The woman who could see things from a mile away: This is the story of Veronica Seider and her amazing eyesight

A person with good vision is often described as having “eyes like a hawk.” Veronica Seider, born in West Germany in 1951, would fit this description. Guinness World Record reports that in 1972, the University of Stuggard reported Seider, a student at the time, “possessed a visual acuity 20 times better than average” and was able to “identify people at a distance of more than a mile (1.6 km).”

How Seider’s vision compares to the average person

Though to many, Seider’s talents feel like something out of a superhero film, her abilities were totally human, and likely a genetic anomaly. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, 20/20 vision is shorthand for a person being able to see “what the average individual can see on an eye chart when they are standing 20 feet away.“ However, in Seider’s case, her vision was classed as 20/2, meaning that she could see clearly at 20 feet, what many would only be able to see at 2 feet of distance.

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