanted to test his theory of morphogenetic fields, and from this theory, the knowledge of other people can influence your own. In other words, if many people know what this picture is, you would also recognize it easier. The best part is that the results were surprising… I found this image on planet perplex, and believe it or not, had some hard time figuring out what it represents. How long did it take you to see the hidden meaning? Let’s make test of our own ;)

337 Replies to “BBC Experiment Optical Illusion”

  1. It looks like an angry panda to me, but I don’t think that’s what it’s supposed to be.

  2. I can see a man in black and a woman in white together looking to the right. They could be dancing. Not sure what all the other bits are though.

  3. I love the site, i love the widget, always nice to have something new there every once in a while, the only thing i have a problem with is your obsession with links, on every post there are 5 – 10 links, its just annoying specially because most of them dont even describe what they are linked to (BBC viewers, other people, hard time figuring WTF?) i would very much appreciate if you could tone it down, links are great, not to be overused, this way it just makes the site look amateurish. Im sure other people feel this way

    Big fan of the site,
    Izz

  4. Been viewing the site for a while, and this is the first one I got right off the bat :) Not as hard as some might think!

  5. I saw the ballroom dancers straight away – is there anything else? It looks a little like a panda-bear’s head to the right (our right, their left) of the dancers, but I think this is probably accidental.

  6. no idea, it ciykd be many mnay things

    i don’t really get the waythe experiment works either…

    all in all, i’m clueless

  7. Even after googling what the image is supposed to be, I still don’t see it. (I won’t spoil the fun by posting what it’s supposed to be)

  8. Very tricky…I think I saw it when i was reading…but I dont want to influence what other people see so I wont say what I saw

  9. I ve recognized it on second sight (few seconds)
    I would be interested in the results of the test!!!

    Ixtlan

  10. Well, I’d say a dancing couple… Though my first guess was a panda bear or 2…

    hint: look for the feet, the rest ‘ll come :)

  11. Bizarre…

    I looked at this, and thought I could vaguely see something, looking on planet perplex at the ‘solution’ found I was suprisingly close.

  12. It kinda looks like a dance pair (girl with long white dress and guy in tux) [cant think of what to make of the other black pieces

  13. It’s a couple dancing.
    The second morphogenetic field image is better, although far more easily identified.
    Rupert Sheldrake is awesome, by the way.

  14. yay first post!!! thats really cool but i am not gonna say what the hidden meaning is im leaving that up to you…..

  15. OHH OHH I SEE IT THAT IS PRETTY COOL.and it is NOT a chiken for thoose of you whom dont see the pic!

  16. Took Me about minutes or so, but now i can clearly see a women in white, and a man in black dancing in the center of the image.

  17. I don’t see it :( I can imagine a bunch of luttle animals, but I don’t think this is it. So what is it?

  18. 2 ice skaters i think, maybe the meaning is remember “torvil and dean”

    fantastic world olymic ice skater gold medal owners.

  19. Is it the countries of Europe all broken up and mixed around? One looks like Italy.

    My other guess would be a bird of some sort, like a turkey.

  20. Let’s see, I see a couple of panda’s, a peacock, a tree, a couple of people maybe facing each other… close?

  21. i dont get it..
    i kinda see a panda face tho and a bear
    the panda is like in the left middle and the eyes ears mouth and nose are back
    the bear is in the right middle and its features are also black
    i might be rong tho..

  22. I certainly THINK I see something.. but I don’t know what. All I come up with is a tree and/or pandas… but that’s certainly not very… hidden.

  23. Okay… I looked at the “answer” but it still looks like two panda bears to me. I don’t know.

  24. I can’t see it , but someone who works with me can see a family! (I think he is not the full quid!)
    Can anyone else see it?

  25. …morphogenetic fields… pfft. That’s BS. Do some research on it.

    I see absolutely nothing, besides black spots.

  26. Pretty cool! right away 2 dancers popped out to me in the middle. i can’t really make out anything else but the dancing couple with their faces together and holding hands. it’s really cool.

  27. Looks to me like a lady with one arm up facing to the right, Hair is dark and body is white. The Other arm looks like it’s on her hip.

    Not sure if this is what we should have seen? But that is what My 11 year old saw and I saw it too.

  28. well everyone, no go here. and i think im the first to post on this pic. i dont have anything :-\. my girl kinda sees a panda, i see a woman dancing and what looks to be a 4 legged animal. but nothing that includes all the image as a whole.

  29. It only took me a few minutes.

    But then again, I cheated and went to the site planet perplex. I originally thought it was a quadroped of sorts.

  30. Ok, I think I actually know this one, is it of two people dancing?

    I look at this site everyday and everyday your site makes me think and smile!

  31. Aha! Saw it immediately (or within 2 seconds). But perhaps it’s because it’s a favorite activity of mine. Good one. Great site. Thanks for keeping it going.

  32. I might have the answer?
    It looks like a man and a woman Dancing with ships wheel behind them. Am I right where is the answer

  33. Looks like a couple dancing to moi, wheee~

    BTW nice website, first time commenting and its going good.

  34. i just had a quick glance of the image cos i’m in a hurry. i’ll get back to this illusion tomorrow. the first thing that came into my mind was a panda bear.. =P

  35. love. i think it’s says love. if you stare at it for about a solid 30 seconds or so, then look at a wall, you should be able to read somewhat of an imprint.

  36. I see a couple dancing… took me pretty short time, just a few seconds.
    Blur your view for easier perception

  37. This was neat – at first I saw pandas, but then I saw the elegant dancing couple – salsa maybe?

  38. This is a very nice illusion! It has less clear features and is thus more difficult to spot than others of the same kind.

    You tell us “that the results were surprising”. Would you also care to tell us what the results of the experiment were?

  39. i see something that resembles a panda……

    From what i see there are 2.
    One on the left and one on the right…. (i think)
    i can see the panda on the right looking a bit dumbfounded – with its eyes and it nose…. and it looks like its sort of sitting down, with its arms and legs in front….

    am i crazy (or can someone else see it too)?

  40. My boyfriend saw a panda at first, but I saw a couple dancing.

    Great site btw, I visit everyday but this is the first time I’ve commented :)

  41. I personally see what i assume is a femenine form, the head is most visable, with lightning and energy swirling around it

  42. took 2-3 secs to c wat it represented… n i dint know its from earlier… its shows a couple dancing rite in the middle

  43. I kinda saw the woman, but it’s hard to figure out what she’s doing and that there is also a man. If you click on the link Planet Perplex and then click on the image, it will show you what you are supposed to be seeing – just for those of you who only see pandas or nothing at all and are getting frustrated.

    By the way, I have also wondered about the many links and also think it should be clearer where they lead to or maybe it should just not be that many.

    Keep up the good work.

  44. I see the man and woman now, but for an instant I could’ve sworn I saw a kid getting chased by a bear… Anyway, the results of the test would be interesting.

  45. ITS A FREAKING PUZZLE!!! LOOK HOW THE TOP PIECES FIT TOGETHER AND THE BIG TOP AND BOTTOM FIT TOGETHER!!!

  46. there is a unicorn on it’s hind legs with trees all around it.

    i don’t see any dancers at all

  47. I see 2 pandas but I can also see 2 dancers

    I love this type of thing cos you can let you imagination run away with you

    I have just had another look and I can see an angry face????????

    Which is right?????

  48. I saw the pandas but I also saw 2 people dancing. I tehn looked at it again and saw an angry face Whch is right..??????

  49. It’s one big ticked off panda on the left ataching another panda in the middle. He’s screaming in agony.
    I hope those two people dancing in between them don’t get hurt!

  50. I couldnt find it until I clicked on the Planet Perplex link and saw the solution.
    PS: Vurdlak, I thought you were not going to publish the “First Comment” posts anymore…all they do is annoy people.
    Rant over.

  51. First when I just glanced over the image, I saw a panda, then I saw another panda. After that I thought I saw B C near the top (thinking it had BBC in there). Then staring for less than a minute, the man and woman dancing jumped out at me. The Woman’s in a white dress with drapey bits under her arms (that’s how I’m seeing it), her arms raised with her hands in the hands of the Man stood behind her (he’s in black). Both heads are looking right..

    Also in response to “25. Anonymous” aka “Big fan of the site, Izz”, is it difficult reading over text and ignoring the links? I see them, think they are a bit too much at times, but they’re easily ignore… other times I’ll come back and visit each one. “BBC Viewers” linked to another illusion from a BBC site – how does that not relate? “Other people” linked to pictures of… other people! “Hard time figuring” is an excellent chance to link to a great illusion… one of the first I remember seeing myself. Maybe some people have a “hard time figuring” that one out?

    Ok, rant over.

    PS, love the site! (Can you tell? Ha)

  52. Agree with Izz, #25 above – great site but stop all the stupid hyperlinks, once people suss they don’t do anything useful they’ll just stop clicking on them…

  53. is it supposed to be one of those things like the “spot the ninja?” Where people see stuff where nothing is really there? I love these ones!

  54. Stare at the centre of the picture for thirty seconds then shut your eyes or look in to a dark area – too me it looks like a flower. xx

  55. Wow that was very difficult… to help others who struggled like i did… stare at the center of the picture and you will see the dancers.

  56. I’m agreed with Izz (#25) about links. Sometimes they seems automatically generated (for increase hits in the site maybe?). Very very very annoying for me.

  57. at first I saw two panda bear faces, but once I read other comments and knew what to look for I figured it out eventually

  58. wow whoever thinks its a panda ur wrong its a man and a woman dancing…read the caption above and click on “planet perplex” its not that difficult…

  59. I see two pandas with their backs against a single tree in the middle. Seems like I’m the only one who sees that…

  60. omg.i seen the panda bears first and read every1s comments and it still took me forever to see the dancers!!

  61. I see two dancers, and she is saying to him ‘For goodness sake George pick your bloody feet up oor i’m off to partner Felix’ and one of the band members has fallen asleep…….the waiter in the background is taking a drink order…… hmmmm, thats just about it I think….oh, the phone on the bar has just started to ring……….

  62. At first look, I seen 2 pandas but after reading some of the comments, I went back and saw the woman ans man dancing.

  63. well most ppl r saying either a man and a woman dancing, or a panda. i actually saw sort of some kind of cat at first, maybe an angry cat? but looking at it again, it sort of looks like a panda. and then from another perspective, a man and a woman dancing.

  64. i c 2 things,
    a big panda, with a small panda next to it, and because it reminds me of another optical illusion, i can see a dalmation aswell.
    [plus i can c an elvis looking hairstyle at the] =] kayla

  65. alright…i see it now!! that took a long time. at first i saw 2 baby panda’s and THEN i saw the dancers in the middle…. now my head hurts from squinting

  66. i just see a tree in a peaceful valley with some mountains in the back ground and leaves falling of the tree

  67. that was reeal easy took me 10 secs to find out it was a man and a woman. I didnt kno they were dancing though.

  68. It’s not dancers, although they are there. Too much of the visual field would be wasted, to justify only to slender central figures. Likewise with pandas — a bit obvious, given the two-tone theme.

    It’s Mount Rushmore.

  69. At first glance i saw a bouquet of flowers (something large like carnations) with two buds poking out

  70. I see a man and a women dancing as well, in the very center.

    The long vertical piece is his left leg/the shadow covered part of her dress. The piece to the left of that is his other foot and the white pieces in between are the woman’s legs.

    If that was the “hidden meaning” then I found it as soon as I looked at it.

  71. i dont see anything.it looks like a weird tree.actually, it the two big blobs at the top look like a deformed dino killing another deformed dino.

  72. at first i saw 2 roses. then i read the comments and saw 1 panda in a tree watching another panda stangling a third panda. could be because i just finished reading a murder mystery.

  73. Suicide bomber?
    I’m being flippant because I never see the hidden picture in these. I could stare at them for hours, squinting, closing one eye and making them go out of focus, but always the same result – nothing! Even when the desired result is pointed out I rarely see it!

  74. i saw a man and woman dancing immediately after looking at the pic. i didnt even read the text and just thought ‘oh look they are dancing’. how strange

  75. I see a bunch of black images against a white field. Now tell me I’m wrong. Of course it could be one big white image with holes in it against a black field.

  76. okay so this is definatley a man and woman dancing, at least that’s what It was meant to be!!! But all of your comments are right in their own way!!

  77. its called force of sugestion i see a panda then you see a panda, i see people dancing then you mind makes that image out of the picture.

  78. I saw the man and woman dancing rather quickly… I thought it was pretty easy to figure out, but I guess everyone else is seeing a panda? I don’t see any pandas… I think you’re all seeing a panda because pandas are black and white like this, though I don’t think the image is supposed to be taken so literally. (actually, I know it’s not, because… Well, because it’s clearly two people dancing, and not a panda…)

  79. it’s a couple dancing. if you ignore the outsides you can see them in the middle. the lady in in white and the man in black

  80. at first i saw a very big, very old tree, like one representing wisdom… then i looked a little closer and saw a couple dancing

  81. After squinting my eyes a bit, it appeared to me as a giraffe grazing in a treetop. But I can understand where the panda theory came from.

  82. I stared, I squinted, I blinked, I closed one eye, I closed the other eye — nothing. So I read the comments… and I saw it instantly. Now I can’t ‘not’ see it.

  83. Its two people dancing. Both their heads are facing to the right. The lady gives the appearance of being dressed in white while the man is more in black.

  84. I see a man & woman who are either, dancing or skating – He is holding her left hand in his left hand, meaning that they are both facing the same direction (not facing each other) They are moving (IF they are actually moving) to their left, (OUT RIGHT), He appears to be in dark clothing, she in light. She appears to have longer dark hair pulled back, perhaps in a ponytail. He APPEARS to have a beard, but I do not believe he does. THat is all I can make out. . .I am losing my eyesight & details are difficult.

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