Pareidolia or an Angel?

I normally don’t write about current events but this story caught my eye. On Wednesday of this week when the new pope was selected a group of citizens in South Florida took a most unusual photograph after his name was announced. 

This photo depicts a cloud formation that looks very much like an angel. These faithful Catholics feel that this formation is indeed an angel and that it is a clear sign of God’s approval for this new pope.

This is the photograph that is being talked about:

I must admit this pink hued cloud formation does indeed look like an angel. One news outlet consulted an expert and he states this formation is either a cirrus cloud or a “ virga remnant from an aircraft contrail”. 

I am not Catholic but I love the fact this new pope named himself after St. Francis of Assisi—the patron saint of animals. I also like the fact that this new pope is known for his charity toward the poor. So I am with the side that state this is a sign of approval.

Actually, the real reason this photograph initially caught my attention is the fact that it is a good example of “pareidolia”. I have talked about this concept in two other posts in the past. Pareidolia is a Greek word meaning, “wrong shape”. 

Humans often make sense of unknown patterns they see by assigning them known shapes—such as a human face or form. Seeing the “man in the moon” is a classic example of this.

Like I have stated in past posts--Ghost hunters, should be aware of this pareidolia phenomenon. For what people see in photographs as possible ghosts might just be their brains making sense of an unknown pattern.