23 times people had to do a serious double-take to understand what they were seeing

Have you ever been walking down the street and stopped dead in your tracks because you thought one thing was something else entirely? It happened to me just yesterday - I started smiling at a man who I thought was carrying his sausage dog across the road... turns out it was just his brown coat that he had rolled up. Looked quite foolish when I tried to pat it.

Well, it turns out having to do a double-take is fairly common. These Redditors recently shared their eye-popping examples of having to stop and take a closer look; whether it was because one thing looked so much like something else or the fact that what they were seeing in front of their eyes just didn't seem plausible. Either way, you're guaranteed to be doing a double-take of the following 23 pictures!

1. What are the chances of this happening?

"Flying home for the holidays dressed to surprise the family. Before the flight, I met this stranger at the airport. Instant best friends".

2. You wouldn't blame Mario for eating this

This mushroom somebody found growing in their yard, which actually looks like a delicious chocolate covered donut.

3. And this isn't an amazing shot of Earth from space...

...it's actually just a perfectly angled picture of the top of someone's car.

4. Where is this airport and how fast can I get there?

Somebody spilled their gorgeous puppies everywhere! (But if you look closely, one of them is actually just a soft toy!)

5. I think Mother Nature has a problem

Because I definitely thought this anteater's leg was a panda.

6. Excuse me, ma'am!

Oh... it's just her travel cushion. Never mind.

7. No, they're not planets

These are actually just the bottoms of old frying pans!

8. "During a 12-hour flight delay, my boyfriend wandered off. When I found him he was in the middle of a Pixar movie marathon with a group of 5-year-olds. He's the one for me"

I'm not going to lie, my partner and I have done the exact same thing before. Except we were kindly asked to leave...

9. "While boarding a flight, an 8yr old ominously told me 'I left a secret agent to watch you...' I wasn't sure what that meant for the next two hours until another passenger pointed this out to me..."

That is honestly the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life!

10. These are birds, NOT a caterpillar

But admit it, you definitely thought it was.

11. When you run into this pilot

I think he's just having a laugh. Okay, I really hope he's just having a laugh!

12. It's a UFO landing in a field!

Wrong! It's actually just somebody's dirty car door.

13. "My friend's daughter just flew by herself for the first time. This was how he greeted her at the airport"

Definitely doing this when I'm older!

14. Art imitating life?

Actually, it's the other way around! This is actually a gorgeous photograph taken in Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia.

15. When you run into Professor Snape and it turns out he's been working for American Airlines all this time

Let's hope he's not using the Wingardium Leviosa spell in order to keep all those planes in the air.

16. When a lizard lands on your windscreen...

...and you legit think Godzilla is destroying the city.

17. Lovely painting...

"Took this picture of an empty barn window, turned out looking like a picture on the wall."

18. This may look like cracked concrete or tree bark...

...but this is actually an aerial shot of New Delhi in India. Sadly, not a patch of green anywhere.

19. There seems to be a glitch

When the sun is shining directly overhead in Hawaii, it makes these bollards look like a bad video game render.

20. Nope, this isn't a tropical paradise

This is actually just a close up of a small rock.

21. Who'd live in a place like this?

Well, nobody. Although the inside of this guitar does look like a modern apartment I'd never be able to afford.

22. The mouth of hell?

Like a scene from Dante's Inferno, this volcanic lava pit genuinely looks like damned souls being dragged straight to hell.

23. Do you ever feel like there's somebody watching you?

"I was watching The Avengers on my laptop at the airport... this was happening behind me."

So, as these pictures go to prove; things are always what they seem!