The Lotto has explained the mix-up with its balls on Saturday night… do you buy it?

The Irish National Lottery has issued an explanation for why some of its viewers believed they saw the numbers 33 and 38 on the same ball during Saturday's Lotto Plus One draw.

Viewers across the country had taken to social media to point out the apparent discrepancy, enough that the Lotto sent spokesperson Fran Whearty out to clear the issue up. "The National Lottery would like to assure its players of the integrity of Saturday night’s Lotto Plus 1 draw. A brief reflection of light during filming caused an illusion and some players to think there were two numbers on ball 38. This was not the case. The weight and size of all Lotto balls, and the numbers, are strictly checked in advance of each draw." Whearty also reminded viewers that "This process, as well as the draw itself, is independently observed by our auditors KPMG." Many JOE readers pointed out the seeming mishap to us. Here's one photo from Michael Larkin. Can we get a close up of that? What do you think?