Optical illusion that will leave you feeling utterly nauseous… Is this photograph taken from the top or the bottom of the stairs?
- This optical illusion has sparked fierce debate on the internet – can you work out the correct answer?
- The photograph of a dimly lit flight of stairs inside a California cave has gone viral as people try to work out whether is looking up or down the stairs
It is a photo that has sparked fierce debate all over the internet.
This optical illusion has left people scratching their heads as they try to work out whether this photograph is taken from the top or the bottom of this flight of stairs.
The photograph was taken in a dimly lit tunnel located in a California cave which has been a tourist attraction since 1905.
It has caused a lot of confusion as the perspective of the photograph can be seen as both looking up and looking down.
Peering into the tunnel in the photograph, visitors to the cave can be seen on the steps and a ‘Low Ceiling’ sign appears to be there to warn people climbing up – or are they climbing down?
This optical illusion has left people scratching their heads as they try to work out whether these stairs are going up or down
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Are the stairs leading up or down in this optical illusion?
Are the stairs leading up or down in this optical illusion?
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The angle of the railings further confuses things as they could either be tilting upwards before leveling off, or sloping downwards before taking a steeper gradient.
There has been plenty of debate on social media on the differing views.
One Reddit user commented: ‘Down makes no sense at all, unless the stairs end in a long vertical drop with people levitating in it.’
Another added: ‘Down, you can tell by the shadows on the left side of the stairs.’
And a third said: ‘At first I was like “it’s obviously up” and then I blinked and now it’s impossible to tell.’
But there is a correct answer to this mind-bending puzzle.
The tunnel, which has an extremely low-hanging ceiling, was carved in 1902 by Chinese laborer’s with just a shovel and a pick under the supervision of German artist Gustav Schultz
There has been plenty of debate on social media on the differing views but the correct answer is the stairs are going down before the cave opens up to a stunning view of the sea
The right answer is that the stairs are going down before the cave opens up to a stunning view of the sea.
Visitors have to descend down 145 steps, most uneven, slippery and narrow, in Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave to reach the bottom.
Once there, the light floods in and you can watch the water flow in and recede out of the cave from the viewing platform.
The tunnel, which has an extremely low-hanging ceiling, was carved in 1902 by Chinese laborer’s with just a shovel and a pick under the supervision of German artist Gustav Schultz.
And it was used by bootleggers to smuggle alcohol and opium into San Diego during Prohibition between 1920 and 1933 when the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol was banned.
Similar optical illusions have long divided the internet and sparked fierce debate between friends and family.
One of the most famous was the two-toned dress in 2015 which some people saw as blue and black and others as white and gold.
Internet sensation: This picture of the dress has sparked debate, with viewers disagreeing over the color
The picture of the dress was first posted on Tumblr by Caitlin McNeill, a 21-year-old aspiring singer from Scotland, after noticing her friends saw different colors in the photograph.
It quickly became an online sensation with posts arguing over the dress’s original colors – and science behind the debate – being viewed and shared millions of times.
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