A motorist in Singapore recently managed to capture on camera a cool optical illusion of a banana tree looking like a pontianak.

The photo was uploaded to the SC Private Group - It Must Be The Hantu Facebook group on May 15.

The caption said the photo was taken two days earlier at Telok Ayer.

What photo showed

The portion circled in the photo apparently looked like a ghostly entity dressed in white with long black hair.

However, the photo revealed that it was clearly a drooping banana tree leaf when the image had its brightness increased.

Responses

As with all talk about supernatural sightings, the post attracted a spirited discussion (pun intended) with more than two dozen comments.

Some who saw the woman-like figure said they were spooked.

Others explained that it was just a case of "pareidolia", which is the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern.

Another commenter elaborated further with a gif about what the entity could have been.

For the record, the photo was taken at 51 Telok Ayer Street, which leads to the junction of Telok Ayer Street and Cross Street.

Perhaps this would explain why banana trees are associated with pontianaks.

This is not the first time a ghostly apparition was caught on camera.

Previously, a woman spotted a "pontianak" on top of a van in Yishun at 7:39pm in a photo taken from a public bus by her daughter.

Top photos via SC Private Group - It Must Be The Hantu