The CIA has put Twitter to the test by presenting them with a challenging photo puzzle and asking them to work out the time at which it was taken.
Alongside the picture of the snowed town, they wrote: "Put your analysis skills to the test" and gave social media users three possible options: 3:00PM, 11:00AM, or 7:00AM.
A number of would-be CIA agents then explained their reasoning in the comments section, citing everything from the position of the snow to the position of the school buses.
One Twitter user wrote: "The cars in the parking lot have snow on hoods. Long shadows. Nobody's skiing yet. Only 1 car on the road. No pedestrians. My initial guess was, midnight in 1 of those climes where the sun’s up all year round in winter."
A second wrote: "I would say it's 7 am because the streets have not been plowed yet, and seeing evergreen trees I bet they have snow plows and ample snow removal tools ready. I believe that if it was any other time of day the roads would be clearer since it is not currently snowing."
A third Twitter user also guessed 7 am, writing: "School busses indicate it's mostly likely either 7am or 3pm, (although early dismissal could be 11am). The tire marks on the roads indicate some, but not much traffic. The sun angle looks a little low, and the street lights (many times automated) are on. Makes me think 7 AM. [sic]"
Meanwhile, a fourth Twitter user simply wrote: "I must admit to giggling as I read the descriptions given for reasoning around snow. If you've not lived in a cold region before, here's what I can tell you by observation as a northern Mainer; the roads ARE freshly plowed and those cars and busses HAVE been cleared of snow."
The CIA followed up the initial tweet by revealing that the correct answer is 7 am.
"Most of you guessed correctly," the CIA wrote. "Seems like you all have an eye for this. You should check out our careers page: cia.gov/careers/ #DiscovertheCIA"
What answer did you guess?
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