This Optical Illusion Has Everyone Seeing a Different Number

Photo by Dmitry Ratushny on Unsplash

Did you ever go through an optical illusion phase when you were younger? I definitely did — pouring through books and websites packed with them. It was my way of feeling smarter than everyone else, even though I was, like, nine.

Every now and then, one of those illusions pops up online and tests us all over again, even as adults.

A post has sent Twitter (X) into a frenzy.

An account named Benonwine posted an image of a circle with warped black and white stripes. Benonwine asks if we can see a number in the circle, and if so, what number.

I do see a number, but it’s not the same one that everyone else sees.

twitter | @benonwine

I first saw 45283. Imagine my surprise when I saw replies saying the number was 3452839, and others saying they only saw 528. If we’re all seeing something different, which group is right?

It turns out, the longest number is the correct answer.