Back before YouTube, social media, television, radio, or even fancy puppets, there were clouds.

When there was nothing else to keep one entertained, a person could always look at the clouds and let their imaginations run wild. It’s something some people still do today.

A user on Reddit recently posted pictures of some rather unique-looking clouds they saw over their house one day.

Depending on how you look at the cloud, it can take the shape of a dog or a cat.

Is that a cat or a dog in the sky?

In order to illustrate how to find the cat and dog shape in the clouds, the Reddit user added some highlights to the pictures.

To see the cat, picture the two bumps to the far left of the cloud as the little feline’s claws and the two bumps at the top of the cloud its ears.

For the dog, it’s a little different.

The front two bumps are its paws but the dog’s face is pointed up in the air. What is one of the cat’s ears is the dog’s nose.

Why do we sometimes see faces, objects, or animals in the clouds?

There is actually a term for it when you see familiar objects, patterns, people, and/or animals in random objects. It is called “pareidolia” and theories regarding it form the basis of the famous inkblot tests used in psychology.

While everybody has the tendency to do this from time to time, some people do it more often than others. It is said to be more prevalent in people who enjoy creative and artistic pursuits.

The Shakespearean play Hamlet contains a scene where the title character and Polonius discuss what they see in the clouds.

“Hamlet: Do you see yonder cloud that’s almost in shape of a camel?
Polonius: By th’ mass and ’tis: like a camel indeed.
Hamlet: Methinks it is like a weasel.
Polonius: It is backed like a weasel.
Hamlet: Or like a whale.
Polonius: Very like a whale.”
– From Hamlet (1603) by William Shakespeare, Act III, Scene 2

The internet can’t determine if these clouds are a cat or a dog.

While the answer to whether the clouds resemble a dog or a cat is something entirely dependent on the person looking at them, that hasn’t stopped the internet from having a fierce debate on the subject.

“Did the test, wife says she is a dog person and I’m a cat person, we both saw cat first so it’s time that my wife embrace her true nature we are getting rid of the dog to adopt 5 cats. Thank you reddit!” One Reddit user wrote.

Another user on Reddit waxed philosophically about how we sometimes see familiar images in random objects.

They concluded that the image is clearly a bunny rabbit.

“It is interesting that people try to find meaningful patterns in things that are essentially random. I have noticed that the images they perceive sometimes suggest what they are thinking about at that particular moment. Besides, it is clearly a bunny rabbit,” another Reddit user wrote.

This cloud looks like a cat, and a dog.
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Some people saw entirely different things too.

“I see a Star Wars Storm Trooper with cat ears,” wrote one observant Star Wars fan.

Some Reddit users also saw an opportunity to make some bad dad jokes too.

“if only it were a rain cloud… it’d be raining cats and dogs,” one user decided it was a good idea to post.

Do you see a cat or a dog when you look at these clouds?

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Source: Reddit/Lia Erdbeer Nüsschen/Psyche.co