# Seeing colors with eyes closed **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 28, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-colors-with-eyes-closed/840962 "2019-09-28T19:36:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-colors-with-eyes-closed/840962/1 "2019-09-28T19:36:51Z")
I think this only happens when I am resting on the couch on the front porch. Which I do more often as I age and slow down. If I nod off for a while and waken, I can shut my eyes tightly and I see bright orange completely across both eyes. If I rub my brows, not the eyes themselves, it turns vivid blue, the brightest, prettiest blue you can imagine. This effect only lasts a short while. I can switch the colors back and forth by rubbing or stopping. I should mention it would be sunny outside but I am in shade under the roof and wearing sun glasses most of the time. I think wearing or not wearing the glasses may change the shade of orange but it needs more research. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-colors-with-eyes-closed/840962/2 "2019-09-28T20:19:16Z")
It is a real phenomenon, known as [phosphenes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphene). No less than Isaac Newton investigated them somewhat. Typical causes are mechanical, electrical, or magnetic stimulation of the retina. Even a startling sound can lead to visual effects. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-colors-with-eyes-closed/840962/3 "2019-09-28T23:44:02Z")
Not the same as rubbing eyeballs (through closed lids) to provoke psychedelic lightshows. But I’ve recently had multiple retina surgeries that seem to increase my low-light sensitivity. At night, in blackness, retinal scars glow, corruscate, illuminate what should be invisible shelves and walls. Colors are dimly present and… wrong. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-colors-with-eyes-closed/840962/4 "2019-09-29T03:09:23Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Not the same as rubbing eyeballs (through closed lids) to provoke psychedelic lightshows. The latter, on the other hand, were the subject of a book I encountered in the 1970s in the school library. The main takeaway for me were that the patterns were extremely repeatable and predictable — different people, press the eyeball (through the closed eyelid) exactly here, and you see _this_ pattern… ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-colors-with-eyes-closed/840962/5 "2019-09-29T15:42:00Z")
The orange is probably incoming light passing through the tiny capillaries in your eyelids before they strike the retina. When you rub the eyebrows, maybe there is a reduction in blood flow and you see that as a bluish shade. I do not think you are seeing phosphenes. Those are lights seen in the visual field without any light physically entering your eyes. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-colors-with-eyes-closed/840962/6 "2019-09-29T16:14:41Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > The latter, on the other hand, were the subject of a book I encountered in the 1970s in the school library. The main takeaway for me were that the patterns were extremely repeatable and predictable — different people, press the eyeball (through the closed eyelid) exactly here, and you see _this_ pattern… Interesting. When I was a child I used to see lightshows all the time while I was waiting to fall asleep. One night when I was seven I had the most spectacular one I’d ever had; actual pictures, clearer than ever, including one of fairies dancing in a circle. And then they just stopped. I would occasionally see a bit of color but nothing like the ones I’d use to have. I did get some, briefly, once in my 20’s the one time I tried LSD; but even that wasn’t like that one major show when I was seven. Now I sometimes get pixellated moving color patterns when waiting to fall asleep; but no actual pictures. Never tried pressing the eyeballs to see whether that affects it; though I’m pretty sure that if I look at strong light just before turning the lights out to sleep (say, looking right at the lamp when reaching to turn it off) that increases the chances. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-colors-with-eyes-closed/840962/7 "2019-09-29T16:28:54Z")
I have noticed the something similar when I’m in that dozy state between asleep and awake but it’s when I hear a sharp sound, like a door slam, and it’s geometric patterns on a field of dark. It’s there and gone in an instant, too quick to get an impression of the color, other than “light.” I assume it’s the startlement of my brain leaking over into the visual cortex, but that’s just a WAG. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-colors-with-eyes-closed/840962/8 "2019-09-29T20:00:41Z")
> [@mandala](#): > > The orange is probably incoming light passing through the tiny capillaries in your eyelids before they strike the retina. When you rub the eyebrows, maybe there is a reduction in blood flow and you see that as a bluish shade. I do not think you are seeing phosphenes. Those are lights seen in the visual field without any light physically entering your eyes. For sure, if you lie back on a deck chair and look directly at the sun with your eyes closed, some light will go through the lids and enter your eyes. I thought the OP was describing something induced purely by rubbing, but I may have misunderstood.