4 brain-teasers that went viral and stumped the internet

Jacob Shamsian

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human chameleon liu bolin

Can you find the man in there? http://www.kleinsungallery.com/

Pattern puzzles are fun to figure out, give your brain a workout, and may even have some
cognitive benefit.

They're kind of like optical illusions, in that they trick your eyes to keep the truth hidden from
them.

Some extraordinarily well-designed ones have gone viral in the past few years, as well as some
accidental ones.

Here are 14 of them that stumped the internet.

View As: One Page Slides

Do you see the card among the gift bags?

Do you see the card among the gift bags?

Here's the gift bag puzzle. Gergely Dudás / HarperCollins

In a puzzle that went viral in December, a Christmas card was hidden among a set of gift bags.
It came from the book "Bear's Merry Book of Hidden Things" by the Hungarian artist Gergely
Dudás.

Can you find it?

Here's the solution.

Here's the solution.

Do you see it now? Gergely Dudás / HarperCollins

The card was hidden in plain sight in the upper-right of the picture. It's the only rectangular-
shaped object without a string.

Seem familiar? That's because the same artist made one with snowmen.

Seem familiar? That's because the same artist made one with snowmen.

See the panda? facebook.com/thedudolf

There's a panda hidden among the snowmen in this other Dudás illustration, which went viral
in December 2015.

Here ya go.

Here ya go.

There! Gergely Dudás/Facebook

It's the only white face without a carrot nose. It's hard to spot because all the snowmen have
black dots for buttons and eyes, which look just like the panda's ears.

There's 550 sheep in this picture — can you find them?

There's 550 sheep in this picture — can you find them?

Baaaaaaah. Twitter/@pilgrimfarms

Liezel Kennedy, a farm worker at Pilgrim Farms in Canada, tweeted a picture of her flock in
November 2015. "Could hardly find my sheep this morning," she commented.

Look closer.

Look closer.

BAAAAAAAAAH. Twitter/@PilgrimFarms

It helps if you look at a photo Kennedy took closer to the sheep. They're right there!

When zoomed out, the sheep look like they're part of the landscape. They're the same color as
hay in the fall. Your brain may have also made you look at the snow in the foreground because
you may have thought the sheep would be white.
These shapes are mirror images of each other. How?

These shapes are mirror images of each other. How?

They're the same thing. The Illusion contest/YouTube

The "Ambiguous Cylinder Illusion," developed by Meiji University professor Kokichi Sugihara, it
won the "Best Illusion of the Year" contest in 2016 from the Neural Correlate Society.

The full video shows Sugihara placing the shapes and rotating them, revealing different shapes
in the mirror. One side shows one pattern shape, and the other seems to be another one
entirely. How does it work?

It's because of the natures of "ambiguous cylinders."

It's because of the natures of

Ambiguous cylinders in action. The Illusion contest/YouTube

If you pause the video at the right moment, you'll see the object's "true" shape, which reveals
how the patterned shape appears different depending on how you're looking at it.

This particular object has a wavy top. And since ambiguous cylinders are somewhere between
a square and a circle, your brain picks one of those two depending on the perspective. The
same holds true for all the other patterned shapes in the video. It's an optical illusion.

Does something stand out here to you?

Does something stand out here to you?

Look closely. Arron Bevin/Facebook

There's something hidden in plain sight in this image.

Close, but there's a cigar.

Close, but there's a cigar.

There it is. Arron Bevin/Facebook

An ash-tipped cigar blends into the pattern of the brick wall because it's a similar color and is
aligned right where the shadows of the bricks would be in the photo.

The photo went viral when U.K. resident Arron Bevin posted it to Facebook in 2016.

The artist Liu Bolin blends into the background. Can you find him?
The artist Liu Bolin blends into the background. Can you find him?

Liu Bolin is in there. Liu Bolin

Liu Bolin, known to some as the "Human Chameleon," published a series of self portraits
where he's camouflaged into the background. This photo was published in his book " Liu Bolin:
The Invisible Man" and went viral.

He's right there.

He's right there.

It takes up to 10 hours for him to be painted. Courtesy Klein Sun Gallery, © Liu Bolin

If you zoom in, it's easier to see the shadow his body casts.

There's a phone in here somewhere.

There's a phone in here somewhere.

See if you can find it. Jeya May Cruz Estigoy/Facebook

This picture went viral in 2016 because a phone was hidden and people couldn't find it. Do you
see it?

The case blends in with the carpet.

The case blends in with the carpet.

You just need the right placement. Jeya May Cruz Estigoy/Facebook; Jacob Shamsian/INSIDER

The back of the phone's case blends in with the carpet's pattern. It's near one of the table legs,
off to the right.

Only one in ten could spot the different in this viral photo, according to Reader's Digest.

Only one in ten could spot the different in this viral photo, according to Reader's Digest.

Which ballerina looks different? Dancewear Central/Facebook

According to Reader's Digest, finding the difference with one of the ballerinas in this
illustration, created by dance clothing company Dancewear Central, stumped 90% of people.

See that shoe?

See that shoe?

It's that simple. Dancewear Central/Facebook

One of the ballerinas in the image has strapped shoes instead of ballerina flats.
Do you see the turtle among the lily pads?

Do you see the turtle among the lily pads?

It's in there somewhere. Lenstore

This puzzle first went viral on Reader's Digest. It was made as part of a quiz by by Lenstore, a
contact lenses brand.

Check the corners.

Check the corners.

It's in the bottom-left corner. Lenstore

The shapes and colors make the turtle hard to spot, and all the black dots look like potential
eyes, but there's a little turtle floating in the bottom-left corner.

Not every snowflake is unique — there's only one here.

Not every snowflake is unique — there's only one here.

Can you spot the special snowflake? Casumo

Casumo, an online casino, shared this puzzle that has exactly one special snowflake. Do you
see it?

It's a reeeeaaaaaally tiny difference.

It's a reeeeaaaaaally tiny difference.

It's there. Casumo

If you look really closely, there's a snowflake near the bottom-right corner that has a few pixels
of extra lines on the side arms. Yeah, it's a hard one.

There's a Queen of Hearts in here.

There's a Queen of Hearts in here.

Try your luck. SWNS

She's tucked away in a secret place in this puzzle pattern, which was also made by Casumo and
went viral in December.

She's really hard to find.