In an era where editing programs are easy to access by everyone around the world, fake photos are becoming quite common. And when people share such pictures without checking the sources, these photos go viral in no time and give rise to yellow journalism. Enhanced edited pictures and fake addition of news are the reasons why yellow journalism is becoming immensely popular these days. From the picture of a unique black lion to a bear chasing a cyclist, here are some pictures that have skipped even the sharpest eyes on the internet. Let’s have a look at 30 most fake viral photos that were believed to be real.
Behind The Scenes Of Iconic MGM Intro
This picture that has been circulating around the web for a long time now is the iconic MGM intro of a lion roaring. One must be wondering the amount of effort that was pitched in behind the scenes of this classic picture. But you will be surprised to know that it was not that difficult to get this picture for the logo. This picture is a manipulated version of a photo that was originally taken in 2005, when a two-year-old Barbary lion named Samson underwent a CAT scan after falling ill at an Israeli zoo.
Curly Moustache And Angry Eyebrows
People on the internet are obsessed with furry animals, especially with those cute and weird expressions on their face. That explains why this picture with a curly moustache and angry eyebrows went viral quickly. Perhaps, social media users love that angry expression on their furry animals. Well, the picture is not entirely manipulated as the cat already had a perfect unique fur marking of a curly moustache. But those eyebrows are the result of clever manipulation.
Guy Creating An Incredible Fried Rice Wave
These days kids are getting really creative with their editing skills. This viral meme on social media showed a man making an incredible wave of fried rice in his pan. And the people followed this trend by sending their own version of photoshopped images of the rice wave. Unfortunately, the picture is more than what meets the eye. The picture in itself is fake since the rice wave is a sculpture that is sold in a fake food shop in Tokyo. Sorry foodies, you can not have a bite no matter how tempting the wave looks!
Smoking Marijuana In Space
One of the beloved Astronauts Chris Hadfield who is known for making vlogs from space has answered so many questions for us about life in space with zero gravity. From cleaning your teeth to sleeping he has quenched our curiosity about how everything is different in space. An image showing him holding a marijuana bag made people crazy on the internet. However, this misinterpreted picture is far from true. The original picture was posted to Hadfield’s Twitter account on Easter in 2013. Perhaps, he was just trying to surprise his co-workers with some Easter eggs!
Fabulous Castle
You must have dreamt of living a lavish life in huge castles just like princesses did in the past. And this magic castle in the middle of the sea must have fascinated you. However, it is time for us to spill the beans about this magic castle which is not that magical in reality! You will be amazed to know that this picture is a combination of a rock in Thailand and a castle in Germany. Unfortunately, those who were waiting to get them clicked in front of this incredible castle have to get themselves clicked in Germany and Thailand and edit the pictures in one!
The Hilarious College Name Sign
For a long time when this famous picture of the unplanned name sign of architectural college cracked us all with laughter when it went viral. The joke is that the college who teaches planning and architecture to people did not plan their own college sign! However, it is just manipulated in a way that it looks unplanned. In reality, the sign is planned and the full college name is displayed on the sign. Isn’t it amusing how flawless the editing has become in Photoshop these days?
The Daredevil Selfie In The Sky
This pilot is grateful for the invention of the selfie stick more than anyone else or who would have clicked his picture amidst the clouds? This pilot has very well clicked his “high-on-life” moment. But did this pilot actually put the life of his passengers at stake just for a selfie? Obviously not! This picture is just edited in Photoshop and the editor cunningly replaced the land with clouds. But it does not matter where the selfie was taken, the editing does not take away the charm of the pilot. He still looks like he is on “cloud nine” in the picture.
A Kid Sleeping Next To His Deceased Parents’ Graves In Syria
We have all come across several distressing pictures of Syrian attacks. And they have made us have second thoughts about humanity. But not everything that you see on your Facebook feed is true! Similarly, this picture must be perturbing to you. However, this picture is far from reality. It is a staged photo since the child knew the photographer and the graves next to him are not of his parents. It is completely heart-shattering to know the kind of pictures that go viral on the internet in no time!
Frozen Lake In Venice
The above picture flaunts the famous Grand Canal in Venice and it looks like an absolutely beautiful place that travel fanatics can’t wait to visit! But did the Grand Canal actually freeze as shown in the picture above? Not actually! The above picture is a classic example of clever photoshop to give an illusion of a frozen lake in Venice. He merged the pictures of Venice’s Piazza San Marco and Russia’s Lake Bakail to make it look more stunning. Even though this picture is not of Venice’s canal, the canals of Russia have frozen in the past but not completely frozen like shown above.
Flawless Lenticular Clouds
Lenticular clouds are no doubt very pretty and make us take our phones out of our pockets to capture the lovely sky. However, the one that has been circulating around the internet for quite some time now is not as flawless as it seems. The picture of lenticular clouds that has surfaced around the internet is just an exaggerated version. The picture has been photoshopped by someone to make them look prettier. But we think that the actual picture is beautiful enough and doesn’t need any exaggeration to make them more attractive.
The Ultimate Frog Squat
It turns out that people on the internet actually have a thing for funny and weird things! And the creators do not miss an opportunity to provide people with content that can throw them off in laughter. And the picture above is a perfect example of it. This viral picture cracked people on the internet in laughter when they saw this woman doing the ultimate frog squat on a tiny shelf. However, it came out that this woman is not that fitness freak as she seems in the picture. She had just weirdly put only one leg on the shelf!
Peculiar Black Lion
If you ever try to find out the most favorite topics on the internet, cute pictures of animals would definitely make it up to the top ten. It looks like people love to look for cute and weird pictures of animals on the internet. This is why this picture of a peculiar black lion went viral in no time. Although it looks somewhat cool to come across such a unique species of lion, unfortunately this picture is photoshopped and no such black lion exists in reality!
Supermoon Fitting On A Skyscraper
Editors have a weird obsession with the moons! It seems like they capture the marvelous pictures of the moon and edit them later to have a popular photo that people get crazy over the internet. In the picture above, the moon is edited in such a manner that it gives an illusion that it is fitting on a skyscraper perfectly. However, in the actual picture which was taken by Mo Auon he has shown the moon off to the side. Moreover, the size of the moon is bigger in the altered image than the original one.
The “Ten-Year” Challenge Against Deforestation
Recently, the ten year challenge has become a trend on social media. Following the trend a picture of rainforest that has been razed to ground in ten years went viral. Even though deforestation is a major concern, the picture is misleading as the two images are from a single photo. The picture was shared more than thousand times and attracted a lot of comments and likes. But, some comments pointed out that the images did not represent what was suggested in the dates. Later, it was revealed that the picture used to spread the message was the same photo.
Bear Chasing A Cyclist
If you were being chased by a bear while you were cycling, it would make you fit real quick! Fortunately this cyclist was fast enough to escape being caught by this bear. This picture has been shared several times on Facebook and in one particular instance, it was captioned “meals on wheels in Canada.” But this photo is not real! The original photo is believed to be taken at Yellowstone National Park and luckily, in the original picture it is only the panda that is trying to be fit.
Marilyn Monroe And Elizabeth Taylor Together
Oh how we all would love to see these two beauties sharing the same frame! And probably this is because this picture of Marilyn and Elizabeth Taylor chilling together went viral. Unfortunately, this picture is not real and has been photoshopped to fit Elizabeth Taylor into a picture of Marilyn Monoroe. You will be amazed to know that this is not the first time that Marilyn Monroe’s pictures were photoshopped to seem that she is spending time with iconic celebrities like Elvis Presley, James Dean, and John F. Kennedy.
First Dab In The History Ever
Wouldn’t it be great if we could time travel and find out when a specific trend came into being? Seems like someone did time travel to find out when the first dab in history was done! According to this picture, the first dab in history was taken in the 20th century. However, that is not exactly the time when dab was first captured. In reality, this picture is a behind-the-scenes photo from the movie Dunkirk which was shot in 2017. Well, all we can say is editors, take a break!
Picture Of The Space Shuttle
Once again the people on the internet were fooled by a magnificent picture of this space shuttle. This picture is edited in a way to give an illusion that clouds are being broken by the space shuttle and there is no doubt that it looks marvellous! Well, this picture is not entirely fake but just edited a little. The original picture is just as cool as the edited one. The actual picture was captured amidst the clouds even if the clouds were not as pretty as shown in the picture that went viral.
A Dwarf Giraffe
Doesn’t this picture seem like a joke to you? Well, at least this is what we thought! It would not require a genius mind to spot that this picture of a dwarf giraffe is nothing but an attempt to gather some likes and comments on social media. Even though dwarfism is not an alien concept in the case of giraffes, it is very rare to find a dwarf giraffe. This picture is indeed fake!
National Geographic Photographers Being Chased By A Bear
Imagine trying to capture cute animals in their natural habitat and having an encounter with them. These national geographic photographers experienced the chills down their spine when this bear suddenly appeared in front of them. Luckily for them, this picture is far from reality. You don’t need to feel bad for these photographers since the bear that is portrayed in this picture is a stock photo that you can easily find online.
Giant Skeleton
Besides animals, another topic that people on the internet love is archaeological pictures. Recently, photoshopped images of a giant skeleton went viral online. But science or history museums never accepted such findings for a simple reason that these images are all fake. Luckily these giant skeletons are just rumors or we would have to read one more boring chapter in history! This once again proves that you do not need to believe everything you come across on the internet.
A Star Shaped Island
Fascinating pictures like these surely allure us to travel to such pretty destinations. Imagine having dinner and sipping refreshing cocktails amidst the sea in a star shaped island, doesn’t it feel like a hollywood movie? Well, apologies for bursting your bubble about such a star-shaped island! A star shaped island doesn’t exist but you should not be totally disappointed, as there is a moon shaped island Molokini which is located between the islands of Maui and Kahoolawein Hawaii.
Cow Relaxing On A Car
Another cute animal picture that people on the internet were awestruck by was this cow that was relaxing on a car. But unlike other animal pictures that people drooled over, this one here is a little extra in editing. This photoshopped picture doesn’t make sense at all. In this fake photo, a cow is seen sitting and relaxing on a BMW car. In the actual picture, the cow doesn’t have those high standards and prefers sitting on grass itself. We wonder how damaged the car would be if the cow actually chose to sit and chill on it except for grass!
Image Of India From Space
Every year after the Hindu festival Diwali a magical photo of India lit up on the festival goes viral on the social media. However, the picture is not exactly what it claims! That is not how India looks on the night of Diwali. In reality, this image comes from satellite data. It is based on data from U.S Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellites, and it’s a color-composite created in 2003 by a scientist to highlight population growth over time.
Einstein Bicycling As A Bomb Explodes
A black and white picture of Einstein bicycling as an atomic bomb explodes has been popping up on the internet since 2011. If you come to think of it, this picture is not even close to the truth. This image is a composite image that was made using two different photographs taken 29 years apart. The Einstein part of the image was clipped from a photograph of the scientist taken by California Institute of Technology in 1933. And the background image of military and civilian observers watching a nuclear explosion in the desert was captured on 14 July 1962- seven years after the death of the scientist.
Paris Hilton’s Hilarious T-shirt
The famous personality Paris Hilton is renowned for spending a humongous amount of money on things probably most of us can not afford. Even though this celebrity here doesn't shy away from showing off her inherited money in front of a huge crowd, she definitely is not that ignorant to wear a T-shirt calling other people poor. Obviously the image showing her wearing a T-shirt calling people poor is fake and had been revolving around social media. Afterwards, she revealed the real story behind the picture. She was actually wearing a T-shirt that said, “Stop being desperate.”
Mountain Looking Like A Turtle
A picture of an amazing mountain that looks like a turtle surfaced on Facebook and was shared multiple times. However, it is not a genuine picture of a real-life location. It is just a digital artwork and altered versions of two different pictures. The base of this image including the landscape in the foreground is a photograph of Wild Goose Island in Glacier National Park and the turtle mountain portion is the picture of Pilot mountain in North Carolina. Luckily enough we did not book flight tickets to witness this incredible frog mountain with our eyes or we would surely get disappointed at the site.
Romney Family Misspelling Their Last Name
Controversies and fake news are quite common when elections are around the corner, especially in a country like the USA. So back when Mitt Romney was contesting a position for president, people made an effort to ruin his campaign. And one fake picture that surfaced in the media was Romney's family spelling their family’s name as ‘Money’ instead of his last name ‘Romney.’ The picture of the Romney campaign logo, with the young woman on the left wearing a shirt that has the stylized red-and-white-and-blue ‘R’ of that logo, and the remaining children’s shirts spelling out the remainder of the candidate’s surname was digitally manipulated.
Ridiculous Picture Of Pooping Cheerleader
A picture captured of a cheerleader having an unfortunate attack of diarrhea in mid-air has been circulating on Facebook for a long time now. But the backstory of this image emerged in no time and resolved the questions surrounding it. This is not an authentic picture but a digital manipulation of a cheerleader jumping in mid air. Let’s just say that this cheerleader was unfortunate to become a ridiculous version of her picture.
A Picture Of Tourist Captured Moments Before 9/11 Attack
The story of the horrific 9/11 incident is still a mystery for a major chunk of people, and conspiracy theories regarding it are circulating across the internet without any authentic answers. So, when the picture of a tourist moments before the 9/11 attack was captured, people did not think twice before hitting the share button. Luckily, the man in this picture was fortunate enough to not witness the tragedy. This is probably the only silver lining of this awful event.
