At first glance, there’s nothing that particularly stands out about this image.

But if by just looking at the picture you’ve managed to deduce what time of day it was taken, you might have the skills you need to become a CIA agent.

The US civilian intelligence service tweeted the picture alongside a poll, asking users to work out and vote which time of day they thought was right.

The only clues it gave were three possible times including 3pm, 11am or 7am.

The scene, that does not feature a clock, is a quiet and sun-dappled ski resort with snowy hills and few cars on the road.

To come to a conclusion, the CIA tweeted how your analysis skills must be put to the test.

It said: “Put your analysis skills to the test. What time is it in the photo?”

One user guessed: “I would say it's 7am because the streets have not been ploughed yet, and seeing evergreen trees I bet they have snow ploughs and ample snow removal tools ready.

“I believe that if it was any other time of day the roads would be clearer since it is not currently snowing.”

Another, said: “The cars in the parking lot have snow on hoods. Long shadows. Nobody’s skiing yet. Only 1 car on the road. No pedestrians.

“My initial guess was, midnight in 1 of those climes where the sun’s up all year round in winter. Second best guess would be early as possible in the morning.”

A third, who came to another conclusion commented: “The school buses are throwing me off because they've been recently driven but where are the children if it's school open time?

“I'd rather bank on 3pm with the ski lifts closed or out of order.”

Another in agreement, added: “3pm - street lights on in Northern Hemisphere early due to early dusk. Cars parked in front of open stores, roads well travelled over snow, so not early morning.

“Empty buses parked & waiting for end of school to load, they never park in AM drop off zone.”

A fifth user who commented on the picture, wrote: “7am. Cars are still parked in front of residence [sic], so it's before/after work hours.

“Snow accumulated on cars parked in front of ski resort. No trace of foot traffic. No one on ski slope.”

Following nearly 17,000 votes, the CIA revealed more than 53% of people answered correctly with 7am.

In another tweet, it added: “Most of you guessed correctly. Seems like you all have an eye for this. You should check out our careers page.”

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