Fact check: Image depicts sunset over Hawaii, not California fires below clouds
The claim: Image depicts skies over California fires
As fires continue to spread across the West Coast, misinformation about the natural disasters is spreading quickly, too. An image shared over 600 times on Facebook claims to depict California wildfires from 30,000 feet above ground.
“Looks Like Hell!” the post’s creator wrote. He did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment and clarification.
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Photo doesn’t show fires or California
Though the image may look like fiery lava from above, it doesn’t show the California wildfires.
The photo, which appears to have been filtered dramatically in the Facebook post, was shot and shared in July 2018 by Instagram user Nathan Province. He confirmed to USA TODAY over Instagram that the photo was taken from an aircraft over Oahu, Hawaii, during a sunset.
“Every time we have a wildfire I feel these photos get stolen for the purpose of calling them wildfires,” he said. “They are just a beautiful sunset over Hawaiian waters.😊”
A post shared by Nathan Province [SOC] 20 (@nprovince101) on Jul 22, 2018 at 2:47pm PDT
In June 2019, Province shared a YouTube video from the same flight and wrote about what he saw.
“I went to the window and the light beneath painted the clouds a red hue,” he wrote. “I waited until we reached about 30,000ft, which was co-altitude with the cloud deck that night. To be honest I almost dropped my camera in awe of the beautiful vision outside my window.”
The photo was later shared on both Reddit and Imgur, each describing the image as a sunset at 30,000 feet, and a Google search of “sunset under clouds” produces duplicate images. Forbes debunked the claim that the image was taken of wildfires in 2018, shortly after Province shared the image.
A similar image was tweeted by the National Weather Museum and Science Center in 2018, with photo credit given to Twitter user @extremeweather. It too described the image as a sunset. USA TODAY has reached out to NWMSC regarding the image.
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Our rating: False
We rate the claim that this image depicts the California wildfires from above as FALSE because it was not supported by our research. The person who took the photo confirmed to USA TODAY that it was taken from an aircraft over Oahu, Hawaii during a sunset in July 2018. Numerous sources also confirm that fact.
Our fact-check sources:
Nathan Province's Instagram, July 22, 2018
Nathan Province's YouTube, June 19, 2019, Hawaiian Sunset @30,000ft
Reddit, Sunset from above the altocumulus clouds at 30,000 feet near Oahu, Hawaii
Imgur, July 31, 2018, Altocumulus clouds & a sunset at 30,000ft
Google search, "Sunset under clouds"
Forbes, Aug. 9, 2018, The Viral Picture Of 'Wildfires' Beneath Clouds Is Actually A Hawaiian Sunset
National Weather Museum and Science Center's Twitter, Aug. 14, 2018
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Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Image shows Hawaiian sunset, not California fires
