Shapes and Shadows...

Ayrtonf7

So most of yall reading this post will probably stop to read this post and after reading it will think. "uhoh heres another looney toon coming to play airsoft." But...I am not crazy

I noticed this "phenominan" the other day and was just wondering if other people ever experienced a similar thing.

It was during a night game at HRTA, and as I sat there in the bush with nothing to do except try to pick apart the deadly silence, I noticed something at the corner of my eye. When I took a detailed look it appeared to be nothing more than a tree stump or something similar. To me however it looked like a shape of a another player...

Needless to say I wasnt hit by a wave of BBS so that destroyed my initial sightings immediatly. The weird thing was that everytime i would look away it would retake its shape and I would imediatly turn to it again..

Has anybody ever had anything like this ? Was it my nerves getting to me (being a first time millsimmer and hiding in a bush with Acu..) or was it a really talented player who was just that quick :P

Id just like to point out again that I am not indeed crazy just a bit trigger happy

kdouglas

The human brain is conditioned to look for patterns such as faces and shapes of a person, coupled with the fact that its harder to see in the dark its perfectly normal to see people or faces where there are none. Add to that your heightened sense of awareness due to the situation and its all perfectly sane.

If the shadows start talking to you we have a compeletely different issue

sliabh

It sounds like you are describing a form of Pareidolia. This is where your mind maps familiar shapes onto things. Its believed to have evolved so you could spot tigers trying to turn you into lunch.

It also is why people see faces in clouds, and Jesus in Tortlillas.

Necron99

Well with other players in Camo and Ghillesuits, I always suspect every tree or bush of being a potential enemy

Leftyflip

kdouglas wrote: »

If the shadows start talking to you we have a compeletely different issue

Ah, ermmm, crap....

Tommyboy71

Your eyes function differently in day light and low light/night time.

During the day the cones and rods at the back of your eye (retina) function to allow you see clear colours and shapes (notwithstanding obvious ocular defects such as long- and short-sightedness, cataracts etc.). The cones are concentrated in the center and the rods on the periphery.

When the light fades at night or when you go into a dark room the rods take over and allow your "night vision" to kick in. Because they are on the periphery of the retina you tend to see more detail out of the corner of your eye and because the detail is not perfectly clear, the brain fills in the gaps as explained by my illustrious colleague Dr. KDouglas.:D

That is the limit of my knowledge on the subject so i stand to be corrected. Hope it helps.

And yes I did a bit of research to get all of my ducks in a row.;)

evilrobotshane

Tommyboy71 wrote: »

When the light fades at night or when you go into a dark room the rods take over and allow your "night vision" to kick in. Because they are on the periphery of the retina you tend to see more detail out of the corner of your eye

Therefore, you'll find that you can see something better by looking beside it rather than straight at it at night.

Mando Commando

I remember reading somewhere that when on sentry duty at night, it's best to relax your eyes, look at some stationary distant thing, and let your periphary vision spot shape and movement....much like when driving you can focus as far up the road as you can and trust your clever brain to interpret the foreground information rather than concentrate on the relatively small area of the arse of the car in front of you...

Ayrtonf7

Well I am short sighted so maybe that has something to do with it...

Also I see these shapes in the day

Silent Death

Normal, at a night game last night with friends. 2 on 12. Me and my mate just harassed, rain kinda hampered play but the other 12 we were against said afterwards they saw me or heard me.
The overactive brain gave rise to images. You get extremely sensitive when in that sort of environment. However it is the shape you dismiss that is not a person that is that cost a few guys there lives.

Remember the others are the same, they will see things they think are you and get a bit freaked. Just wait, if you cant trust you eyes trust your ears and listen for movement. Stay still, breath shallow, don't make sudden movement. If it is an enemy they will dismiss you instead of shooting and giving up there position.

Lastly, don't use your torch, or look at any light source. Your eyes will adapt surprisingly well to darkness in around 15-30 mins.
Hope it helped.