Do my eyes deceive me? Well, yes.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

The other day, I was on the train on my daily commute and I looked out of the window as the train slowed right down at a bend. At the side of the track, up against a line of boards set there to retain the ballast, I saw some bones. Smooth White bones, articulated at what looked like a knee or elbow joint - over 2 feet long in total.

I saw them quite clearly, as the train was only travelling at about 5-10mph, and I immediately started checking off, in my head, what they might or might not be.
Too long for badger. Too thick for dog or fox, too smooth and rounded for sheep or deer, not big enough for cow. That’s most of the options ruled out, except human.
The best fit for what I saw probably was human bones.

My first thought was that maybe they were plastic replica bones from a lifesize model skeleton (there was other refuse nearby, as the bend in the track backs on to a residential area, and it seems the residents just dump their rubbish over the fence onto the side of the track).

I looked out for the bones on the way home, but as the train was travelling on the other line, I couldn’t look down steeply enough out of the window to be able to see them. I looked again the next morning (with camera at the ready), but the train took the corner faster and the concentration of trying to operate the camera and look out for the bones as they whizzed past left me feeling really giddy, and I missed seeing them again.

The next morning, I got my chance. I got a really good look at the bones.

They were not smooth, articulated bones at all - it was just a piece of dried hogweed stem (Google Image link). Not particularly bone-like, not smooth, or white, or with the conspicuous gap of a joint knuckle in the middle (there was a stem node, but that’s not the same).

I guess the point of this is the realisation that “I saw it with my very own eyes” can actually mean very little. I saw something, but what I thought I saw was severely confabulated. I knew this could happen, but I really didn’t expect it to be this vivid - this disparate from plain, actual reality.

2

I once saw a cat spread its wings and fly away. It was close by, I saw it very clearly, no drugs involved. It was dark, but the cat was sitting in the light when I walked up. A black cat, green eyes. It hopped onto a wall, spread its wings and flew away.

I mean, I know that can’t have been what happened, but dammit, that’s what I saw. Weird eyes.

3

Never believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see.

4

I’ve mistaken a Great Horned Owl for a cat before. It was dusk and it was sitting in a tree.

5

Which half of this should I believe? :confused:

6

It must’ve been something like that. But no, my eyes don’t buy it! It had four legs and a tail!

7

The other one.

8

It’s interesting how the brain processes what the eyes see and how it varies from person to person. Makes one wonder why police would bother talking to eyewitnesses at all! I seem to recall reading about a study where a bunch of people were gathered together for some made-up reason and they all witnessed a “crime.” There was a wide variation among the stories told afterwards, but no one was lying - they simply “saw” different things.

I just did a quick google - there are a lot of links to studies and reports about this. I see myself doing a lot of reading now. Thanks a lot! :stuck_out_tongue: