NASA says this image was not taken during the US space agency’s Mars missions
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on February 11, 2021 at 06:30
- 1 min read
- By Taylor THOMPSON-FULLER, AFP New Zealand and Pacific Islands
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The image was posted to a Facebook group called “Collective Action Against Bill Gates. We Wont [sic] Be POISONED!!!” here on February 4, 2021.
The image features a photo comparison of two images.
The bottom photo shows what appears to be the site of a rock formation and includes superimposed text that reads: “Pobitite [sic] Kamani, Bulgaria.”
The top photo shows an identical rock formation, but in a red hue and with a black background. The superimposed text over the top image reads: “Original NASA photo of MARS.”
The image comparison was also shared hundreds of times on Facebook here, here and here.
The image comparison, however, was shared alongside a false claim.
NASA told AFP in a February 6 email the top image in the purported comparison “is not a NASA photo of Mars”. The image is also not listed on NASA’s publicly available Mars Media Library as seen here.
A reverse image search of the bottom photo in the image comparison found that it does appear to show a rock formation in Pobiti Kamani, which is a protected geological site in Bulgaria.
The photo was published on travel blogs about Pobiti Kamani here and here. The rock formation matches those seen here in a YouTube video promoting tourism at Pobiti Kamani and here on the site’s Tripadvisor page.
Google Maps also shows similar rock forms at the Pobiti Kamani site; seen in the 360 degree view below:
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