Nope, I’m not talking about the Matrix. No Neo here.
Though there could be…
Photo Matrixing is basically when you look at an image, and letting the shadows play tricks on your eye, and you draw a conclusion that you have a figure, a face, a person standing in a snapshot.
I’ve stared at pattered wallpaper before, half-asleep, and suddenly saw a face or an eye jump out at me, and it’s scared the crud out of me–I’ve thought, oh no, a ghost… something’s watching me!
But what it is is Photo Matrixing.
Grant Wilson from TAPS has a great post about it on the Taps website.
When you glance at a photo, it’s our nature, our human nature, to make connections of the shadows and the light patterns, to find something that is familiar. Similar to seeing a shape in the clouds, or a face in the wood grains of a wall. Even the Catholic church deals with similar issues when examining faces of saints that appear in windows–many times, it’s simply oxidation or other natural occurring phenomenon, and it all boils down to us.
We see what we want to see.
We want to believe that any kind of phenomenon is paranormal, but many times, it just isn’t. It’s important to remember that when you examine photos for unusual images. Ruling out any kind of possible physical explanation is very important when deciding if something is paranormal.
The rule of thumb with most ghost hunters is “when in doubt, throw it out.” And if a picture of a house reveals a face in the windows, but the house is surrounded by trees, and shadows are all over the house, then it’s very likely the face in the window really is just a shadow.
Candice Gilmer writes paranormal and contemporary romances, and thinks she’s figured out word press. Maybe. Visit her website at http://candicegilmer.com
