A rather incredible optical illusion is currently doing the rounds on the internet and we have to admit, it’s a good one.

As you can see, the darker blue lines appear to be at slanting angles, snaking their way up the checkerboard.

If that’s what you see then we’re afraid we’ve got some bad news for you.

They’re just horizontal straight lines. Don’t believe us? Get out a ruler or object you know to be straight and hold it up against the image.

Annoying huh?

The illusion was created by professional magician and illusion artist Victoria Skye and while this particular image is currently getting the internet hooked it’s actually a well known optical phenomenon.

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What you’re looking at is something called the Cafe Wall Illusion. Named after a piece of ornate brick work seen at a Bristol cafe, the illusion combines the use of straight edges and dark and light shades to trick the brain.

While the illusion has existed in other forms before, the internet is in general agreement that this is one of the best examples they’ve seen.

Oh and in case you’re wondering, here’s the actual brick wall that inspired the name for the illusion in the first place:

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