Startled scientists spot ghostly face in tumour



We're used to seeing images of human faces in everything from mountains on Mars to pancake batter. But two scientists were surprised to see such a vision... in a testicular tumour.

The distressed face with a gaping mouth was spotted in the ultrasound scan of a 45-year-old man who had been suffering from testicular pain.

It made such an impact on Dr Greg Roberts and Dr Naji Touma from Queen's University in Ontario, that they submitted the startling image to the journal Urology.

Startling scan: A ghostly face, with a wide open eye on the right of the image and gaping mouth below, can clearly be seen in this ultrasound

It was accepted in September for that month's picture feature of a unique case.

Under the title 'The Face of Testicular Pain', the authors wrote: 'The residents and staff alike were amazed to see the outline of a man’s face staring up out of the image, his mouth agape as if the face seen on the ultrasound scan itself was also experiencing severe epididymo-orchitis.'

However, they said after a discussion over whether it could be a sign from a deity, such as 'Min' the Egyptian god of male virility, they concluded it was a 'mere coincidental occurrence rather than a divine proclamation.'

The doctors measured a raised level of a hormone that usually indicates cancer. The male patient opted to have his testicle removed as this is the only way to diagnose the condition for certain.

Fortunately for him the lump proved to be benign.



The scan is a novel case of pareidolia - a psychological phenomenon where we think we see actual objects such as faces or animals in a random image. It went viral after it was spotted by The Chronicle of Higher Education based in Washington D.C.



Testicular cancer is known as the young man's condition as it typically affects men aged from 15 to 55-years-old.

Each year in England, it is estimated that there are three to six new cases of testicular cancer for every 100,000 men.



White and taller men, those with a family history of testicular cancer and men with an undescended testicle appear to be more at risk.