Star Gazers Hill

I have a new word for you:

Pareidolia pærɨˈdoʊliə/ parr-i-DOH-lee-ə - a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds or geological formations and hearing hidden messages on recordings when played in reverse.

Well now, how does that apply to this week's column?  It applies to yours truly and to an experience I had on one of our journeys to the Southwest.  (Some of you have probably already seen what I'm about to show you, so you're excused if you care to skip this week.)

While at Valley of Fire State Park, a wonderful, if remote, park northeast of Las Vegas, I discovered a rock formation, which I (unofficially) named, Star Gazer Hill. I tried to get the park rangers to recognize the name officially, but they declined.  I guess they have enough named formations in the park and didn’t need another one.  Anyway, in case you missed it in an earlier email I sent out, here is a picture of Star Gazer Hill, which has at least ten rock faces gazing skyward, maybe even more. Of course, you have to practice some of that pareidolia magic to see the faces, but I'll give you some help with that shortly. 

The rock formations in the park all beg some imagination to bring out their features, and this one is no exception.  Besides the obvious ones, balanced rock, beehives, and white domes, there are also numerous ancient and modern petroglyphs to explore. 

Okay, have you tried to find the faces in the rock?  If you didn't see them all, here is a closer copy of the photo with the faces circled.  If you still don't see them, you must lack the pareidolia gene. (My joke, there ain't no such gene)  The numbers enclosed in the circles on the left indicate the number of faces in the circle.  The circle with five in it includes my favorite, which I call 'Hitchcock.'

Some people I've shown this to have found even more than I did, so the field is still open.  (Hint: you can enlarge the picture by using your scroll wheel on the mouse or by depressing ctrl and + keys together. If you have a touch screen, you know how to zoom)

If you're ever in Las Vegas with some free time on your hands for sight seeing, there are motor tours to Valley of Fire State Park, though I can't point you to who operates them.  I don't go to Vegas myself as I don't care to gamble, but I'll wager your hotel desk clerk or concierge can set you up with the operator.