Update: My 7 yr old walked up and I asked her what she saw, and she said, "Two dinosaurs and something in the middle." So yeah... there is probably a neuroscience thesis paper in this somewhere.
Twenty years ago my best friend's wife lost the diamond out of her engagement ring walking through their backyard. He staked off five feet on each side of her footprints, ran string to the stakes, and vacuumed the entire section with a wet-vac, and found the diamond about 2/3 of the way.