A mountain rock in the shape of a human face. Atlas Mountains, Morocco. Similar to Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, "The Great Stone Face." Source: Gusman/Bridgeman Images, used with permission "One ...

Hawthorne's short story, with its religious overtones, suggests the return of a Messiah, but for our purposes, it demonstrates pareidolia — a perception of recognizable patterns or images from random ...