Summary: Email claims that an accompanying image is a photograph of the hands of God in storm clouds (Full commentary below.)
Status: False
Example:(Submitted, September 2004)
Subject: Fw: The Hands of God - Awesome picture
Got this today! Please pass it on...
A friend of mine sent this photo of a cloud formation in the
aftermath of Hurricane Charley. I think it is awesome and needed
to be passed on. I truly hope that all of you will be able to view it.
Commentary:
An email accompanied by a picture apparently depicting the hands
of God in the clouds is currently circulating. The email claims
that the photograph was taken after Hurricane Charley hit the US
state of Florida in 2004. However, the photograph has clearly been
altered to include the "hands" in the clouds. Moreover, the image
was circulating around the Internet well before Hurricane Charley
occurred. In some later versions, the the image is associated with the Asian tsunami of December 2004.
Who created the original picture and in what context it first appeared is difficult to determine. However, a number of visitors have pointed out the similarity between this image and a well-known pornographic image that was featured on Goatse.cx. It has been suggested that the image was created as a "tribute" to Goatse and, indeed, the image is featured on the Tribute to Goatse.cx website. The original Goatse.cx website is no longer online, but extensive information about Goatse is available via an article on Wikipedia.
