Snake Inside Computer Photographs
Summary:Email with attached photographs claims that a technician found a snake inside a computer after the user reported hearing hissing noises and a bad smell (
Full commentary below).
Status:Photographs are probably genuine - Description of circumstances is unsubstantiated.
Example:(Submitted, September 2007)
Subject: Fwd: computer problems
TECH SUPPORT
'Hello, technical support, how can I help you?'
LADY: 'Last night my computer started making a lot of hissing noise at me so I shut it down. This morning when I turned it on the computer started hissing and cracking, then started smoking and a bad smell, then nothing.'
SUPPORT: 'I will have a technician come over first thing this morning, just leave the computer just like it is, so they can find the problem and fix it, or change it out with another computer. Give me your address; phone number and the technician will be there just as soon as they can'
When the technician got there, the lady showed the technician where the computer was, told him what happened to it and this is what the technician found wrong. Take a look at the pictures...! And you thought you had computer problems!
The technician told her it must have been after the mouse! The woman didn't think it was very funny at all.
Commentary:
This email forward tells the tale of a woman who called technical support after her computer started producing strange hissing noises, a bad smell, and smoke before it stopped working completely. According to the message, when the technician arrived to diagnose the problem, he found a recently deceased snake inside the computer tower. Photographs that accompany the message show the hapless reptile being removed from its unusual hiding place, apparently after being electrocuted.
There is no evidence to suggest that the images themselves have been manipulated. Moreover, snakes can certainly wriggle their way into what might seem to be impossibly tight spaces. So it is not hard to believe that a snake could have found its way into a computer tower. Heat generated by the computer might also make the inside of a computer case seem like an attractive refuge for a snake. Personally, I see no reason to doubt the authenticity of these images.
That said, without any concrete information about the origin of the photographs, some sort of deliberate misdirection cannot be conclusively ruled out. As the following quick snap of a plastic snake liberated from a nearby toy box suggests, it would not be difficult to create convincing photographs using a fake reptile. Keep in mind that there are rubber snakes available that appear much more life-like than the toy I've used here.
A prankster might also have deliberately placed an already dead snake inside the computer especially for the photographs.
There is also no way of verifying if the description that travels with the photographs is accurate. It is quite possible that the "Tech Support" story was simply made up as a humorous way of explaining the photographs.
The message has been circulating for several years, but, so far, I have not found any reliable information as to where, or under what circumstances, the photographs were taken. If you have any knowledge of the origin of the images, I'd be pleased to
hear from you.
Last updated: 11th September 2007
First published: 11th September 2007
Write-up by Brett M. Christensen
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