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This black smudge optical illusion is messing with our minds

This black smudge optical illusion is messing with our minds

This black smudge optical illusion is messing with our minds
19 April 2016

Can you tell what it is yet? Go on, say what you see.

If your answer was along the lines of “a sort of nightmarish upside-down insect crow” then you’re a) not alone, and b) wrong.

Look a little closer. Squint your eyes a little. Still nothing?

This all started after an American lady by the name of Savannah Root shared the picture with her Facebook friends last week, asking whether they could find any meaning in the black smudge.

The picture has since gone viral, in a way that only the most hair-pullingly frustrating of optical illusions can. Like that flippin’ dress. Or those bloomin’ hearts.

Still nothing? OK, we’ll put you out of your misery…

SPOILER ALERT: the image actually depicts the face of a man wearing a cowboy hat, with the right-hand-side obscured in shadow.

We know. So annoying.