I may have to add a pareidolia category. Another day, another angel sighting (with video goodness).
A couple saw this face in the clouds while vacationing in Florida.
“While we were in the elevator, I began to look at my pictures, and I told my wife, I said, ‘Look at these pictures and tell me what you see,’” Glenn Fulton said. “She said, ‘Oh my God, I see a face.”
[...]
“They are proof God exists,” Fulton said.
Yes, I suppose it is proof God exists, if God is an evil cloud monkey with disfigured hands ready to wrap around your head and chew off your face.
You know the drill, folks. What do you see?
July 13th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
I see a winking cat. Meow!
And you thought dog existed? Ha! I scratch cat litter in your general direction!
-foo
July 13th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
I see a cat too! That’s the first thing that came to my mind when I seen it.
Grr. God taunts me. I hate cats!
July 13th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
They’ve inadvertently wound up in the “Atmosphere Of The Apes”! The big twist at the end is that it was Earth’s atmosphere all along.
July 13th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Not to get too banal, but I see Mickey Mouse ears. Really!
July 13th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
I see a horsey and a ducky.
July 13th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Depending on how I squint, I either get Professor Bobo (MST3K) or Bruce Campbell.
July 13th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Actually, it looks more like a cat to me.
July 13th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Aaaaaaand, like five people already noticed that. DUH!
July 13th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
I see Dwayne from “What’s Happening!!”
Hay HAY hay!
July 13th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
I suppose it must be a Cheshire breed. They’re always appearing in the most unexpected places.
July 13th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
I see the bleakness of holding out hope for the ascendancy of rational thought in the face of a race of creatures who, in sufficient numbers to be significant, base their decision-making on fear of the unknown and fantasy projections of powerful supernatural entites with absolute dominion of pretection and punishment, whose ways are seen as mysterious yet who must be worshiped and obeyed without question.
That, or a monkey. A silly squinting wryly smirking monkey. Hellooo, monkey! Would you like a peanut?
July 13th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
I see… a probability of rain, clearing later. How does that tally with Florida’s met. records for the 4th/5th July?
July 13th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Well, whatever it is, it’s MAD.
July 13th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
I see…. a smirking monkey. Or a cat with a blunt nose.
I have to admit, though, this one DOES actually look like something, more so than the others you’ve posted recently.
July 13th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
I see a creationist making false claims in relation to the age of the earth, among other things.
July 13th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
[insert deity of choice here] help me, I swear it’s one of the Thundercats!
J/P=?
July 13th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
I see my faith in humanity spiraling downward.
July 13th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
I see a kitty cat!
July 13th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Colonel Sanders. May his recipe remain secret until the end of time. *salute*
July 13th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Well, since religion is all about interpretation, I think, what the couple was saying when they said that “[the angles a.k.a the monkey in the clouds] are proof God exists,†is that because we are able to see these patterns in scenes that evoke a sense of awe, such as sweeping landscapes and cloudy skies, which we can liken to other patterns, such as faces and animals, and as human beings we are able to communicate and express these ideas to other humans that this process as a whole is proof that, being human, we are able to experience cognizant states of emotional thought which many attribute Judao-Christian terminology to in order to describe them.
This interpretation makes me happy, delusional yes, but happy and dang-nabbit I’d like to be happy for a moment. Yep. There it is. Was. Thanks. I’ll go back to hating humanity now.
July 13th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
Sigh…why does this always happen to us in Florida. We seem to attract the lions share of idiots, both resident and vacation…
July 13th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
I see Lion-o from the ThunderCats.
July 13th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Offtopic:
Anyone watch Larry King tonight on UFOs? Just wow, I was left pulling my hair out.
July 13th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
I see… Mufasa!
“Look inside yourself Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the circle of life.”
July 13th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
At first glance, I see a cloud.
After seven shots of tequila, I see that creepy guy from Raider of the Lost Ark and for some reason he’s wearing an eyepatch.
July 13th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
I see a monkey that looks like Jesus. I need to up my dosage.
July 13th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Vincent from the late 80s tv series Beauty and the Beast.
July 13th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Aw, thaumaturge bet me to it – totally Mufasa.
July 13th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
I see a piece of toast with a clear image of Jesus in it.
July 13th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
i see water vapor
or Mr Tumnus form Narnia
July 13th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
Eric said:
“I see a piece of toast with a clear image of Jesus in it.”
Thats just great, a fresh watery mess all over my formerly dry monitor.
Actually what I first remembered when I looked at that pic was an old and bad (so very bad) episode of The Next Generation when some alien lifeform captured the Enterprise for experimentation and we saw this huge ridiculous face on the viewscreen, eck…
July 13th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
A pretty kitty.
July 13th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
I see some generic angry anime face.
If I looked in a mirror right now, I’d see my own face, looking even more angry that people can be so stupid as to attribute cloud formations to God or any other supernatural cause.
July 13th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
I see a bunch of clouds…
July 13th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Seriously, Phil, you should’ve seen Mufasa right away. Perfect joke. And you missed it.
July 13th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Humans instinctivly see faces in just about everything. Our brains just love to make random images look like faces.
With that said, I see that creepy green alien that wanted to kill a bunch of the Enterprise crew in Star Trek.
July 14th, 2007 at 12:32 am
I immediately saw a cheetah, but I like cats.
Michelle said:
You don’t have to apologise Michelle, we all have our faults
July 14th, 2007 at 12:32 am
I see a gourmand’s dream ice cream, almost overflowing in a clover leaf motif. The cone looks more like a basket befitting his/her appetite. Is that star a gigantic chocolate wafer?
Alternatively I see a large, westward ship on fire. A humongous smoke is bellowing over the bridge, and the vessel is careening to the starboard.
And yet, I see the remains of the day, wondering what a spectacular and ephemeral light show the sunset clouds must have orchestrated.
July 14th, 2007 at 12:36 am
Now it’s not quite fair to ask what people see *after* you have suggested what you think you see, Phil. You should know that once a suggestion has been made, then others will find it harder to see something else. Works for those “hidden” words and messages some people keep saying they find in backwards speech or musical lyrics. Others will find it almost impossible to pick the same words until the words are mentioned to them. Then you can here them easily.
The power of suggestion.
July 14th, 2007 at 12:38 am
I see a cast member from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats.
July 14th, 2007 at 12:50 am
Oh, my god, it’s ANDROSS!
ALL RANGE MODE!
July 14th, 2007 at 1:45 am
This one does look like a face. More like a cartoon face, though.
July 14th, 2007 at 2:05 am
July 14th, 2007 at 2:24 am
My imagination must be slipping, until I saw the monkey face under the cloud picture I saw nothing but clouds.
July 14th, 2007 at 2:42 am
To offer a heady take via some theoretical psychology: The term Julian Jaynes used for attributing something sacred or holy to a naturally formed pareidolia image or even a natural event formed over time is “spontaneous divination”. People who insist on seeing in a natural forming image of a face, (which our brains are hardwired to recognize); the Virgin Mary, God, Jesus or Zeus, rather than amusing friends or novel conscious images such as Mr. Greenjeans, King Kong, Buddy Hackett or Popeye, are likely seeking what Jaynes termed “authorization”, that is, a symbolically divine justification for actions which he theorized, believers in illusions seek as a non-conscious replacement for the self-awareness characteristics of our modern consciousness which today operates by way of Analogy. (Yes, it is highbrow stuff, but fun.)
The earlier human mentality operated via sounds and images without introspection, and we seek that remembered authorization through modern analogy and symbolism.
BTW, to me it looks like a one of the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz.
July 14th, 2007 at 3:28 am
“John Paradox
Says:
July 13th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
[insert deity of choice here] help me, I swear it’s one of the Thundercats!
J/P=?”
*Gasp!* He’s right! It’s Panthro!
July 14th, 2007 at 4:08 am
Like others, my first thought was Nagilum.
July 14th, 2007 at 4:35 am
A few weeks ago Snopes had another photo purported to be a snap of God in the clouds. The mind boggles…
http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/godhands.asp
July 14th, 2007 at 4:35 am
Houm, I see a smirking face, like he was thinking “and now it’s gonna rain before you make it home, freaks…”
July 14th, 2007 at 4:46 am
Yeah, looks like another fat, hairy old white guy to me,,,probably wondering who dropped his guitar,,,
GAry 7
July 14th, 2007 at 5:17 am
dee Says: “Anyone watch Larry King tonight on UFOs? Just wow, I was left pulling my hair out.”
Zapped past, saw a very serious looking “Leading UFO Researcher” or something, laughed, and zapped on to Spongebob.
I saw a (photo-negative?) image of a Mandrill monkey face, with the huge nose, or maybe a lion. Just for fun I saved the image and used Irfanview to create a negative of it.. The ‘angel’ turns into an evil goat, and the monkey remains, but now with a sad face… how about that, mr. Fulton?
July 14th, 2007 at 5:29 am
You’re all wrong. It’s YODA!
Or alternatively, Captain Jack Harkness kissing Doctor Who?
July 14th, 2007 at 5:33 am
It’s proof that clouds exist!!!!
July 14th, 2007 at 5:51 am
I see Senator Fred Thompson – *shudder*
But in other news from that same paper:
“An Edgewater city councilwoman and her husband face criminal charges after their daughter accused them of battering her during an effort to exorcise “the demons out of her,” according to police.”
The daughter in question is 18 years old…
http://www.local6.com/news/13679182/detail.html
July 14th, 2007 at 5:58 am
Impium Orexis Says:
July 14th, 2007 at 3:28 am
*Gasp!* He’s right! It’s Panthro!
From Google Image Search:
J/P=?
P.S. I was NOT a fan of ThunderCats, more like Jay Ward’s cartoons, besides WB and such.
July 14th, 2007 at 5:59 am
Impium Orexis Says:
July 14th, 2007 at 3:28 am
*Gasp!* He’s right! It’s Panthro!
From Google Image Search:
http://thundercats.vpga.com/artwork/Panthro4.jpg
J/P=?
P.S. I was NOT a fan of ThunderCats, more like Jay Ward’s cartoons, besides WB and such.
July 14th, 2007 at 6:14 am
Michael Jackson, ca. 1992
July 14th, 2007 at 7:37 am
I sees one of them there Gee-hovah’s widnesses…wheres my gun?
July 14th, 2007 at 7:39 am
I definitely see a cat. And that makes perfect sense, my God is a cat. I love cats!
July 14th, 2007 at 7:43 am
I hardly see anything at all.
I do wonder though. If god is a monkey, does that mean he’ll evolve into us?
July 14th, 2007 at 8:34 am
What’s the line in that Devo song? “God made man, but monkeys applied the glue” or something like that. The song’s Jocko Homo, and contains the more famous lines “Are we not men? We are Devo.”
July 14th, 2007 at 8:44 am
I see an angry monkey god!
July 14th, 2007 at 9:38 am
I see dumb people.
July 14th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Idiocy on a rotating body in a gravitational well tends to move in the direction of rotation and toward areas of less gravitational effect (like toward the equator).
This tends to cause them to pile up in Florida just like the gunk collects in the trap under your sink.
In Washington state, you get Microsoft. In Florida you get cloud angels.
July 14th, 2007 at 10:46 am
That image in the clouds really explains everything to me: God created Adam in his own image, as Genesis tells us, and we evolved from Adam, as Darwin told us.
Adam was a monkey!
July 14th, 2007 at 11:06 am
What amazes me is that they missed the coolest face in the picture. Right next to the monkey I see a man with a mustasch and a beard. His head is turned slightly to the right.
Perhaps they saw him but thought he was Satan and therefore decided not to mention him.
July 14th, 2007 at 11:18 am
Just noticed that the face is winking at me. Maybe god is gay.
July 14th, 2007 at 11:19 am
I see a cat… with human eyes! Help me, Jeebus, I’m scared!
July 14th, 2007 at 11:51 am
I see the virgin mary.What do I win?
July 14th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Silver-back Gorilla.
July 14th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I always thought in the Devo song “Joko Homo” it was the Monkey supplied the groom, but it turns out it was supplied the glue. Hilarious.
I see the ape but with a dogish muzzle. I guess it must be Hanuman the Hindu monkey god.
July 14th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
At first, I saw nothing. Then I saw Teddy, the supertoy from “AI,” making the same facial expression he made when he grumbled, “I am NOT a toy!”
Aw crud, nobody saw that movie.
July 14th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
I see Tony the Tiger, for some reason.
July 14th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
It’s a smirking lion, obviously, duh
July 14th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
I see God! …no wait… it’s just George Murdok.
July 14th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
The jury of one (and with cats that’s all that’s needed) watched the video and he says it’s clearly a smirking cat. Or perhaps a disappointed cat in that these folks clearly do not understand who rules the universe. In the video the second image does look like a monkey, and since the cat’s name is Monkey he thinks that this is further proof that he is God or Tac. Won’t humans ever learn? :-/
July 14th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Panthro… No, it’s clearly Lion-o. Just look at the eyes, man.
July 14th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Panthro… No, it’s clearly Lion-o. Just look at the eyes, man. And the wild spikey hair is a dead giveaway. Panthro’s bald.
July 14th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
I see the Flying Spaghetti Monster, reaching down and touching us with His Noodly Appendage
July 14th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Do you want to touch my monkey?
July 14th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
I see one of the Thundercats. I have no idea what their names were. My younger brother used to watch the show. Really!!
July 14th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
I see Hitler.
Inside that little light area, there’s a dark patch. That’s hit mustache, and his nose is right above it.
Clearly, this is proof that God does not exist.
July 15th, 2007 at 1:09 am
That’s def a lion… it’s Mustafa from the Lion King!
July 15th, 2007 at 2:13 am
I see kitty cat.
>>> Grr. God taunts me. I hate cats!
God hates cat haters. As well He should.
July 15th, 2007 at 5:36 am
Fi were King of the Foreeeeeest, not Duke, not Prrince….you get the idea
)
July 15th, 2007 at 9:38 am
Definitely a monkey-god poised to jump at me and eat my brain. It’s either that, or a regular cloud. Impossible to tell.
July 15th, 2007 at 10:38 am
wow! proof that clouds exist!
July 15th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
I see a steering wheel beneath it. The cat-monkey is driving.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:11 am
I see dead people.
btw, I think I might believe in those virgin mary on toast and jesus on tree bark etc miracles! I have my own miracle now!
I watered a plant on my porch and when the water flowed down the cement, it formed a PERFECT outline of…something. (unfortunately, I can’t mention here as it would be inappropriate for this site)
I’m now waiting for the multitudes to arrive…..
-my apologies BA or if anyone reads this far down-
July 16th, 2007 at 12:28 am
Hmm, I see…clouds.
If paradolia is the word for this, what is the word for someone who is paradolia-impaired?
July 16th, 2007 at 8:51 am
They’re coming out of the woodwork now, alrighty! Big Cross in the Sky
July 16th, 2007 at 9:20 am
Looks like a lion to me. Like in “The Lion King”.
July 16th, 2007 at 10:53 am
Is it more rational to see a monkey in the clouds than it is to see God?
I think you’re all nuts.
I see a group of clouds.
July 16th, 2007 at 11:01 am
I see a bunny: http://www.hvcomputer.com/temp/bunnyangel.jpg
I didn’t see a monkey until you put it next to the image of an actual monkey.
July 16th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Monkey magic!
July 16th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Well… you HAVE seen the images of Kirk, Spock, and Uhura hidden in the comet dust trail in the opening sequence of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, right?
I have seen a few spectaular cloud formations, big enough and clear enough to be tableaus (tableaux?). Just two weeks ago I saw one that looked like a giant seated lion (yes, I immediately thought of the movie). I try to always keep my camera in my car now, just in case.
And, they were just clouds, is all…
July 16th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Rational Zen said:
> Is it more rational to see a monkey in the clouds than it is to see God?
Those of us responding in this thread recognize the monkey (or whatever) is not in the clouds, but in our heads. We don’t attribute any meaning to the monkey (or whatever) beyond “Hey, that cloud has an interesting shape!” So yes, it is more rational.
July 17th, 2007 at 3:12 am
[...] “Killer Monkey Angel” von BadAstronomy.com was seen this morning above Germany as it was jumping down on Stuttgart with his arms raised, [...]
July 17th, 2007 at 5:06 am
I have’t read the other posts yet, so let’s see if this is unique… Nigel Bruce (Dr. Watson) wearing a WWI pilot’s hat with the ear flaps sticking out horizontally,
like Cardinal Biggles of Spanish Inquisition.
July 17th, 2007 at 8:07 am
Well, Buzz, certainly nobody expected *that*
July 25th, 2007 at 7:02 am
“They are proof God exists. Yes, Hallelujah!”…
We may have a new record in extreme meme-induced stupidity here:
Rev. Glenn Fulton and his wife Linda were celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary in Amelia Island, Fla. during the Fourth of July weekend when they went for a walk to pray.
As t…
August 1st, 2007 at 8:35 am
ok this might be lenghty but bear with me one day i saw a cloud that looked like a three horned cameleon that had horns the cool eye legs etc etc just perfect and i couldnt shake the image for days It led me to a unique understanding of chaos theory if it is possible to see such unlikely images such as homer simpson mikey mouse or your aunt mildred its just because there is a pattern we recocgnise as something in our expeirience now for the un part if you take all the clouds over earth at any given time [add big # here]times number of viewing angles[add super huger goggle sized # here] you can see almost any kind of pattern OKAY this is where it gets thick you may not know the pattern because its outside your experience it would be great hubris to think that all the patterns are just about our miniscoule earth so the next time you are laying around looking at clouds and you see something that almost looks familiar you might be looking at a pattern that matches a extraterrestrial life form i nknow it sounds wacky but if you ponder it for awhile you will see it makes a sick and wacky sense and you will NEVER be able to look at the sky the same way mwa ha ha ha
August 8th, 2007 at 9:30 am
See Yoda do I
August 12th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Ahh! It looks like that embarasing drawing I made of King Tut with the skeptical look on his face three years ago! I thought I gave that away!
January 28th, 2008 at 11:54 am
And just what is your problem with God being an evil cloud monkey with deformed hands? Hmmm? Makes as much sense as the other stories about him.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:03 pm
I see God doing pushups. The hard kind where you plant your palms fingertips inward to isolate the triceps. Being all-powerful he can do a lot of them…
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Actually I think it looks more like an anime figure than a monkey. Speedracer doing pushups…
April 16th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Whether it’s God, a monkey, cat or space alien, it looks evil.