An image shared on Facebook over 170,000 times purportedly shows a skull-like face in a cloud formation.
Verdict: False
The skull-like face has been superimposed onto the storm cloud.
Fact Check:
In recent weeks, a photo seemingly showing a cloud formation with a skull-like face has resurfaced on social media. The caption reads, “This is a real picture taken in California. Wow, is all I can say!! No edit.”
But the viral photo has, in fact, been digitally altered. Instagram user @klayman87 appears to have first shared the unedited photo on May 29, 2019. The news website PennLive.com also posted the photo on its Facebook page the same day, crediting that user with taking it near Kutztown University in Pennsylvania.
“I went on a spontaneous mini road trip with Anna to Kutztown,” the Instagram user’s caption reads. “May or may not have spotted a tornado. Whatever it was, it was rather ominous.” (RELATED: Viral Image Claims To Show A Russian River Frozen Like The ‘Scream’ Mask)
The skull-like face superimposed into the storm cloud closely resembles that which appears on the heavy metal band Iron Maiden’s 2000 album “Brave New World.” In the album’s artwork, the ghoulish face of the band’s “Eddie” mascot looms in a cloud above a futuristic London.
The mascot is featured in all of Iron Maiden’s album covers in some form and frequently on the band’s merchandise.