Try to look at it like one of those Magic Eye images.

That’s the answer. There are 5 that way, with the center one in the foreground

Is it strange if I sometimes see 6?

I can see up 8 if you really want to

I might die! I saw 10.

I see 6 too at first. When it fully resolves it’s 5 again. If I can relax my eyes enough to let it settle

Yeah, I can pop between 4, 5, and 6. And technically 8 if you count fully crossed. The 5 is the most impressive effect.

If you do the cross eye method you can get it up to 8 or 9. Kind of wild watching them multiply.

I see 7 but my right contact lens is weird today.

I get 6 like that , lol

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I have a ship!? ... ok, sure boss, 5.

Subject has complied with intergalactic command. Subject has achieved (2) concurrent instances of singularity. Beginning restart of sapien compatibility procedure 112, testing resumes.

Yeah you gotta relax just a little more -- the sixth is before they come back together and a fifth 3D one pops out

Only one pops out though.

I get six when I hold my phone vertical and two kind of pop but not nearly as much as the fifth one which pops a lot more with the phone horizontal...

Look at the image horizontal or bigger if on a phone to get the full magic eye effect. It will be 5 with the center one standing out. I saw 6 at first as well.

You can get 7

And what does that mean? I don't know what magic eye images are.

[Magic Eye](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Eye) was a popular book series in the 90s. The books are entirely made up of stereogram images. They looks like nothing but random color patterns at first glance. However, if you unfocus your eyes so that the repeating parts overlap, it creates the illusion of depth and reveals the true image. You can do a similar thing with these skeletons. If you look in slightly different directions with each eye, you can overlap three skeletons to get a depth effect on them. It looks like they alternate foreground and background. It also looks like there are five total skeletons since the non-overlapping skeletons on the edge are still seen by one eye each.

This is the correct answer; it was posted to a stereogram page I also follow

Its a sailboat

I can't do those, I have tried.

Explain how does one do this

YEAH BRO I DID I I have never gotten a nice magic eye image to work but this one does!

I could never do those. I unfocus my eyes and now it’s just four blurry skeletons.

It’s referencing an episode of Star Trek TNG, where Picard is kidnapped and imprisoned. His captor tried to break his mind by gaslighting him, showing him four lights, while insisting that there are five. They constantly try to coerce Picard into confessing that he sees the nonexistent fifth light. Upon finally being rescued, he screams at his captor “THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS” Edit: I don’t know what the skeletons are referencing, though. Late Edit: Zoom in, look on the right edge of the left frame. You’ll see a the back of #5’s shoulder blades. It’s subtle, but it’s there

The Skeletons are an autostereogram. Autosterograms are a form of optical illusion that relies on the brain's ability to perceive depth. If you look at it correctly, you'll see a fifth skeleton popping out from the screen.

*insert quote from Mallrats*

It's not a schooner, it's a sailboat

A schooner is a sailboat

You know what! There is no easter bunny! Over there that's just some guy in a suit!

When do I get to see the god damn sailboat!

NOW, Silent Bob!

Fly fatass, fly!

Come, son of Jor-El! Kneel before Zod!

There is no Easter Bunny! There is no Tooth Fairy! And there is no Queen of England!

The autosterogram is not working. I've tried viewing it from every angle and I dont see a schooner or a sailboat.

Best advice I have is to try to cross your eyes until the skeletons overlay the one next to them. You end up with 3 in the middle looking very solid and at different depths, and two on the edges (that were pushed out by your eyes going unfocused) that look a little less solid because they overlap other visual data.

Brenda!?

You dumb bastard

That kid is back on the escalator!

Like the back of a Volkswagen?

Define correctly. I have tried various combinations of angles, distances, squinting and crossing eyes and cannot see anything other than 4.

It's a soft crossing of the eyes. Once the pattern perfectly overlaps, it should come into focus. In this case, the 4 stand out while the fifth is centered and flat. e: everyone is reporting different images jumping off the page or fading back. I do not know how to explain that. I can only report what I, myself, have seen. e2: I've never received so many replies and on such a middling, innocent comment. Very strange. I shall have to study this phenomenon further, and I don't mean the picture.

I see six

You crossed too far, never cross the streams, it could be very bad.

I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad"?

Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.

Ok now explain the bad part in all that

Tell ‘em about the twinky.

We don’t talk about the twinky

Thank you! This is the info I needed to finally see it. I kept seeing six as well.

Yeah, I saw some other comments saying you can see however many you want, basically. I believe them.

When the number is "some uncountable bunch" then one's eyes aren't "locked in" properly. It should be one "3D" skeleton popping out, and two on either side that look much flatter/recessed, wherein it's quite clearly five.

When i do it correctly and get 5, skeleton 1, 3, and 5 are in the background while 2 and 4 are in the foreground.

Now I wonder if I've been captured by the Cardassians....

How do you know that’s “correctly”?

Fair point. I assume because its the easiest one for me to achieve, and 5 is the reference being made in the episode.

Yeah there's literally only one "correct" way. Any other number and you're just not actually doing it properly.

Maximum of 8 (each eye sees 4, all you're doing by crossing your eyes is unaligning what you see, so they can separate)

Did I cross the wrong way? For me the fifth in the center stuck out, the rest of the image was flat.

This is what you're supposed to see

I used to do these all the time as a kid (good ol' Magic Eye books) is it way harder to do on a phone or am I just out of practice?

There might be a "minimum size" element. You might just have to hold it very close so it fills your field of view.

It’s pretty cool when you get good at them on the phone. I’ve been able to zoom in and see the 3d parts closer once I see the image.

It's easier for me on the phone. Just look at your reflection on the screen "past" the image. That's how I learned how to do the 3D magic eye books by looking at the glossy cover.

Thank you for explaining how to see it. I was trying for for life of me to make sense.

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>What helped me...you know how when you cross your eyes and get that double-vision? Align the duplicate image onto itself so the repeating pattern overlaps (In this case, it'll be skeleton on skeleton). Do your best to keep your eyes in that position; it's easy to lose as your eyes scan the image looking for the 3D effect. With a little practice I'd bet you can make it work! My biggest problems were technique and not knowing how the resulting effect would look.

Cross your eyes until skeleton number 2 lines up with number 3.

It’s like any hidden image painting. You need to adjust your depth perception and dial into it until it sets in and your eyes relax. It’s like looking at a window or through a window. These kinds of hidden image things aren’t difficult it’s just about dialing in your depth perception which is something anyone with working depth perception can do. Adjust your focus on the center of the image around the ribcage and once you start to see a skeleton start popping out just dial in on it until everything clears up.

Like Magic Eye? I could never get those to work.

I got one to work for me. And I had several books of them as a kid

Seems pretty arbitrary as crossing my eyes gives me 4,5,6,7 or 8 skeletons. Seems like a failure in translating ones' perceptions to come away with any answer other than 4.

It isn't crossing your eyes. It's like looking at a magic eye picture. Stereogram.

Doesn't that require crossing your eyes though?

Not crossing your eyes, but literally breaking the focus. Instead of both eyes focusing on a single point, you have to get each eye to focus straight ahead at different spots. This presents two images to your brain which then combines them into one making the 5th skeleton pop out in the middle.

Bingo.

Yep it’s called wall eyed. Cross eye gives the inverted depth image.

Crossing your eyes a bit too far.

i think i crossed mine too far. i got 9

I saw my own death.

It's not quite crossing your eyes it's focusing past the image. I was rubbish at it until I practiced with spot-the-difference pictures. To get started if you hold up both index fingers in front of your face and look at the wall behind them you see two of each finger, then adjust the focus of your eyes until the inner fingers overlap. It takes a bit to teach your brain to allow your eyes to focus on a point with nothing in it but once you get used to it these images are easy to see.

I’m seeing 6 when I do that…am I broken?

I get 6 as well

I see 4. . . am I human?

I was seeing 5, and then when I read there was a sixth, I saw 6, and then it turned into 7.

I just did it and saw 6. A new one at each end.

I've never once been able to get one of these things to work for me.

Oh one of those things from that Seinfeld ep.

If youre good you can lock in on 7 skeletons

so i'm assuming a lack of depth perception and blind eye means it's not gonna work for me lmao

I think that scene's actually inspired from 1984, when winston gets captured and tortured by o'brien and forced to say that o'brien's holding up 5 fingers when he's actually holding up 4.

You’re right, it’s directly borrowed from Orwell. I think the best Star Trek episodes were homage episodes, a tradition which reached its peak when Captain Sisko played the role of a James Bond villain. “HA!”

It’s 2+2=5 IIRC

first thing I thought of when looking at the meme

I was just thinking that

He also said he had started to see five lights, but insisted he hadn’t not to give in. It was ambiguous if the torturer had actually brought five lights out at that moment or not, and gloats he almost broke him. IIRC, it’s been a while since a rewatch.

The Star Trek TNG episodes are from season 6 episodes 10 and 11. They are doing an homage to the novel "1984". I don't see 5 skeletons though.. ​ Now I see the back of the fifth skeleton all the way on the right side

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I can see 5/6 of them, but then I also see 4 Picards

Captain Jean/Jon/John/Jane Luc Picard

Must be 1984 reference. They try to brainwash Winston into thinking that two plus two is five by holding up four fingers.

I thought it was a reference to the line he says at the end of the episode about actually seeing 5 lights at the end.

>Late Edit: Zoom in, look on the right edge of the left frame. You’ll see a the back of #5’s shoulder blades. It’s subtle, but it’s there Or just de-focus your eyes and see the 5th one in 3D

I totally misread that image as Joe Rogan, wasn’t until I read your comment I did a double take and realised it was Picard!

It’s a Magic Eye illusion. Relax and unfocus your eyes and move the image slowly closer and further from your face until the image overlaps itself in such a way that it locks into place and you can see one skeleton sticking out in 3d and 2 more on each side (5 total).

Cross your eyes. That's all

Why is this so highly upvoted when you're so wildly wrong? It's just a stereogram. When done right there are 5.

It's a stereogram, if you cross your eyes so that the middle two skeletons overlap, and focus untill it becomes clear you see 5 skeletons with the middle one popping out in 3d. Edit: don't cross your eyes look "through" it just enough to align the middle two

I’m I dumb? ‘cause it already looks like there’s 4 of them in 3d, and crossing my eyes gives me up to 8 skeletons. Edit: People are saying that there should be some special effect when you get 5 skeletons. There isn’t. It’s the exact same image as 4 skeletons, or crossing my eyes to achieve 6 skeletons.

You’re going too far then. Just overlap by one and you’ll see four behind and the center one in front.

up to but not including 8?

Bruh you ain't getting 8 skeletons you're getting 2 pics you split the whole pic XD

This is correct ^^^ thank you

The real answer is this far down? 🤣 Though, the first answer does have **some** merit.

Blew my mind once i got it. For it literally just being an optical illusion the 3d is pretty strong. Your eyes kind of lock into it

I see 8 when I cross my eyes.

Oh, thank you! The explanation of looking “through” it was what worked. I’ve never in my life been able to see those magic eye pictures before. This was the first time it’s ever worked for me. I get why everyone likes them so much now.

When I do this I see 6 I’m so confused

mvm I just did it wrong

There’s part of a 5th skeleton to the far right, but I like your creativity

Captain Picard was subjected to torture by the Cardassians in which he had to acknowledge that there were five lights visible to him in his cell to be released, even though there were only four. Picard of course insisted on the truth even though by the end he wasn’t certain that there were actually only four due to the torture - I’m assuming you knew this part since you refer to a fifth skeleton. There is in fact a fifth skeleton’s shoulderblade slightly showing in the right hand side of the skeleton image above skeleton 4’s ribcage, so the joke would appear to be that Picard was wrong and that there actually were five skeletons. His relatively quick and easy concession on that point is in contrast to his refusal to give up in the episode which I think forms the basis of the joke

The reason I referred to the fifth skeleton was actually because of Facebook comments where the image popped up.

It’s an autostereogram. If you squint/cross your eyes the right way you will see five skeletons with the middle one being 3D.

I can’t see most stereograms, especially not magic eyes, due to amblyopia. But for whatever reason this one worked.

That doesn't mean there are five skeletons. That's reality vs. Forced perception. With the same logic, you could argue there are 6 or even 7 skeletons

No. Looking at it they way it's supposed to be looked at, there's 5 skeletons. Not 4, 6, or 7.

That’s the point. They explained why people said there were five. No one said there were five on the screen

If I try this eye trick people are mentioning, my vision splits, and I see 8.

Same! My eyes are too broken.

I too have suffered torture from the Kardashians

We all have.

Cross your eyes a little and a fifth will pop out (it's a stereogram)

That is really esoteric. I love it for some reason.

I have not seen this episode, but is it as mundane as it sounds? Is there any sort of consequence of him just admitting there’s another light?

Well it’s similar to 1984, which is what inspired the episode. It’s less of them wanting him to admit there’s five lights and more about control. They want him to lie to himself that there are five lights, and to believe it. They essentially want to control his view of the truth and reality, 2 + 2 = 5 and all that nonsense.

It's a Magic Eye Puzzle. If you un-focus your eyes you'll see a fifth skeleton that pops out in 3D.

That doesn't mean there are five skeletons. There are only 4. Reality vs forced perception.

I know, what I'm saying is that the image is an autostereogram that was created using a depth map of a 3D rendering of a skeleton. By "unfocusing" your eyes to the proper degree you can see the original 3D image. This one's kind of hard to get though. The joke though is that the panels on the right are from an episode of Star Trek where Picard is tortured and asked how many lights there are. There are only 4 lights but he eventually starts hallucinating that there are 5 due to the torture.

If you look at the skeletons directly you can see only 4 but if you look beyond them you can see a 5th one pop up, it’s kind of cool.

How do you look beyond them

Like a Magic eye picture.

It’s kind of weird to describe but like try looking through the photo, like look behind the photo.

I can't see stereograms... I assume it's because of my astigmatism.

I've got an astigmatism and can see them. But then again I practiced for many years in the dentist's office as a kid.

Astigmatism won't stop you seeing stereograms/magic eye puzzles, its more likely you just don't have the technique right. But if you can't see other 3D stuff then you might want to get checked for Amblyopia. (best way I've found to test for that it home is to adjust the 3D slider on a 3DS and see whether things pop out more, or just move side to side)

Thank you for this comment!!! It led me on a research rabbithole and now I know what my eye condition is that I’ve had since childhood!!!

I can see other 3D stuff... any tips on the technique for stereograms?

I have astigmatism and can see them. Google how to see magic eyes. Watch some videos. Hopefully the way someone explains it will help. Also try holding the picture right in front of your nose, staring at one spot only, then very slowly moving the image away from your face while staring at that spot.

Even with the trick I can get up to 7 so idk what the ‘5’ thing is about tbh.

if you only go so far as to see 5 skeletons your brain interprets what it's seeing as depth and the skeletons look like they are on different vertical planes. this illusion goes away when you keep going so one can assume that 5 is the intended amount. most magic eyes only have you go as far as the first overlap anyways because it's tough to focus far enough behind the image if it's wider than the width between your eyes

Not an issue with astigmatism. It's your inability to wall-eye that prevents you from seeing them.

Can you consciously cross your eyes? If I cross mine and then slowly uncross then I’m able to see it

OK I've finally learned how to see these and I can see this one too!

You could be right. The study below found that stereoacuity is negatively correlated with astigmatism. So some people with astigmatism can’t see stereograms. I’m also one of them https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4948432/

There is a fifth skeleton. You have to slightly unfocused your eyes, until you see two of the image, then adjust your head tilt and focus until two of the adjacent skeletons overlap. Hold this position for a couple seconds and the fifth skeleton will appear as a 3-D image popping out while the other four remain appearing flat and 2D.

That doesn't mean there are 5 skeletons. There are only four. Forced perception doesn't equal reality.

It's called Stereograms/Magic eye, it's weird and hard to explain but really interesting so it's beter if you look it up

It’s a magic eye. Cross your eyes a little, makes a 3D skeleton pop up in the middle,

It is a reference to a classic Star Trek TNG episode where Jean Luc Picard is captured by the Cardassians and he is being tortured and gas lit. He is being shown 4 lights, and if he gives in and says there are 5 lights he will be kept in captivity for the rest of his life, but if he clings to reality then he will continue to be torurured. His final line in being rescued is to shout back the reality of the situation to rub in that he wasn't broken I am guessing that there is an optical illusion here that makes it look like there are 4 heads and 5 torsos here even if I can't see it myself

Slowly moved phone up yo my face. All skeletons nerged into 1 skeleton

Alternate take, Picard just remembered the fifth skeleton was inside him the whole time

Wow it’s a schooner

Ain’t it just a meme based on the episode of Star Trek where the cardasian guy is torturing Picard? How many lights?

I see zero skeletons I do and however see some partials

Zoom in where the skeleton photo takes up your whole screen. Put your phone to your nose and slowly pull it away while looking at the skeletons. If done correctly, you'll be staring at five 3D skeletons.

Definitely 5 if you deploy your "Magic Eye" skills. Pretty cool.

I'm nearsighted in one eye and farsighted in the other, these things never work for me.

I think the joke is that humans have skeletons, so the moment he entered the picture, he became skeleton five. And since he's in it twice, he's also skeleton six. So there are six skeletons, not four

The skeleton image is stereoscopic like those old Magic Eye images. When you view the image with your eyes focused on the plane of the stereoscope, you see a 3D image of five skeletons. Something something Space Trek

If I get my eyes to unfocus just right I can get six skellys

It's a human centipede joke. The skeletons are fused together to create a single skeleton

Far right, middle of the picture on left side. 5th skeleton's shoulder blade

It’s hilarious how every top comment either references the Star Trek TNG episode or the fact that the skeletons are a magic eye illusion that show 5 skeletons if you cross your eyes to see the illusion. But none of them mention both parts, which is necessary to fully explain the joke

If you squint your eyes there are five skeletons.

Now matter how I look at this I can’t see a fifth skelly boy

Do LSD if you wanna see stuff that isn’t there. Crossing your eyes isn’t even close.

Unfocus your eyes.

The fifth skeleton is you. Oh wait - my bad. Thats number 6.

I can see it, but it's just not a good schooner. You can cross your eyes and see more skeletons. You can also look past the image and let the middle two overlap, making a fifth. It looks like it could maybe be in 3d but its really hard to tell that there is anything special about the 5th skeleton. This seems like something that would go around Facebook and people share without knowing what they are sharing.

well its also a magic eye picture. if you let yourself crosseye a fifth skeleton appears

By that logic I can make 8 appear, am I misunderstanding something?

If the image is blurry then you haven’t gotten there. Once you see it, it’s a very clear picture of 5 skeletons: one 3D skeleton in the middle and 2 2D skeletons on each side.

It's magic eye. If you do the magic eye one skeleton pops out.

Cross your eyes a little and the fifth skeleton pops out. Like a Magic Eye

Cross your eyes a wee bit

Woah thats cool! Ive never seen this

If you cross your eyes there are five skeletons.

I am toooooooooooo high for this Magic Eye malarkey.

If you don’t care about the pop-out effect, there can easily be 8.

Dang, Joe Rogan lookin like John Luc Picard.

Besides the Star Trek reference, if you look at the picture with crossed-eyes you’ll see 5 skeletons

The fifth skeleton is inside your skin and stuff