‘Intense’ optical illusion photo baffles internet – what do you see?

This image is leaving a lot of people confused – and some feeling slightly queasy – as they try and work out what’s going on with the pattern.

This optical illusion is messing with our minds.

On social media, many are convinced the grey squares in the image are moving, but they are wrong.

Take another look.

The picture shows a grey background with a collection of squares around the edge.

The Reddit user who posted the illusion captioned it “This is not a gif” for the reason it doesn’t move, even though your brain tricks you to think it is.

The image has been circulating on the social media platform for years garnering more than 25,000 likes and it recently popped up again for its clever mind game.

“I feel sick,” one person wrote online.

“Yep. It’s moving. Most definitely,” another convinced person wrote.

“Depending on which eye I use, the inside or the outside wiggles. Wtf?” a third person said, while a fourth added they “don’t feel so good”.

RELATED: Optical illusion of girl standing in a park

What do you see? Picture: Reddit/evilgator

RELATED: Image that tricks your eyes goes viral

The illusion is an example of illusory motion (or motion illusion), which tricks the brain into thinking something’s moving.

It’s when a static image appears to be moving due to the cognitive effects of interacting colour contrasts, object shapes, and position.

“The colour contrast (conflicting luminosity) between dark and light causes the optical illusion, also known as anomalous motion illusion,” a Reddit user pointed out.

So, why do optical illusions occur?

It’s because our brain is trying to interpret what we see and make sense of the world around us, according to Optics4Kids.

“Optical illusions simply trick our brains into seeing things which may or may not be real,” it states on its website.

It’s not the first time an illusion has left internet users baffled.

An image of a little girl standing in an open field went viral on Twitter last year with many drawn to the odd shape of her legs.

An image of a little girl standing in the middle of a park also did the rounds on Twitter last year – can you see what she is holding? Picture: Twitter

RELATED: Baffling 25-second optical illusion

At first glance, all you can see is the young girl standing in the middle of a park with a cute clip in her hair and scarf around her neck.

But upon further inspection it is clear she is just holding a big bag of popcorn that is hard to spot because it has blended with the colour of the dried-out grass behind her.

As a result, the baffling snap, which was first posted on Facebook, attracted more than 230,000 shares, 46,000 reactions and 37,000 comments.

I was seriously concerned and thinking 'this child needs to be saved and fed!' and I saw someone yell out popcorn so I thought 'well... Yes we can feed her popcorn but is it enough?' and then I saw the popcorn bag. 🤦🏼‍♀️

— 🦇 (@thebatnextdoor) November 25, 2019

toook me 25 minutes to see she holding a bag of popcorn

— ᎷᎪᏒᎦᎥᎬᏞᏞ ツ (@YoMarsiell) November 25, 2019

Damn. I had to stare at the photo AFTER reading that she was holding a bag of popcorn!

— T (@LostMouthFilter) November 25, 2019

“It took me until I read this tweet. I still had a hard time seeing it after you said that it was,” one Twitter user said.

“Holy sh*t, this pic messed me up for a second, haha. Low key scared the crap out of me, haha,” said another.

“I thought her legs were like that and was about to call you mean til I zoomed in and took another look,” a third person commented.