Science, Art, Litt, Science based Art & Science Communication

The Parallax Effect

Q: Why an airplane flying in the sky appears to be stationary at the same time while we are traveling in a vehicle?

Krishna: Yes, when you are travelling in a car and suddenly look out the window and see a plane or planes stopping mid air, then it must have confused you because you never knew that a thing like that existed.

Why does this happen? What could be the reason for planes stopping mid air? Does it even happen or is it just an illusion that confuses people?

If you are wondering if planes stopping mid air is a part of the flight and is normal, then you are wrong because planes do not stop or hover mid-air, helicopters do but not planes.

Now the reason why some people have reported about it is because of the Parallax Effect. The Parallax Effect is a type of illusion that you may encounter if you are in a moving vehicle and you see a plane, which appears to be staying still in the air, but in reality, it is moving.

So why does it appear stationary when it’s actually moving? It happens because the Parallax Effect makes it look stationary, and if you stop your vehicle, you will see that it is moving and isn’t stationary or hovering in the sky.

This Parallax Effect makes us see planes stopping mid air because our brain has structures that normally let us put information from our senses into mental images. For Example, if someone is telling you a story, you make a mental image of the entire story, even for the places mentioned, you form a mental image. This is called the high-order structures that help humans collect information and make the complete picture in their minds.

If we talk about relative motions, then suppose you are in a moving vehicle, your perspective will be influenced by the vehicle you are in. If the plane is flying in the same direction and at the same speed, it will appear stationary to you, creating a paradox that the plane has stopped mid-air.

If we talk about the perception of distance, involving apparent changes in the object’s position at different distances. Suppose the plane is at a considerable distance and is flying in the same direction as your vehicle, again due to the Parallax Effect, it will appear stationary.

Parallax Effect is a fascinating combination of specific angles and relative motion that will create an illusion that the plane stays still in the air, even when it’s moving.

This image or the perception of the plane hovering in the sky is a result of the interaction between your vehicle, the plane’s movement and the interpretation of your brain’s visual cues.

The Parallax Effect

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