Can eggs be vampires? Well, if they can be, at least we know this egg isn’t one. That’s because we can see its reflection in the mirror, even though 16.8 million TikTok viewers have no idea why. Vampiric activity would be easier to explain than this illusion.


“Can anyone explain how does the mirror know that there’s an object there?” That’s NotRaff’s caption on his viral video holding an egg up to a mirror, and what its 16.8 million TikTok viewers are wondering.


In the viral video, TikTok user NotRaff holds his egg up to a mirror, with a piece of paper in between the egg and the glass. Somehow, the egg is still visible in the mirror when viewed from the right angle. But how?


@_.urfavcurlyhead._ I’m kinda confused ngl #fyp #mirror ♬ cigs after s3x k slowed - spedupaudios ୨♡୧


“Mirror is hacking,” one person commented on Twitter. “Because mirrors have object permanence, unlike babies,” someone else joked. Typically when the internet has science questions, they direct them to Hank Green; an author and TikTok science communicator. But even he decided to take a backseat on this one. “You guys can figure this out on your own,” he said. “I feel like you got this.”


@hankgreen1

You can do it!!!

♬ original sound - Hank Green


“Damnit Hank do your job!” one person commented. “Hank, we’ve given you no reason at all to believe that we got this.” Fortunately, Twitter user Sickman took the responsibility on himself and made this helpful diagram.



The key to seeing the egg in the mirror is perspective. Light is all around us, bouncing to and from just about every surface including the mirror, the egg, and our eyes. If we can see the egg, then light from the egg can bounce off the mirror and into our eyes when viewed from the right angle. Sickman shared a similar illustration by Andy Balko.


“This trend is funny cause half my brain thinks it makes sense but half my brain is confused,” the account Today Years Old said while sharing the video. Mirrors might not actually be able to see, know or remember, but we can. And that’s the real reason why we see an egg in the mirror.