Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Why did a woman see Donald Trump in her butter? Here’s a scientific explanation.

A Missouri woman opened a container of butter and saw what would likely be an unpleasant surprise for most people: Donald Trump’s face.

That’s right. According to KSDK’s Jordan Palmer, Jan Castellano of Wildwood, Missouri, thinks she saw Donald Trump’s face in her butter. She provided a picture to the news station as proof:

This is obviously odd. But there is a good scientific explanation for why Castellano was so quick to connect the obscure image to the eccentric billionaire.

Pareidolia, explained

Pareidolia, the process by which the mind perceives a familiar pattern where there is none, explains why the human brain sees faces where there are none. As the video above by Vox’s Christophe Haubursin explains, the human brain is constantly trying to make sense of objects around us, which can lead it to find patterns where there really aren’t any. This helps explain why, for example, so many people report seeing Jesus and the Virgin Mary in their food: They are very familiar, important figures to devout Christians, so they’re probably the figures most likely to come to mind when a religious person sees what looks like a bearded man or a beautiful woman in a piece of toast.

The same phenomenon explains why a Missouri woman saw a face — and Donald Trump’s, at that — in her butter. With his celebrity status and presidential campaign dominating headlines, Trump is one of the most recognizable faces in America today. So Castellano’s brain was probably wired to think of Trump more than other faces, and, as a result, the billionaire showed up in her butter.

More in Politics

The Logoff
Trump’s ceasefire announcement, briefly explainedTrump’s ceasefire announcement, briefly explained
The Logoff

An Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is set to take effect Thursday evening.

By Cameron Peters
Podcasts
What to know about the Israel-Lebanon conflictWhat to know about the Israel-Lebanon conflict
Podcast
Podcasts

A journalist explains what it’s like in Lebanon right now.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Today, Explained newsletter
Trump’s bungled Iran negotiations didn’t have to go this wayTrump’s bungled Iran negotiations didn’t have to go this way
Today, Explained newsletter

Wendy Sherman helped Obama reach a deal with Iran. She sees several areas where Trump is going wrong.

By Caitlin Dewey
The Logoff
Trump’s DOJ wants to undo January 6 convictionsTrump’s DOJ wants to undo January 6 convictions
The Logoff

How the Trump administration is still trying to rewrite January 6 history.

By Cameron Peters
Politics
Donald Trump messed with the wrong popeDonald Trump messed with the wrong pope
Politics

Trump fought with Pope Francis before. He’s finding Pope Leo XIV to be a tougher foil.

By Christian Paz
Podcasts
A cautionary tale about tax cutsA cautionary tale about tax cuts
Podcast
Podcasts

California cut property taxes in the 1970s. It didn’t go so well.

By Miles Bryan and Noel King