Helicopter Shark is a
composition of two photographs that gives the impression that a
great white shark
The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocea ...
is leaping out of the water to attack military personnel climbing a suspended ladder attached to a
Special Forces
Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
UH-60 Black Hawk
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift military utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted a design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) ...
helicopter. The photo was widely circulated via an
email
Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...
in 2001, along with a claim that it had been chosen as "
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
Photo of the Year". The email in question was usually written in the following form: The photo is similar to an incident in the 1966 film ''
Batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
'' where a shark attacks
Batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
on a ladder from a helicopter. This raised suspicions that the photo in question was a
hoax
A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible.
S ...
. ''National Geographic'' publicly disavowed the photo and the claimed award as a hoax.
The hoax has been discussed in various texts, including a marketing book to teach lessons about influence and a book on teaching critical thinking. The author Carmel Morris who was known to create and circulate many 'Photoshopped' shark attack images during this period has denied creating the helicopter shark image.
The photo was first published on a website identified as The Grassy Knoll Institute. The final edited photo was created by combining a photograph of a
HH-60G Pave Hawk
The Sikorsky MH-60/HH-60 Pave Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. The HH-60 Pave Hawk and its successor the HH-60W Jolly Green II are combat rescue helicopters, though i ...
helicopter taken by Lance Cheung for the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
(USAF), and a photo taken by South African photographer Charles Maxwell. While the helicopter photo was in fact taken in front of the
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...
, the photo of the shark was taken in
False Bay
False Bay (Afrikaans: ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarc ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
.
See also
*
Hoax
A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible.
S ...
*
Internet humor
The history of humor on the Internet begins together with the Internet itself. Initially, the internet and its precursors, LANs and Wide area network, WANs, were used merely as another medium to disseminate jokes and other kinds of humor, in additi ...
*
Internet phenomenon
Internet phenomena are social and cultural phenomena specific to the Internet, such as Internet memes, which include popular catchphrases, images, viral videos, and jokes. When such fads and sensations occur online, they tend to grow rapidly ...
*
Photo editing
References
External links
National Geographic News articleSnopes article on this photo
Internet memes
Internet hoaxes
Photography forgeries
2001 hoaxes
Sharks in art
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