What Was Seen

We do not see reality. The human eye captures information and passes it to our brain, which then knits this information together and presents us with an image that we believe is reality, and for 99% of the time, that works for us. When you walk along the street, you use your vision to avoid other people and lamp posts and other solid objects.

You avoid potholes and long drops, which could result in a fall, so your sight helps you negotiate the world without sustaining too much damage.

But because our brain is just processing information from what it thinks it can see, that means that sometimes we can see things that are not actually there.

I have woken this morning have had several dreams which, to me, were very real. They showed me things that might happen; they seemed incredibly real, but I know what I saw distinctly, never happened on this plane of existence.

Though dreams do not usually happen when we are awake. We can still see illusions, or things that are not there. The Sydney Opera House Effect is a classic example of seeing something where it is not. You can find out a little more here:

I do not know if it a symptom of age, but I often see things and then look again and there is nothing there, often caused by lighting, shadows or a combination of things that look like something familiar but are then something completely different.

The Vertigo Swirl Design looks like a 3D image, but it is a 2D Record Label.

This fascinated me the first time that I saw it, and it still fascinates me today. The 3D image is a fiction; it is flat, but my eyes tell me a different story. I feel that I can touch that central cone that reaches out from this Time-Tunnel well. To me, it feels real.

One day, I stepped out of my front door and saw that we were being invaded by an alien spaceship. Of course it wasn't, it was a lenticular cloud and probably dispersed in a couple of minutes, but thanks to having a mobile phone with a camera, I managed to catch it.

Clouds give us so many illusions. Often, people see angels or praying hands and say they show evidence that God is real, but they are just evidence that nature can always surprise us with beautiful and incredible illusions.

Throughout my life, I have thought that I have seen things which have caused me to react, and then they are not there. A favourite one of mine is the story a great friend of mine told me about the grey floating shapes in the wood, which you can read about here:

Whatever we see is our brain's interpretation of the signals received by our eyes, so, in theory, it cannot be trusted:

"Is This A Dagger I See Before Me?"

says Macbeth, not believing what he sees. Is it an illusion? Who knows, apart from Bill?

If you cannot touch it, then it is probably an illusion, and most of the experiences I have shared with you here have been things I have been unable to touch, often seen from a distance.

I know many people who think they have seen things and will not admit that it was just a figment of their imagination. The usual thing they see is a ghost or someone who has passed. I am amazed at what my eyes can show me and then take away, leaving nothing but an empty space.

Today is yet another day, and no doubt I will soon see something that is not there once again.