Hoax Museum Blog: Photos

Terrorist Catch and Release — This image has been floating around the internet for at least two years. It usually is accompanied by the caption: "In 2003 the US Navy initiates its new 'Terrorist Catch and Release Program.'" Obviously the caption is a joke, and I'm guessing that the car has been photoshopped in. But what would the crowd be standing there for? Would it be safe for them to stand there as a plane was taking off?
image
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005.   Comments (49)

Watching Ringu — A video (in quicktime) shows a group of Japanese girls (members of the pop group Morning Musume) watching a video of the horror movie Ringu. There's a lot of shrieking, so definitely turn your speakers down. But wait until the end for the prank that's played on them. The video can also be found on other sites in wmv format.
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005.   Comments (15)

Soldier With Fingers Crossed — image Snopes has a listing about a photo that shows a soldier shaking hands with Hillary Clinton while his fingers are crossed. A caption accompanying the photo explains that the soldier was crossing his fingers to signal that he was coerced to shake hands with her. Today Snopes updated this listing to include a link to a Yahoo Personals Page apparently created by the guy in the picture in which he states that he's no fan of Hillary Clinton. Snopes notes that this confirms what the caption says about why he was crossing his fingers. But my question is about the Yahoo Profile. How are we supposed to know that it's real? It could have been created by anyone. There's no name on it, nor any very specific information. And the picture displayed on the page is the very same picture that's spread all over the internet. Didn't the guy have an original, better-quality version of it? If he had included other photos of himself I would totally believe it's him. But the fact that this is the only photo made available seems a little suspicious. Maybe this really is him, but based on what's there, it's impossible to be sure. After all, it's not like people never fake personals. Or am I missing something?
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2005.   Comments (26)

Trampoline Baby — image I just received an email from Dave Simpson with the attached image. Dave says:

Here is a photo of my son, Connor, on our backyard trampoline in Alabama. He was four months old at the time. Feel free to post it on your site.

So I'm stumped. Obviously a 4-month-old infant couldn't bounce themselves up and down on a trampoline. So how was the picture taken? I have no idea.
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005.   Comments (87)


USA Today Photo Request — I just received this request from USA Today. I'm not sure how to respond to it. Any suggestions?

Hello,
We are doing a story on 10 great places that have fools in their name. Do
you have any handout photographs of the exterior or interior of the museum?
Thanks so much,
Life Picture Desk
USA TODAY

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005.   Comments (48)

Extreme Cars — I received an email with these pictures of extreme cars attached. Are they real? I'm not sure, though they look like something you'd find in a Worth1000 photoshop contest. I have the feeling that I've seen the pictures before, but I'm not sure where or when. I'm sure someone will know the story behind them.
imageimageimage
imageimageimage

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005.   Comments (22)

Scissors Sticking Out Of His Arm — image The setting is a dorm room. A kid gets sprayed with water and retaliates by throwing a pair of scissors which, if you think the video is real, lodge in the arm of the kid spraying the water. I'm skeptical that it's real. Those would have to be some pretty sharp scissors to stick in an arm like that and most scissors are blunt (purposefully).
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005.   Comments (51)

Car Buried in Snow — I guess we're supposed to believe that these two guys have just dug their car out of the snow. Except that the car looks awfully clean for having been buried in snow. If the picture has been photoshopped, I'm not sure which part of it is fake. Or maybe it's real, in which case how did the car get there?
image
Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005.   Comments (52)

Car Park Theft — image A sign photographed outside a pub in England bears this warning:

CAR PARK THEFT
Dear Customers,
Thames Valley Police have brought to our attention that thieves now have the technical means to identify electrical products hidden anywhere within a vehicle INCLUDING THE BOOT!
Lap Top Computers being the main target.
Please note we are happy to store most items for the duration of your visit just ask at the bar.


The question this raises in my mind (and the mind of the person who took the picture) is whether thieves really do have the ability to detect laptop computers hidden anywhere in a car, or is the warning a hoax? I suppose it would be possible to detect hidden electronic gear, given the right equipment. But it doesn't seem like the kind of stuff your average thief would be carrying around. And why does the invitation to give your laptop to the guy behind the bar seem a bit fishy?
Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005.   Comments (32)

Tall Tail Egg — image Ananova brings us the 'Tall-Tail' Egg:

An egg in China has been found with a tail. The egg, found by chef Wang of at his restaurant in Anyang city, Henan province, is normal size, but has a tail that is 3 cm long. It is not known why the egg has the tail reports Dahe Daily. Wang says he wants to hatch the egg and see what will come out.

(via Liquito)
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005.   Comments (28)

Wedding Photos — A couple of weeks ago Stephen sent me a set of pictures showing an 'Arkansas Wedding' (the two pictures on the left). At the time I thought the pictures were funny, but obviously just a joke, so I forwarded them to a couple of friends and forgot about them. But now I see that Snopes has created an entry about them, which made me feel like I should have posted them when I first got them. So anyway, here they are. Better late than never. Snopes identifies the photo of the hillbilly couple as an entry in a Worth1000 contest ('If rednecks ruled the world') and the picture of the 'wedding cake' comes from the Twinkies website.

However, I believe I have Snopes scooped with this fake photo (on the far right) of the newly engaged Charles and Camilla. I know it's fake because that's obviously Charles's head photoshopped onto someone else's body.


image image image

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2005.   Comments (9)

Silence Killer Mystery Image — I received this mystery image via email, and I'm trying to figure out what it is. It may have nothing at all to do with hoaxes or pranks, but I'm wondering if it's some kind of Japanese prank gadget that makes farting noises. Or is it a really badly named perfume spray? I have no idea. Click the image to enlarge.
image
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005.   Comments (21)

Martha Stewart’s New Body — image It's being reported that the current issue of Newsweek has a faux picture of Martha Stewart on its cover. Its her head pasted on to someone else's body. "Janice E. Castro, a director at Northwestern's school of journalism, said the fact that the image did not look completely artificial and could be mistaken for the real thing was a problem." Newsweek actually admits that the picture is fake inside the magazine, so I don't think this is really that big a deal. Plus, nowadays I think it would be more surprising if a star on the cover of a magazine weren't photoshopped in some way. Anyway, the most outrageous instance of a celebrity's face combined with someone else's body on a magazine cover remains the August 26, 1989 cover of TV Guide sporting the Oprah/Ann-Margret Frankenstein creation.
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005.   Comments (7)

World Record for Smoking — image True or False: Did Stefan Sigmond of Transylvania gain the world record for smoking by smoking 800 cigarettes in less than six minutes? If I hadn't seen the picture I wouldn't have believed it was possible, but apparently it is true, although I'm a bit wary about whether using this 'special wheel-like device' should really count. It doesn't seem like you would be fully smoking all the cigarettes. Anyway, I hate smoking, but I'd love to see someone whip out a device like this at a bar and start puffing away. (via RealityCarnival)
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005.   Comments (40)

Big Dog — image I've seen big dogs before. But this is ridiculous. There's no way it can be real. I say photoshop. (via Liquito)

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005.   Comments (47)

Oversized Biceps — I wish these pictures were fake, but they appear to be real. They show bodybuilder Greg Valentine. He got his arms that big by injecting a combination of steroids directly into them. At the risk of being insensitive, I'd say the results look pretty gross. In fact, his biceps no longer look like real biceps at all. They look like strange tumors growing out of his arm. It's a wonder that his biceps are functional at all. (via ChrisDiClerico.com)
imageimageimage

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005.   Comments (47)

Sky Tennis — image Here's a cool picture (click to enlarge) that's started going around. It looks totally fake, but it's real. It shows a tennis court that was laid out on the helipad of the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai last week. Playing on the court are Andre Agassi and Roger Federer. It was all just a publicity stunt. Regular guests aren't allowed to play on the helipad.
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005.   Comments (16)

Bellybutton Showing — image I just received this lovely image in my email (click the thumbnail to enlarge, and warning, it's a little gross). It comes with the caption: "Almost spring and girls start showing their bellybuttons." I have no idea if it's real or not. Sure, there are definitely people whose bellies hang way down. Bodies come in all sizes and shapes. But this woman appears to have one long tongue of flesh hanging straight down between her knees. So the anatomy is a little peculiar, which makes me think it's been photoshopped. But honestly, I have no idea.
Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005.   Comments (49)

Osama Bin Laden As A Teenager — image Apparently this picture (click to enlarge) has been circulating around for quite a while (over three years), but I've just seen it. It shows a happy group portrait of twenty-two brothers and sisters posing for the camera while on a family holiday, but the grinning kid whose face is circled is none other than Osama bin Laden. This picture appeared in the Sun with the caption:

the 14-year-old is Osama bin Laden - and within a few years the grinning schoolboy was on his way to becoming the world's most cold-hearted mass murderer. The bin Laden children lined up next to a pink Chrysler Imperial for this snapshot on a trip to Falun, Sweden, in 1971. The holiday was paid for by their father Mohammed, a billionaire building tycoon. Osama inherited a fortune when his dad died soon afterwards - and used it to build a worldwide network of terror.

Is it just me, or does young Osama look a tiny bit like Bill Gates? Also, I had no idea he was only 47-years-old. He looks like he's nearing 60. (via Image of the Day)
Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005.   Comments (47)

Windows House — image I just saw this on J-Walk Blog. A picture of a house painted to look like Microsoft Windows (click the thumbnail to enlarge). It would be cute if someone actually did this to their house. But in this particular case, I don't think the house in the picture is real. The compression blurring around the letters and icons is pretty obvious. I'm guessing that the lime-green coloring of the house is also fake. You can't see the license plates on the cars, so it's impossible to know in what country this house is located. But it definitely appears to be in Europe somewhere.
Update: The bottom-right word on the house is 'Modien'. What language is that?
Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005.   Comments (11)

Page 19 of 25 pages ‹ First  < 17 18 19 20 21 >  Last ›