Gismo
02-20-2009, 10:36 PM
This was posted on ninemsn here in Australia today
http://i39.tinypic.com/2r6045l.jpg
The alleged serpent in Borneo
http://i43.tinypic.com/5wbb47.jpg
Australian experts say it’s likely the images are fake
http://i44.tinypic.com/9urndf.jpg
An image captured from YouTube.
Published photos purporting to show a gigantic snake swimming down a river in Borneo have spooked superstitious locals who fear angry gods have sent a serpent to punish them.
Australian experts say it’s likely the images are fake, however.
The photos, which appeared in Borneo newspapers this week, were said to have been taken on January 31 by emergency workers flying by helicopter over the Baleh River as they monitored floods.
The images were picked up by major metropolitan dailies including the Kuala Lumpur-based Straits Times and Britain’s Daily Mail, and readers were invited to decide for themselves if the massive reptile was real.
But the attention has exposed both of the images to be at least two years old, with one online reader pointing to a YouTube video posted on July 28, 2007.
Image manipulation experts told ninemsn the pictures could easily be fake because of their bad quality, which in no way reflects reality.
"These images are so pixilated and soft focus they would be incredible easy to forge," Australia College's David Ewing said.
"Look at the aerial shot. It looks like a 'Snakes and Ladders' type of snake. It has lots of simple curves in it. It's a really basic image."
Brisbane-based Photoshop expert Damien Symonds said the blur around the snake would be a simple but clumsy way to hide evidence of tampering.
"Only a moderate level of skill would be required — you'd just need a photo of the river and a photo of a snake in water," he said.
But it seems no amount of doubt will sway some people. Locals who claim to have seen the snake believe it bears the hallmarks of a mythological serpent named Nabau, according to online blogs.
Nabau is said to be an ancient snake measuring almost 14m that could transform itself into the shape of other creatures.
It has supposedly been sighted in the Baleh River — the site of the helicopter shot — as well as two other regions of Sarawak in Borneo.
"The appearance of Nabau in the rivers of Sarawak can only mean one thing — the gods are angry with the country's leaders that Nabau has come to come out and save them!" one reader posted beneath a blog.
Another said: "It took two years for them to be appeared [sic] in Sarawak newspaper. What a very old newspaper we have."
"But, I do believe in big snake or Nabau even though I have not seen one."
http://i39.tinypic.com/2r6045l.jpg
The alleged serpent in Borneo
http://i43.tinypic.com/5wbb47.jpg
Australian experts say it’s likely the images are fake
http://i44.tinypic.com/9urndf.jpg
An image captured from YouTube.
Published photos purporting to show a gigantic snake swimming down a river in Borneo have spooked superstitious locals who fear angry gods have sent a serpent to punish them.
Australian experts say it’s likely the images are fake, however.
The photos, which appeared in Borneo newspapers this week, were said to have been taken on January 31 by emergency workers flying by helicopter over the Baleh River as they monitored floods.
The images were picked up by major metropolitan dailies including the Kuala Lumpur-based Straits Times and Britain’s Daily Mail, and readers were invited to decide for themselves if the massive reptile was real.
But the attention has exposed both of the images to be at least two years old, with one online reader pointing to a YouTube video posted on July 28, 2007.
Image manipulation experts told ninemsn the pictures could easily be fake because of their bad quality, which in no way reflects reality.
"These images are so pixilated and soft focus they would be incredible easy to forge," Australia College's David Ewing said.
"Look at the aerial shot. It looks like a 'Snakes and Ladders' type of snake. It has lots of simple curves in it. It's a really basic image."
Brisbane-based Photoshop expert Damien Symonds said the blur around the snake would be a simple but clumsy way to hide evidence of tampering.
"Only a moderate level of skill would be required — you'd just need a photo of the river and a photo of a snake in water," he said.
But it seems no amount of doubt will sway some people. Locals who claim to have seen the snake believe it bears the hallmarks of a mythological serpent named Nabau, according to online blogs.
Nabau is said to be an ancient snake measuring almost 14m that could transform itself into the shape of other creatures.
It has supposedly been sighted in the Baleh River — the site of the helicopter shot — as well as two other regions of Sarawak in Borneo.
"The appearance of Nabau in the rivers of Sarawak can only mean one thing — the gods are angry with the country's leaders that Nabau has come to come out and save them!" one reader posted beneath a blog.
Another said: "It took two years for them to be appeared [sic] in Sarawak newspaper. What a very old newspaper we have."
"But, I do believe in big snake or Nabau even though I have not seen one."