Gee, You Look Familiar...

An international celebrity of celestial proportions has recently been sighted in Chicago. A salt stain below an underpass bears a remarkable resemblance to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The faithful have been gathering to establish a makeshift shrine and pray to the Mother of God. To these people, the shape of the stain is no coincidence, and no less than a miracle.

To others, this phenomenon is known as a simulacrum. The simple explanation is that people are constantly taking in information through their five senses. The brain's job is to order the information into something usable. This is the ability children use when they stare at the clouds and find recognizable shapes. This skill was important early in human evolution when the ability to discern a lurking shape as a sabertooth tiger was the difference between life and death. Now we see Elvis lurking in a potato chip.

Here's a gallery of natural shapes that bear a resemblance to something else.