We’ve all had the embarrassing experience of preparing ourselves for a step that wasn’t actually there — or worse, not expecting a step when there is one. Dealing with this typically either leads to a moment of catching yourself or, in the worst cases, cartoonishly tumbling down the stairs and hitting every part of your body along the way (a shockingly common way to die).


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Why this happens in the first place is an intriguing mystery. But no matter why we occasionally expect a phantom step, it can still be funny to experience someone else doing it firsthand, as this user did.



In the video, a string of people can be seen approaching a flat surface, then gingerly lifting their feet to traverse it Indiana Jones-style. Some stumble as they continue their journey on flat ground, though it seems like any major falls were either avoided or unforgivably cut from the final video.


Of course, internet users had theories as to why so many people were carefully approaching the ghost step, with a number of them settling on the idea that some mischievous builder had either intentionally or accidentally created a trick of the light that spawned the phantom step.




Others simply made jokes about the situation.




Naturally, the video also shows some people who could easily just continue walking, their stride unbroken by the treacherous shadow. I guess some people just weren’t falling for it.