A 26-year-old mom from Mesa, Arizona, recently had the scare of her life. Maddy Moore had been soaking up the sun outside when she decided to check her baby monitor. But she wasn’t ready for the sight about to confront her.
The Sunbathing Surprise
Moore was having a relatively good day until she glanced at her baby monitor and saw what appeared to be a “giant gorilla” standing in her living room. She’d just put Weston, her one-year-old son, down for a nap and was looking to enjoy the Arizona sun. Everything was going great until she looked at the monitor. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw what she thought was a massive gorilla.
A Viral Reaction
The incident left the mom so startled that she took to social media to share what she’d just seen. The video quickly went viral, wracking more than 30 million views. “Just checking on my baby monitor to find a huge gorilla in my living room?!” she wrote on the post. “I never moved so fast to go and see.”
No Ape Here
Moore rushed into the house to save her baby as any concerned parent would. But she couldn’t see the gorilla anywhere. Her living room was empty and calm as she left it. Her worry morphed into panic as she started to consider that someone might have hacked her baby monitor.
What Was It?
The real culprit wasn’t what Moore had expected. On closer inspection, she realized what had caused her fright wasn’t an actual gorilla or hacker but rather an optical illusion. Her son’s tiny toy gorilla, part of a beloved zoo animal collection, was the culprit. “I walked by the camera closely, and that’s when I saw the tiny gorilla. It was one of his zoo animal toys,” Moore laughed. Despite its size, the toy appeared bigger on the monitor, which was the cause of Moore’s fright.
Shared Shock
Many of Moore’s followers were equally baffled by the occurrence. “My flabbers were gasted because why does it look so real?” one commenter exclaimed. Another chimed, “With all the chaos in the world…these days, you just never really know what to expect anymore.”
Quite the Relatable Story
For many moms across the country, such occurrences hit close to home. The relatable parenting challenges and honest humor resonate with many women, especially those trying to find the balance between the joys and chaos of raising children.
Resources:
Calming Techniques to Soothe Yourself and Your New Baby
A Guide for First-Time Parents
References:
I spotted a giant gorilla on my son’s baby monitor — this is what it really was
‘Freaking out’: Mum’s terrifying find on babycam was optical illusion