Credit: Divulgaçāo/Guinness World Records

Brazil’s Sidney de Carvalho Mesquita holds the world record title for the male with the farthest eyeball pop. 

Known to friends and family as Tio Chico (one translation of which is ‘Uncle Fester’, possibly due to Mesquita’s resemblance to the Addams Family character), Mesquita can make his eyeballs protrude to 18.2mm beyond his eye sockets. His “gift” was discovered at the age of nine while making silly faces in the mirror, he said. His proptosis proficiency impressed his family and friends and in 2023 he was officially recognised by the Guinness World Records.

American Kim Goodman holds the equivalent female world record, with a proptosis of 12mm. She said she has been able to voluntarily make her eyeballs protrude since an accident where she banged her head; they also bulge when she yawns.