Two views from an airplane windo

One of these might be fake. Can you guess which?





Update: My apologies. Apparently quite a few people didn't realize I was being sarcastic when I said "one of these might be fake." I thought it was pretty obvious both of them were fake. (Note that I didn't say 'only one is fake'.)

To make up for it, here's a third view from an airplane window, and this one is definitely real. This photo was taken on July 13, 2004 aboard an AirTran flight from Atlanta to Orlando with 110 people on board. The left engine cowling came off soon after take off, but the plane managed to turn around and land safely.


Photos

Posted on Thu Jan 10, 2008



Comments

Which one is it? I can't choose. For the first one, giraffes are very tall, but not as tall as a jet plane, I think. I doubt it would be standing on a wing, but it may be standing on a cargo lift.

For the second one, the cloud cover may be something else, like water, altho it looks like there may be moisture on the engine (look at the very top of the engine, there is a flash of light, and the reflections suggestion moisture, which could mean the plane is in-flight).
Posted by Bill  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  04:43 AM
It was to be one?
I'd say the 'guy in engine' one is real then, and the white stuff below is snow on the ground(rather than clouds), and they aren't flying.
But, at a glance, I would have said both shopped.
Posted by AussieBruce  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  06:41 AM
@Bruce
Do you see the out-of-focus ice on the window. You would not see that on the ground, even in cold weather.
Funny pictures! Both fake, right?
Posted by AA  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  07:29 AM
I think the giraffe pictures is fake.
Posted by Maegan  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  07:55 AM
In the giraffe photo, you can see the shadow the giraffe is casting on the inside of the window frame. As light from the sun is essentially moving parallel by the time it reaches the earth, any shadow should be the same width as the object casting it, hence the 'giraffe' is just a few cms wide.

If not the result of a sloppy Photoshop job, this is probably nothing more than a giraffe sticker on the inside of the window.
Posted by David B.  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  08:18 AM
Since there appears to be snow on the top of the engine in the second picture, I would have to say that it was in fact taken on the ground (and not photoshopped), as snow would not be present in flight.
Posted by cthelmax  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  08:54 AM
the first one is a giraffe picture taped to the inside of the window. the shoadow cast by it into the cabin gives it away. although i dont know if that makes it the real or the fake one 😊
Posted by Sensibleken  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  09:15 AM
the giraffe pic cannot be a sticker on the inside of the window, as if it was, the shadow would start at the point where the giraffe neck meets the window frame. Alternatively, if the giraffe sticker was placed with a gap below the neck, the shadow would not start at the base of the window.

Of course, the sticker might be on the outside, but that would be quite hard to get into position, so I think that that is the photoshopped image
Posted by cthelmax  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  10:19 AM
I think the giraffe pic is the real one. There is an airport, somewhere in the world (can't remember where) that is a couple thousand feet above the ground and has a steep cliff off the side. It is altogether possible that the giraffe really is right outside the window.
Posted by tvlover  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  10:27 AM
F both of you, Mr. Giraffe and Santa.
Posted by Stevel  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  11:02 AM
Of course the real one is the first, because the giraffe is just a sticker put on the glass, you can see the shadow.
Therefore, the second is fake.
Have I won anything?
Posted by angelo  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  11:07 AM
The one of the giraffe is real. The plane could be a small charter or private, that is parked overlooking a cliff.
Posted by Chustar  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  11:16 AM
They're both fake!
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  11:22 AM
"One of these might be fake. Can you guess which?"

My guess is that either of them /might/ be fake, but that in /fact/ both are genuine.
Posted by DaveK  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  11:23 AM
i'm going to say it's a trick question and that both photos are real. the giraffe is outside a small plane on higher ground, and the other is of an airplane being cleaned...not clouds, but soap suds.
Posted by steve  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  11:24 AM
Giraffe is fake as stated in earlier posts, the 2nd one is real because the cloud like setting is actually snow.

That's my take anyways ;p
Posted by bzill  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  11:25 AM
The giraffe was the winner in this photoshop contest on fark.com :

http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=1837095
Posted by Mister_IQ  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  11:25 AM
There are a few things that make it obvious that the second photo is a fake. Were is the ladder the person must have used to reach the engine? No engine on any plane is that close to the ground. Plus you can see that the toes of his boots are deflected in a way that would indicate that he is standing on something. I don
Posted by Shadowfax  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  11:35 AM
Simple riddle of words. It says one might be fake. Never says either are real. They are both fake.
Posted by Quentin Cole  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  11:50 AM
obviously the giraffe photo is the fake one, the engine in the other photo has ice or snow on top of it which would never be there in actual flight
Posted by ann0yed  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  11:53 AM
i have 2 coins. their value, when added together, is 30 cents. one of the coins is not a nickel. what are the two coins?

the answer to that riddle is the answer to this one. i agree with quentin cole.
Posted by glace neuf  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  11:57 AM
I believe the legs in the engine is the real photo. What appears to be clouds is in actuality the clouded sky reflected in the window. If you look at the engine, the cloud images are continued through it instead of blocked by the view. If the clouds were really below, you would not see the clouds blocked by the engine.
Posted by Mitch Duszynski  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  11:59 AM
What's to stop the legs being a sticker on the window? Would be easy to line it up just right for a photo, and no shadow on the window frame issues to have to deal with here.
Posted by Gemma  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  12:32 PM
The interior of the plane with the giraffe looks pretty dark, and the giraffe is consistent with the outside lighting, which indicates that it's not just a sticker on the window. The photo is also taken from an angle to the window, and the giraffe isn't distorted as I would expect a flat image slapped on the window to be (unless the imagemaker thought of this beforehand, and distorted it to look undistorted when shot at this precise angle, which seems like a lot of work). If there were an actual giraffe outside the window, the sun would have to be behind it to cast a shadow into the cabin, and the shadow would be bigger then the window, methinks. Look at the angle of the window frame's shadow- the giraffe's shadow would be the same angle- on the ground, not in the cabin.

I've seen clouds that look like that in the bottom photo, but I've also seen really icy snow that looks like that too. It looks like there are also ice crystals on the window which muddy the image. A 737's engines are pretty close to the ground- The bottom of the engine is about waist-high to an average-sized person, maybe a bit lower. It looks a bit bigger than a 737's engines, but I think even on a 757 a guy could scramble up in there without a ladder.

In conclusion, I find in favor of the giraffe being faked, and the guy in the engine being authentic.
Posted by Nigel Footpowder  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  12:39 PM
Mister_IQ, on the previous page, gives a link to the photo editing contest from which the giraffe photo was taken, including some other photos made with the same giraffe. Since we have the source of the edit on that one, the only question remaining is whether the other is also fake.
Posted by TexasAndroid  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  12:58 PM
Both fake
Posted by Quentin Cole  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  01:10 PM
Both are stupid
Posted by Cleo  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  01:34 PM
There are actually several aircraft who's engines are reachable from the ground, the most ready example being the Boeing 737. As others have pointed out, in flight there would be no ice on the engine. Also the presence of ice on the window only suggest a very low outside temp. While planes are usually heated during boarding, the windows are actually quite insulated and feature two panes of glass. There is also the possibility that this photo was not taken by a passenger, but by a mechanic or other airline personnel, who could be aboard when the plane was un-heated.
Posted by tke  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  01:44 PM
As tke said, the 737 engine is like 3 feet off the ground. Plenty close to access without a ladder.

Here's an image that shows that:
Posted by Travis  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  02:18 PM
Both are fake. The giraffe is PhotoShopped in. The "shadow" gives it away. The air plane engine with the legs is also fake because there is ice on the window that makes part of the photo blurry but not where the legs are. The legs are the only clear area in the window, too; everything else appears to be diffused.

Lastly, if you take time to read the comments on this on the first page, you'd realize that the owner of this website comments that the pictures are FAKE! He's the 13th comment down, "They're both fake!
Posted by Alex in San Diego on Fri Jan 11, 2008 at 10:22 AM"
Posted by RainOubliette  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  02:31 PM
They are both "fake" in the sense that their is not really a giraffe outside the plane and the guy in the engine is two photos put together. The main one being a shot out the plane window at high altitudewhile the guy has been cut out from another shot and dropped into this main one (see the chunky edge around the bottom of his boots? That is from a quick and dirty cut and paste).

I'm a professional photoillustrator and I'd stake your life on this. :O
Posted by Biff Hendrickson  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  03:14 PM
I'd say it's a class action
Posted by peter harris  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  03:25 PM
One of them "might" be fake, and the other *is* fake.
Posted by Jim  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  03:27 PM
The giraffe has no shadows on the left of the image which it would if the sun was to the right and casting a shodow to the left. Also the shadows in the image start to converge, but the suns light acts more like a directional light where all shadows are cast at the same angle. Also there are pixel artifacts around the giraffe which are not consistent with the rest of the image.

The man in the plane is fake as the frosting on the window is not eveident where the person is when examined in a paint program. Also the engine mentioned that being a GE CFM56-3C1 is not the same as that in the image. The CFM56-3C1 has a split gear box which is either side of the engine due to the engine being so low to the groud, this makes the bottom if the engine cowling flat, which is not what we see in the image. Also if you use a paint program you can see where the editor has cut the platform which the shoe was on and has left a flat rather ugly error in the image. I believe the plane has just taken off from a snow covered airport and that is why there is snow on the engine and frost on the engine nacelle (casing). The man seems to be positioned wrongly and looks as if he should be in the bottom of the casing but is actually place slightly to high.

Cheers I used to work for an areo engine manufacutre which did not develope an enigne for the successful 737 due to the expense of developing a split gear box, they thought the project would not be all that successful, just shows how wrong you can be.

Plus as mentioned the site author has posted that both are fake, but I couldn't resist posting just for fun.
Posted by Neil Nicholson  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  03:33 PM
The man in the engine might be fake, but the giraffe definitely is.
Posted by jjs810  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  03:40 PM
I actually like the real one best. That'd be a bit disturbing to watch happen on a flight :gulp:
Posted by seth  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  05:04 PM
Just as amusing is posting two genuinely real photos and asking which is the fake, in the same way. :D
Posted by Dana Sibera  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  05:19 PM
this reminds me of the april 1974 issue of national lampoon. the cover is a classic:

http://www.fedge.net/nationallampoon/Lampoon1974.htm
Posted by bruceo  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  06:07 PM
I can't beleive ANYBODY thought either was real... I cut and pasted 'em to email as a joke within minutes of them being posted here on this site...
Posted by Christopher  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  08:51 PM
Very funny. I cannot believe that anyone didn't immediately get the humor. C'mon people - loosen up! 😊
Posted by Funny  on  Fri Jan 11, 2008  at  10:58 PM
you guys are idiots and immature anyways the airtran pic is real when something broke on the mont for the egine, how do I know? my girlfreind and i was on that flight
Posted by tim  on  Thu Aug 19, 2010  at  01:29 AM
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