Post by Zadkiel on Feb 26, 2016 17:45:22 GMT
The editor of the Indian magazine The Voice, Mr P Deivamuthu admitted to National Geographic News that his publication about the giant skeleton find was included after his publication had been informed by reports that later turned out to be fake. The monthly, which is based in Mumbai, published a retraction after some readers had alerted Deivamuthu.
Variations of the giant photo hoax include alleged discovery of a 60- to 80-foot long (18- to 24-meter) human skeleton in Saudi Arabia. In one popular take, which likewise first surfaced in 2004, an oil-exploration team is said to have made the find.
Web sites dedicated to debunking urban legends and "netlore" picked up on the various giant hoaxes soon after they first appeared. California-based snopes.com, for example, noted that the skeleton image had been lifted from Worth1000, which hosts photo-manipulation competitions. Titled "Giants", the skeleton-and-shoveler picture had won third place in a 2002 contest called "Archaeological Anomalies 2".
The image's creator - an illustrator from Canada that goes by the screen name IronKite - told National Geographic News via email that he had had nothing to do with the subsequent hoax. He added that he wants to remain anonymous because some forums that debated whether the giant was genuine or not "were turning their entire argument into a religious one". It was argued, for instance, that the Saudi Arabian find was entirely consistent with the teachings of the Koran.
IronKite started with an aerial photo of a mastodon excavation in Hyde Park, New York, in 2000. He then digitally superimposed a human skeleton over the beast's remains. The later addition of digging men presented the biggest technical challenge.
IronKite said he's tickled that the picture—which took only about an hour and a half to create—has generated so much Internet attention. "I laugh myself silly when some guy claims to know someone that was there or even goes as far as to claim that he or she was there when they found the skeleton and took the picture," IronKite said. "Sometimes people seem so desperate to believe in something that they lie to themselves or exaggerate in order to make their own argument stronger."
