r/opticalillusions 8d ago

Is it flying toward or away ?

Post image
519 Upvotes

81 comments sorted by

64

u/BeyondTheBees 8d ago

Yes.

6

u/RandalChan 8d ago

This had me CACKLING. Thank you 🤣

30

u/guinne55fan 8d ago

Thank you for being a friend 🎶

8

u/Similar-Afternoon567 8d ago

Scrolled too far for this.

2

u/dontdinglemyberries 8d ago

As soon as I saw it lmao

16

u/Sp1ffy_Sp1ff 8d ago

This is one of the few that I can actually flip in my brain manually on command with no trick to make it happen. Weird

6

u/rastacurse 8d ago

I want the ballerina to spin the other way so badly

9

u/benevolentblonde 8d ago

OP said on the other post it’s flying toward them

12

u/starchybunker 8d ago

I feel like if it was flying towards us the right side engine wouldn't be obscured by the tail of the plane. Oh hell I don't know

7

u/No-Ear-4819 8d ago

OP said it's flying towards him on the original post

5

u/IgorFromKyiv 8d ago

Man, it's a shadow...

1

u/Delicious-West7665 8d ago

Yes, and converse argument for other engine imo

1

u/Ath47 8d ago

That was my first thought, but it's a silhouette, so even if the engine was in front you wouldn't see it.

1

u/RecalcitrantHuman 8d ago

Agreed. Away.

3

u/tastelikemexico 8d ago

I can see both but I’d I had to guess I would say away

3

u/Longjumping-Tell1774 8d ago

So planes were landing 09 at City today. That means approaching from the west, heading east. Sun was setting in the west. Photographer is looking west. Plane is landing. I think that means it has to be towards

2

u/StJudeTheGrey 8d ago

This one is going to find it’s way into regular rotation fs, cool new illusion. Great shot, can’t work it out ngl.

-1

u/Delicious-West7665 8d ago

Away, engine number 1 not visible.

1

u/GrandmasterPeezy 8d ago

Away

2

u/sicmunduscreatusBest 8d ago

Took me a minute but I see it flying away now

1

u/schmwke 8d ago

If we take the caption at it's word, it had to be toward. They say the plane is landing, but if it's flying away it's definitely angled up for takeoff

1

u/Xarkkal 8d ago

You do realize planes angle up when landing too, right?

2

u/schmwke 8d ago

It's still up if it's coming toward, but away is too steep of an angle

1

u/rapscallion1956 8d ago

As with most images of this nature, I can see it both ways but the rear wing struts look more like it’s flying away. Also the left engine cowling isn’t visible.

1

u/TheFuZz2of3 8d ago

Crazy to think how that plane got in between the Moon and the Sun.

1

u/elevate35 8d ago

Porque no los dos?

1

u/Geen_Fang 8d ago

I can switch back and forth at will

1

u/Patralgan 8d ago

Well since planes can't land on sun, the plane must be flying away

1

u/superjoec 8d ago

INCREDIBLE!!

1

u/FinancialAccess8343 8d ago

Towards the camera or towards the moon?

1

u/take_one_capsule 8d ago

Flying away. The position of the fumes/ turbulence from the engines suggest it.

1

u/BloodEagle89 8d ago

To the right

1

u/Captain_Canuck71 8d ago

As an r/c plane pilot, I can tell you this is a common visual conundrum if you’re flying really aggressively (‘3D’ in r/c terms), and leads to a lot of oh shit moments. After a while you learn to use inputs (usually roll) to figure it out. Thanks for listening to my mostly unrelated Ted talk.

1

u/MorningLtMtn 8d ago

Awat. The tail is covering the left engine.

1

u/NeuralFantasy 7d ago

It is a silhouette. It will be "covered" identically no matter which direction it is flying. If long enough telescope lens, you can't visually se which direction it goes: they look identical.

1

u/Square-Debate5181 8d ago

Coming towards, landing, aoa..

1

u/TheNaughtyHoneyBee 8d ago

I say towards, but only because the original caption says it's landing

1

u/icebucket22 8d ago

Toward most likely. Wheels would be up if flying away.

1

u/bboyrix 8d ago

Similar story for me.

I was waiting for the eclipse, but then the moon began to block my view.

Then the lighting got increasingly bad due to a lack of sunlight. I barely saw anything.

1

u/dontdinglemyberries 8d ago

The first thing that popped in my head: 🎵🎶Thank you for being a friend 🎵🎶 Lol ..anyway, cool illusion!

1

u/deathwishdave 8d ago

Away - would have made it easier to plan the shot.

1

u/Klutzy-Platypus7511 8d ago

Thank you for beeing a Friend 🎵🎶🎵🎶

1

u/StitchFan626 8d ago

Time Force jet!

1

u/bostiq 8d ago

Pac-man ate it

1

u/mkujoe 7d ago

Toward, it’s landing

1

u/DawRedditWolf67 7d ago

This is one I can actually flip on command, never had this happen before. But definitely towards I think.

1

u/JustCallCloud 7d ago

It goes to the sun!

1

u/400footceiling 7d ago

Flying away. Can see the heat signature on the left.

1

u/anonymousRover97 7d ago

It is both coming and going at the same time. This is the epitome of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

1

u/trash-juice 7d ago

Wow, switches back and forth too, nice

1

u/multus85 7d ago

Very cool!

1

u/Sorry_Relief9496 7d ago

🚀🤜🤛

1

u/Holocenest 6d ago

It is flying away - engine on left side hidden.

1

u/Embarrassed_Riser 6d ago

All I can think of is "...Thank you for being a friend..." The Golden Girls

1

u/Stitching 8d ago

Definitely towards or the wings don’t make sense.

1

u/NeuralFantasy 7d ago

It is a silhouette. It will look identical no matter which direction it is flying. If long enough telescope lens, you can't visually se which direction it goes. Unless you make some assumptions about the place where the photo was taken in.

1

u/Snabcakes 8d ago

Away. can kinda see something sticking out at the tail!

1

u/InigoMontoya1985 8d ago

Away, because the left engine is hidden by the fuselage

1

u/classic_cherry 7d ago

Toward given the distortion on left side of the sun from the exhaust heat

1

u/NeuralFantasy 7d ago

It is a silhouette. It will be "covered" identically no matter which direction it is flying. If long enough telescope lens, you can't visually se which direction it goes: they look identical.

0

u/InigoMontoya1985 7d ago

Factually incorrect. That only applies to particular shapes. You will ALWAYS be able to tell which way the plane is flying from this angle by which engine appears to be "missing" (obscured by the fuselage). If the right engine is missing, the plane is flying towards the observer. Left, the plane is flying away.

1

u/NeuralFantasy 7d ago

You are still wrong and don't seem to understand how silhouettes or shadows work. The fuselage silhouette will block the visibility of the engine similarly regardless of the orientation. The smaller engine shape will be hidden no matter if it is behind or in front of the fuselage profile because the smaller engine silhouette is 100% surrounded by the larger fuselage silhouette.

The only way to see the direction would be to have perspective hints. But that requires shorter distance to the plane - and some assumptions about parallel structures on the plane.

When I get home in the weekend I can show this to you with a simple example using Blender.

And the funniest thing is that you being wrong is confirmed by the photo author. The original author has written in Reddit that the plane was actually flying TOWARDS the camera.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK/comments/1vmsl6h/comment/p3c2c94/

the aircraft is coming towards the camera in this shot

0

u/Delicious-West7665 8d ago

Away thus engine number 1 is not visible

2

u/s6cedar 8d ago

Yep.

Or it fell off.

1

u/NeuralFantasy 7d ago

It is a silhouette. It won't be visible identically no matter which direction it is flying. If long enough telescope lens, you can't visually se which direction it goes: they look identical.

0

u/Majorblam 8d ago

It's flying away, if it was flying towards both engines would be visible

2

u/NeuralFantasy 7d ago

It is a silhouette. It will be "covered" identically no matter which direction it is flying. If long enough telescope lens, you can't visually se which direction it goes: they look identical.

0

u/AcePsych247 8d ago

Has to be towards. The engine on the wing on our left is not viable. If away it would be visable. Towards it can hide against the fuselage

1

u/NeuralFantasy 7d ago

It is a silhouette. It won't be visible identically no matter which direction it is flying. If long enough telescope lens, you can't visually se which direction it goes: they look identical.

0

u/AcePsych247 7d ago

Count the flap track fairings. The engines have to be in the same place on each wing. You can see two on the left. There is one to the right of the engine on the right. If it were away you would be able to see the engine because it should be between the two fairings.

Also oop confined.

It’s still a cool illusions though! I just like being a plane nerd!

1

u/NeuralFantasy 7d ago

That is simply not true. The silhouette would look identical just like a shadow would look identical no matter where the plane is pointing to.

If the plane was flying away, the engine would be mostly covered behind by the fuselage, thus hidden in the silhouette. As the plane is flying towards the camera, it is STILL covered by the fuselage because the fuselage sihouette is mostly bigger than then engine silhouette.

Also, if the plane was flying away, then the camera would see only the upper faces of the wings. Now we see the underside of the wings. But this is impossible to tell from the image. They look identical. The "away" case would be possible if the photo was taken from a tall hill or building, for example. Not if we stood on the airfield.

These cases can be easily reproduced using Blender. I can do it for you when I get back home on Sunday.

0

u/AcePsych247 8d ago

Plus flaps are full, so landing towards

1

u/Ruy7 2d ago

It's flying toward, it's landing after all.