An image purportedly showing a cow with a unique facial marking resembling a famous "optical illusion" involving two people viewed in profile (or a lamp) began recirculating online after it was posted to the web site Reddit on Nov. 4, 2015.
While the image was based on an authentic photograph of a cow, the picture was an altered one created for the Worth1000.com web site's "Illusions" Photoshop contest in 2007.
The image was previously posted as a meme by QVC host Carolyn Gracie.
The original picture was taken in 2005 by photographer Fleur Suijten:
Several digitally altered images created for the web site Worth1000.com have been passed around the Internet as authentic over the years, such as a purported photograph of the world's smallest cat, pictures of giant human skeletons, and an image of a zippered tongue.