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Amazing space photos of alien objects that look eerily familiar

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From the man in the moon to Greek gods among the stars, humans have long been discovering familiar forms in the heavens.

There's a word for this phenomenon of seeing patterns that don't exist: pareidolia. And it's all psychological.

While this mind-trick may have served some evolutionary purpose, like helping us recognize mountian lions in the bush, it also leads to some pretty crazy interpretations.

Here, we offer some of the best examples of pareidolia with help from humanity's most powerful telescopes.

SEE ALSO: The sharpest photos of Pluto were just released and point to why there is a mysterious heart on its surface

CHECK OUT: Something strange happens in our brains when we see the man in the Moon

The stunningly beautiful butterfly nebula was created by a dying star that became extremely hot. It shines brightly in ultraviolet light hidden from view by a dense cloud of dust that resembles a butterfly's wings in this image taken by Hubble in 2009.



When NASA's Viking 1 spacecraft was circling Mars in 1976, it spotted this unusual image of what looks uncannily like a human face in a region of the planet called Cydonia.



But when NASA's Mars Global Surveyor flew over the region again in 1998 and 2001, sharper images revealed the face to be a natural land form.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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