There’s a lot of fake news spreading across the world right now and, with a little help from Adobe Photoshop and other photo editing software, it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between what is real and what is fake. People have got so skilled with editing pictures that they can lead you to believe something just by providing photographic evidence. We have compiled a list of some of the best fake pictures that went viral that people believed to be true.
MGM Lion Goes To The Hospital
The one on the right is the real picture while the one on the left is just an edited piece of work. This picture led people to believe that MGM Studios was mistreating animals. However, the original picture was of a regular lion being examined at the vet’s office.
Cowboy Cat
This cat had an adorable pattern in its fur that made it look like she had a moustache. However, her owners decided that it was not enough and decided to give the cat angry eyebrows as well so that she looks angry all the time.
Fried Rice Wave
At first glance, you might believe the picture on the left to be real, since the man looks so confident creating the wave out of fried rice. Most of the people around the world believed it too. However, the truth is that the fried rice wave is actually a sculpture that was sold in a fake food shop in Tokyo.
Not The Bag You Saw On The Internet
Chris Hadfield is one of the most beloved astronauts out there, floating in space and zero gravity. When the first picture appeared on the internet, people were left wondering how Chris spends his time up there. However, the real picture was of Chris just trying to surprise his fellow astronauts with a bag full of Easter Eggs.
Castle On The Rock
Who wouldn’t love to spend time in this castle? It’s completely isolated and there is only one point of access at the bottom of the rock. Well, unfortunately you can’t visit this castle because the picture is actually a combination of a castle in Germany and a rock in Thailand.
Oh The Irony
The first picture went viral on the internet when people saw the irony in the name and the sign. However, as it turns out, the people who designed the sign were quite good at planning and the picture that went viral was actually a work of photoshop.
Selfie Among The Clouds
This picture of a pilot taking a selfie from the window of the cockpit while the airplane is in flight, took the internet by storm. However, the real picture was just the pilot taking the picture on the runway.
Sleeping Next To The Graves
A kid sleeping next to his parents’ graves in Syria was heartbreaking, but in reality it was completely staged. The kid actually knew that the photographer was there and the graves did not actually belong to his parents.
The Frozen Waters Of Venice
This picture was quite scary when it first appeared. However, in reality, it was just a mashup of buildings in Venice and a picture of Lake Baikal in Russia when it was frozen.
Lenticular Clouds
If you want to see a picture of some of the coolest clouds, then have a look at some lenticular clouds. Although it looks like the person who took this original picture decided that just one lenticular cloud was not enough so he decided to add on a few more.
Squatting Like A Frog
This woman became quite famous on the internet when people saw her squatting like a frog on the tiny shelf. In reality, she just had one of her legs on top of the shelf, which in itself is also quite weird.
The Black Lion
Finding a unique species is a wonderful thing and if you discovered something that has never seen before, you would be well-renowned and credited with the discovery. When someone said they discovered a black lion, people went crazy on the internet. As it turns out, it was just a work of photoshop.
Carrying The Moon
The moon was not actually on the helipad of the Burj-al-Arab. It was actually the picture on the right and it was taken by Mo Aoun; someone just photoshopped the moon onto the helipad.
Deforestation 10 Years Challenge
The before and after pictures of an Amazon forest to show the difference of 10 years were actually fake. They were part of the same picture of a rainforest being cut down.
Being Chased By The Bear
This was yet another picture that went viral on the internet. After all, a bear running down the road is not as interesting as a bear chasing down a cyclist.
Marilyn Monroe & Elizabeth Taylor
Marilyn Monroe is an all-time favorite for photoshop enthusiasts, who like to edit her picture alongside another celebrity. This time it was Elizabeth Taylor while other photos include Elvis and JF Kennedy.
The Historical Dab
The picture above led everyone to believe that the first dab in history happened at some point in the 20th century. However, as it turns out, it was just a color changed picture of a behind-the-scenes moment from the movie Dunkirk in 2017.
Shuttle Among The Clouds
People began sharing the first image, amazed by how the shuttle rose through the clouds in the sky as it flew towards Space. However, it was photoshopped, even though the original image is still really cool.
The Dwarf Giraffe
It’s true that like other animals, giraffes can also suffer from dwarfism. However, the picture of the short and stout giraffe is not real.
Nat Geo Photographers
At first glance, this is quite a scary picture. However, once you realize that it was photoshopped, it’s easy to see the funny side. The cherry on the cake is that the picture of the bear is actually a stock photo that you can easily find on the internet.
Skeletons Of Giants
Earth’s history would have been completely different if giants had actually walked the Earth. Even though there are many images on the internet showing archaeologists sitting besides the skeletons of what looks like giant heads, there is no evidence of the pictures being real.
Star-Shaped Island
This picture of the moon and star island combo is fake. However, there is a crescent moon-shaped island, the Molokini, located between the islands of Maui and Kahoolawe, Hawaii.
Chilling On The Car
The cow chilling on the BMW would surely put a dent in the bonnet. Thankfully, the picture was photoshopped.
India On Diwali
This picture has been shared many times on the internet. People claim that it was snapped by a NASA satellite during the Hindu festival of Diwali. However, it is just another photoshopped picture.
Walking Away From The Explosion
Superheroes often walk away in style with an explosion that they caused in the background. However, this picture of Albert Einstein took things to the next level when he cycled away from the explosion. Clearly, the picture was fake.
Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton is known for being a huge spender. The picture on the left shows her wearing an offensive T-shirt. However, that picture is fake and the real T-shirt asked people to stop being desperate.
Turtle Mountain
If this mountain actually existed, it would be amazing and very picturesque. However, the picture above is fake and the real picture is of the Pilot Mountain in North Carolina.
Misspelling Their Last Name
Back when Mitt Romney was running for President, there was a picture which spread across the internet saying MONEY. However, in reality the family were just spelling out their last name.
The Pooping Cheerleader
This is yet another fake picture. The cheerleader was not suffering from a serious case of diarrhea and it was just a normal picture of a cheerleading training session gone wrong.
The Picture Before 9/11
There are various conspiracy theories surrounding the 9/11 attacks on New York City. However, this picture was not real and the man did not witness the attack and post it online. The airplane was photoshopped into the picture.
The Blue Watermelon
This is the Japanese Moon Melon and it went quite viral a few years ago. People even gave it a scientific name and spread the rumor that it was only native to a few areas in Japan. However, in reality, it was just another photoshopped picture of a regular watermelon.
Sharks In The Mall
People claimed that this picture was taken after a shark tank collapsed at The Scientific Center in Kuwait. However, the sharks were photoshopped in the picture and the flooding was from Toronto’s Royal Bank Plaza after a flooding incident.
The Rude Martin Luther King
You might think that Martin Luther King was quite rude when you see the picture on the left. However, the real picture is on the right and he was holding up the sign for peace. The picture on the left was photoshopped.
Hurricane Sandy
This was quite a viral image and people were intent on believing that it was a real evidence of the destruction that was brought on by Hurricane Sandy. However, the picture is fake and it is just a still from the movie “The Day After Tomorrow”.
Dumping In The Ocean
Social media claimed that this ship was dumping human waste and other pollutants in the ocean. However, that is not true. The ship had just started its engines and the brown that we see is sand and mud being disturbed on the sea floor.
Double Decker Bus Racing
Just looking at this picture, we can tell that it is photoshopped. There is no way you could race double decker buses and have the picture taken in that era.
Long Exposure Lightning Strike
Half of this picture is photoshopped but the other half is true. It is a long exposure shot of a painting created by artist Darren Pearson, who does “light painting.” The lightning strike was photoshopped in, but the lights and colors were a result of a type of photographic art.
Megalodon And The German U-Boat
This was a part of the promotional trailer for Discovery’s show about the Megalodon. While the picture of the German U-Boat may be real, there were no Megalodons swimming around it when the picture was taken.
The Emu Teeth
If this picture were true, it would make the Emus quite scary. However, the picture is a fake and emus do not have teeth in their mouths.
The Fairy Pools In Scotland
Well, people have been seriously misled with the Fairy Pools of Scotland picture when it reality, it was just a photoshopped picture of Shotover River in New Zealand.
Giant Santa Monica Squid
When this picture surfaced, the story was that the squid had grown into such a huge size because of radiation from Fukushima. It was a giant squid that washed up on the shores of Spain but it was not anywhere near the size that it is in the picture.
The Jumping Great White Shark
While it looks quite realistic, this image is a total fabrication. It was a 3D render of the Great White Shark jumping out of the water.
Waterfall Castle, The Enchanted Woods
This is yet another hyper-realistic digital piece of work. The artwork is titled “Hidden Temple” by Ruben Darío Karamañites Arango.
The Diplocaulus In 2004
Even though the Diplocaulus has been extinct for over 270 million years, this picture appeared in 2004. There was no way that the Diplocaulus could have come back into existence after all these years which makes this picture photoshopped.
The First Cat Pic
This account claimed that this was the first cat picture taken in 1880. However, there are many pictures and paintings of cats taken before 1880 and the pictures that were taken in 1880 did not look anything like this either.
The Supermoon
Every few months, you will see this picture of the supermoon circulating around. There are many shots of the supermoon and that is because people have been superimposing the fake picture of the supermoon on every shot they want.
The Moon Behind The Pyramids
People apparently love to put huge moons behind every picture that they can find. It is just unreal and stupid.
The Meteor Over Stonehenge
You know it is fake just by looking at it. The original picture was just of a meteor and the Stonehenge was just photoshopped in.
The Fingerprint City
People were claiming that there was a city that was shaped like a fingerprint in Germany. However, in reality, it was just the cover picture of a scientific journal.
Bill Murray And Hunter S. Thompson
If you think that Bill Murray and Hunter Thompson are going to buy T-shirts on the left, you would be quite wrong.
