Hands of God Email

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 via email, September 2004)


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. However, the photograph has clearly been altered to include the "hands" in the clouds. Also, the image was circulating around the Internet well before Hurricane Charley occurred.

Who created the original picture and in what context it first appeared is difficult to determine. A number of visitors have pointed out the similarity between this image and a well-known pornographic image 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 site. The original Goatse.cx website is no longer online, but extensive information about Goatse is available via an article on Wikipedia.

Although it is not hard to identify the photograph as a fake, it still makes for an interesting image.

Update: February 2005:
Feedback from site visitors indicates that, in some versions of the email, the image is associated with the Asian tsunami of December 2004.

Write-up by Brett M.Christensen