Taking an iconic group photo can sometimes be a difficult task, especially when it comes down to nailing the perfect pose. And if you’re not careful, you might end up like the young lady who has left social media users scratching their heads.
Eleanor Bailey, 18, recently shared a photo on Twitter of her sister Tabitha and a group of friends at a nightclub in Utrecht, Netherlands. While it may look like any other snapshot of young people enjoying a night out on the town, a closer look reveals that Tabitha has an extraordinarily long right arm.
My sister's arm in this club photo looks about 6ft long I'm crying pic.twitter.com/FJU5eaJi5D
— el???? (@_ellebailey) May 1, 2017
“My sister’s arm in this club photo looks about 6ft long I’m crying,” Eleanor wrote on Twitter.
The optical illusion quickly went viral after being posted to Twitter on Monday. It has been shared and liked thousands of times in a matter of days.
“I thought people might find it funny at first glance but I was not expecting this!,” Eleanor told The Sun. Many people chimed in on social media, wondering what the explanation was for Tabitha’s seemingly stretchable right limb.
@RelaxDerNw @_ellebailey So am I ???? i can't trace who owns the hand
— ???? (@_b0obs) May 2, 2017
@_ellebailey @_b0obs This is brilliant.. 20mins later im still aa confused.
— . (@RelaxDerNw) May 2, 2017
@_ellebailey This is how her arm came to be. pic.twitter.com/Am8pJFNRZn
— ClawMarx (@ClawMarx) May 2, 2017
@_ellebailey Trying to decipher this optical illusion like pic.twitter.com/BGszYCLnmz
— trash (@Catsandsloths) May 2, 2017
But thankfully one Twitter sleuth was kind enough to create a handy visual guide to help explain why Tabitha’s arm appeared to be so long.
@_ellebailey Confusion over. pic.twitter.com/JhvVkcyxV2
— H•O•R•R•9•R (@HORR9R) May 3, 2017
A combination of matching black clothing and very specific arm placement helps explain the optical illusion. Tabitha actually has her arm around the back of her male friend, meaning her hand is out of sight. And the hand on the left-hand side of the image belongs to the brunette girl on the other side of the young man.