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Internet Abuzz Over Photo of Mike Pence's 'Vampire' Daughter

The Internet wants to know why Charlotte Pence's reflection isn't visible in a restaurant mirror.

Published July 18, 2016

 (Twitter)
Image Via Twitter

An otherwise unremarkable snapshot of Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence, his wife Karen, and his daughter Charlotte in a Chili's restaurant in New York City has garnered more than its fair share of buzz because Charlotte Pence's reflection seems to be "missing" from the mirror beside their table.

At first glance, the scene does seem odd. The back of Karen Pence's head is visible, and Pence himself can be seen in semi-profile in the mirror, but not a trace of Charlotte Pence, who is seated right beside her father, is reflected.

Predictably, social media speculation ranged from the conspiratorial  to the paranormal:

Some bemused commenters felt compelled to express their puzzlement in diagram form:

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diagram

But the general tone of this chatter was humorous and lighthearted, thankfully. Few, if any, of the users who shared and commented on the photo seemed seriously concerned about what was obviously an optical illusion — that, simply put, given the angle of view and the relative positions of Pence and his daughter in relation to the mirror, we can't see Charlotte Pence because her father is between her and us in the reflected line of sight.

So, why all the fuss? One likely explanation is that after a week full of truly horrific news — the terrorist attack in Nice, the police killings in Baton Rouge — the Internet just needed to blow off steam. Maybe it needed something harmless and non-threatening to obsess about, however silly. Oftentimes, stress relief can be found where you least expect it, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Mike Pence was expected to be confirmed as Donald Trump's running mate during the 2016 Republican National Convention, which kicked off Monday, 18 July 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.

David Emery is a West Coast-based writer and editor with 25 years of experience fact-checking rumors, hoaxes, and contemporary legends.

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