Prepare to have your head absolutely SPINNING with this viral car optical illusion

There’s nothing more frustrating, but equally satisfying when you finally get them than optical illusions. And we’ve got another one that’s gonna mess with your head after it’s gone viral on Twitter. In this car optical illusion, you’ve basically got to work out whether the red car in the middle is moving forward or backwards. And depending on how you look at it, it’s really hard to tell and looks like it could be doing both. So here it is:

Is the car moving forward or backward? pic.twitter.com/XQnaCE8b2s

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) April 14, 2024

Does it change when you look at different places in the video? Or what about when you squint? People are VERY divided and it’s causing big arguments all across Twitter. And I don’t know about you but I’m starting to feel car-sick after staring at it for so long. But if you still can’t work it out, the answer is below.

Spoiler alert: Stop scrolling if you don’t want the answer revealed!

Basically, the illusion does change depending on what you look at. If you just stare at the car, it looks like it is travelling backwards. But this is only because it is much slower than the rest of the cars in the video. In actual fact, the car is travelling slowly forward. When you look at the road markings on either side of the red car, it is easy to see this.

Our guy Chris tried to get all technical with the explanation and I can’t say I understand a word of it but in case you want a more detailed explanation:

Step 1 : Assume central object is frame of reference
Step 2 : Observe objects exhibiting velocity relative to the reference, the cars are going from behind to in front.
Step 3 : place reference frame within context. Lines are the real stationary frame and are moving backwards…

— Chris (@_sickkuntJr) April 14, 2024

I need to lie down in a dark room right about now.

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