It defies that laws of motion – the wheels on a car have stopped spinning, although the vehicle is cruising down the highway.
This bizarre incident is an optical illusion known as the wagon-wheel effect that only occurs once a vehicle reaches a certain speed.
The phenomenon is caused by our inability to recognize a continuous scene, as humans are not capable of seeing every point in the motion – we capture an image 10 to 12 times every second and fill in the blanks for the data that is missing.
Scroll down for videos
This bizarre incident is an optical illusion known as the wagon-wheel effect that only occurs once a vehicle reaches a certain speed. It was recently shared to Reddit by a user hoping to find an answer to this bi zarre sighting
Previous studies have shown that although humans are able to process light at frame rates of 200 frames per second (FPS), we are only able to see changes in motion, like a spinning wheel, up to just 13 FPS, Car Throttle[6] reported.
And even though your eyes are able to take in frames at a higher rate, it is your brain that ultimately lags behind – it can only react to 10 to 15 images per second.
A Reddit user experienced the phenomenon firsthand and shared the bizarre footage with others in a bid to understand what was happening right before their eyes.
And other users also shared that they had experienced the same thing.
'On a trip with my family a few years ago we were driving down the highway and I noticed this happening on the car next to us,' MattJ07 posted.
'I freaked out a bit at first but after googling when I got home I found out that the car was going the perfect speed where the wheels were spinning at the same frame rate as the human eye.'
As the wheel of the car spins at a faster speed, you will only capture random points of the rotation.
This means that the wheel could appear to be rotating in the opposite direct, the same direction but slower or not moving at all.
'So since the rotation is faster than what the eye can capture, it may appear that the rotation is actually in the opposite direction,' Samarth Hattangady[7], a student at Manipal Institute of Technology explained.
'As the speed of rotation changes, the apparent direction of rotation will also change.'
'Thus when a car accelerates, the tires appear to move forward, then slow down, then rotate the opposite direction.'
'This is all because of fast rotation (faster than the eye can see) and human persistence of vision.'
The optical illusion has been seen in a range of films, primarily old Western movies, but the effect goes beyond just wheels of a car.
As the wheel of the car spins at a faster speed, you will only capture random points of the rotation. This means that the wheel could appear to be rotating in the opposite direct, the same direction but slower or not moving at all
In March, a video was shared on YouTube today appears to show a helicopter hovering 'magically' above the pad, climbing higher and higher as its blades remain almost completely still.
It was believed to boil down to the camera's shutter speed and frame rate, which can distort the appearance of spinning objects when synchronized.
The bizarre video shared on YouTube today appears to show a helicopter hovering 'magically' above the pad, climbing higher and higher as its blades remain almost completely still
The video was published today by YouTube user Chris Chris[8], who wrote that 'the helicopter seems to be hovering magically.'
In the footage, the blades at some points can be seen shifting slightly – but, not nearly as much as one would expect for an aircraft that's taking off.
Even as it begins to fly forward, the blades appear to be sti ll before finally starting to move as the video cuts out.
But, as Chris Chris points out, a trick of the camera is to blame for the aircraft's bizarre behaviour, writing 'camera shutter speed matches helicopter's rotor.'
Shutter speed addresses the amount of time the camera spends gathering light every time it takes a picture, a video from HowStuffWorks [9]explains.
So, the more time spent gathering light, the more motion-blur will be apparent in an image.
In March, a video was shared on YouTube today appears to show a helicopter hovering 'magically' above the pad, climbing higher and higher as its blades remain almost completely still
And, faster shutter speeds can create strange patterns, or even make the individual blades become visible.
Frame rate – or, frames per second – also plays a role in the phenomenon.
'Imagine you're shooting a 24fps video of a helicopter rotor that spins one full rotation every second,' the video explains.
But, all is not as it seems. The strange phenomenon boils down to the camera's shutter speed and frame rate, which can distort the appearance of spinning objects when synchronized
'In the video, each rotation will thus be broken into 24 frames. You'll see the blades rotating normally, just moving one-24th of their full rotation each time.
'But, if the blades spin exactly 24 times each second, and you're still shooting at 24 fps, each full revolution will be represented by only one frame.
'The blades will arrive back in their starting place each time the camera captures a frame, so they'll look like they're standing still.'
Frame rate can also cause blades to appear as though they're spinning backwards, or even make it seem as though they're bending in an S-shape.
