# Weird little clear things you see when looking at the sky **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 14, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959 "2004-04-14T13:51:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/1 "2004-04-14T13:51:21Z")
When I look at the sky (or any bright, homogeneous object), I can sometimes see weird clear things that look suspiciously like microbes and red blood cells. What are these things? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/2 "2004-04-14T13:54:15Z")
google on **eye floaters** , since that is what you’re experiencing and a very simple search will give you all the answers. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/3 "2004-04-14T13:55:10Z")
[Eye Floaters](http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/spotsfloats.htm), little clumps of cells in the vitreous fluid of the eye. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/4 "2004-04-14T14:04:57Z")
that was quick, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![sibyl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@sibyl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sibyl)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/6 "2004-04-17T04:52:04Z")
I thought I was seeing atoms. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![EvilGhandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/7 "2004-04-17T05:03:45Z")
Floaters, most likely yes, but it bears mentioning that if they appear suddenly, see an eye doctor. After I gonked my melon coming off the bike, I had a whole bunch of them show up. My eye doc was concerned that I may have detached a retina, or some such. and gave me the full work up. IIRC it was a couple of ruptured capillaries or something like that. I don’t really remember. I do remember him telling me to come back if any more started showing up. Aparently they can be a symtom of a serious condition, if they appear suddenly. ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/8 "2004-04-17T07:06:38Z")
[The Master Speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_311.html) ---
**Author:** ![nocturnal\_tick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/9 "2004-04-17T14:43:27Z")
Going a little off-topic and so I don’t clutter the boards with another needless thread. Has anyone ever had a similar visual thing but rather than seeing little particles moving about, they see what appears to be as if you are moving through an invisible tunnel. Kind of like the tunnel was made of heat (shimmery air type) ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/10 "2004-04-18T16:22:17Z")
I get that. My Eye Doctor told me it was an optical migrane. Migrane headaches work in the optic nerve, and there is a painless form that causes what you are seeing. I get that when I am very tired. ---
**Author:** ![owlofcreamcheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/11 "2004-04-18T20:19:31Z")
I have always assumed it was just diffrent thinknesses of tears on the eye. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/12 "2004-04-18T21:10:19Z")
But what about the bright sparkly ones you see when standing up after siting a while, or coughing, just before the world goes down the far end of a dark tunnel? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/13 "2004-04-18T21:46:21Z")
I thought that I was seeing bacteria or other microorganisms. ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/14 "2004-04-18T22:28:40Z")
> [@Myglaren](#): > > But what about the bright sparkly ones you see when standing up after siting a while…? That’s loss of blood pressure to the brain. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/15 "2004-04-19T00:50:51Z")
> [@Myglaren](#): > > But what about the bright sparkly ones you see when standing up after siting a while, or coughing, just before the world goes down the far end of a dark tunnel? I figure that was where the cartoon effect of ‘seeing stars’ originated. (Not sure where the tweeting birds idea stems from) ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/16 "2004-04-19T01:38:26Z")
I used to get migraines once in a while when I was a teenager. I still get the ‘aura’ sometimes, but no headache. That’s a good thing, since all you can do with a full-blown migraine is lie in a dark room with a cold cloth over your eyes, and hope that you’ll die. I read an article at the time (35 years ago, or more) that described the different auras people can get; I always had the ‘fortification’ style. I also consistently have floaters, but the doctor says that’s no big deal unless I get a persistent shadow somewhere in my field of vision. When I detached a retina a few years ago, I thought at first it was just another migraine aura, and lost vision in that eye. Keep your ophthalmologist’s number handy. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/17 "2004-04-19T01:53:34Z")
I used to get migraines once in a while when I was a teenager. I still get the ‘aura’ sometimes, but no headache. That’s a good thing, since all you can do with a full-blown migraine is lie in a dark room with a cold cloth over your eyes, and hope that you’ll die. I read an article at the time (35 years ago, or more) that described the different auras people can get; I always had the ‘fortification’ style. I also consistently have floaters, but the doctor says that’s no big deal unless I get a persistent shadow somewhere in my field of vision. When I detached a retina a few years ago, I thought at first it was just another migraine aura, and lost vision in that eye. Keep your ophthalmologist’s number handy. ---
**Author:** ![fluffball86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@fluffball86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluffball86)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-little-clear-things-you-see-when-looking-at-the-sky/239959/18 "2004-04-19T01:59:50Z")
> [@nocturnal\_tick](#): > > Going a little off-topic and so I don’t clutter the boards with another needless thread. > > Has anyone ever had a similar visual thing but rather than seeing little particles moving about, they see what appears to be as if you are moving through an invisible tunnel. Kind of like the tunnel was made of heat (shimmery air type) I see those, they look like a spider web almost, and they move forward, except the silk near the centre of the spider web regenerates, so it looks like the spider web is comming forward, but you never get past it. Maybe the tunnel description was better. It’s not a migrane, I’ve gotten migranes, the spider web thingy I’m talking about is painless.