What are the belmez faces?
The Belmez Faces are a series of mysterious, haunting faces that appeared one morning on the concrete floor of a private home in Belmez de la Moraleda, Andalusia, Spain. One morning in August 1971, Maria Gomez Pereira came down to the kitchen to see faces in the concrete floor. These seemed to be formed from stains or markings in the concrete.
For the next 30 years, these faces would appear and disappear, changing expressions along the way, and morphing into different visages.
Ref [1]
What Makes the Belmez Faces So Mysterious?
There is seemingly no explanation for why the Belmez Faces suddenly showed up one day in Gomez Pereira’s kitchen. Any attempts to scrub away the images or to destroy them were in vain, as they would just come back again.
Maria was so disturbed by the faces that she had her husband and son destroy the floor with a pickaxe, New concrete was laid down, but a new face formed anyway.
The mayor of Belmez was told about the situation, and he ordered the concrete be cut out and taken to be studied.
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What Are Some Theories About the Belmez Faces?
Theories range from paranormal to psychological to scientific. Paranormal theories hypothesize that the house is haunted, and the faces are supernatural entities or spirits. The ghostly images appear as some sort of paranormal phenomenon, or perhaps a psychic effect unconsciously manifested by Maria Gomez Pereira herself.
The psychological Pareidolia Effect is also important to consider. This is the human tendency to see faces in random patterns, for example in stains, clouds, tea leaves, etc. The concrete may simply have been stained, with the house’s occupants then seeing the stains as faces.
Scientific analysis has also been carried out, and there is a further hypothesis.
Are they a Forgery?
Scientific study in 1993 noted three metals in the concrete: zinc, lead, and chromium. All three are (or were) used in pigments, leading researchers to believe the faces had been painted on. Infrared photography showed that pigmentation had indeed been added, and paint brush bristles could also be made out.
Sociologist Manuel MartÃn Serrano wrote a study about the Belmez Faces, anonymously interviewing residents of the town. People seem to be divided between those who believe the faces are be real and those who believe them to be a hoax for financial gain.
Another chemical analysis was done by the Institute of Ceramics and Glass (ICV) in 1990, with the results showing no trace of paint.
Some theories point to the use of acid rather than paint, and indeed there are different chemical possibilities to create an effect like the Belmez Faces.
Have the Belmez Faces Been Definitively Debunked?
Not really. There has been no agreement or consensus about what actually caused the Belmez Faces, scientific or otherwise. They are still a popular topic of investigation: in 2014 the investigative journalism TV show Cuarto Milenio carried out techinical analysis of the faces to try to debunk the Belmez Faces by prooving they’re a hoax. The analysis found no proof of any technique to modify the concrete, and any attempts to recreate the effect were in vain. Make of that what you will.
What Is the Legacy of the Belmez Faces?
The Belmez Faces remain an enduring paranormal mystery, with the house, known as La Casa de las Caras (The House of the Faces) – pictured in the featured image above – becoming a tourist attraction. The Pereira family would go on to claim for the next 30 years that faces were continuing to appear, male and female, different shapes, sizes, and expressions. As soon as Easter 1972 – about nine months after the first appearance – hundreds of people were going to the house to see the faces.
Whatever the cause may be, the Belmez Faces are definitely cemented (ha!) in paranormal history as one of those things that just seems to defy explanation.
Image References
Featured Image: “Belmez2.jpg” by Degeefe is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons
[1] “Cara mujer.JPG” by Cesar Tort is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons
