Revealing the truth about the viral photo of a mountain shaped like a giant turtle

(Dan Tri) - The photo that went viral on social media in early September, showing a mountain shaped like a giant turtle's head, is actually a photoshopped product.

A photo of the giant turtle-shaped mountain appeared in a series of posts on social media platforms in early September, attracting a lot of interaction. Some posts described "this is a mountain in America".

The image of a mountain shaped like the head of a giant turtle is actually a photoshopped product, not real (Photo: Instagram).

However, in reality this is just a photo product that has been cropped and edited, not real.

In an article posted on Snopes (a reputable information verification site), author Nick Hardinges analyzed that the mountain in the photo is actually Pilot Mountain in North Carolina (USA), which appeared on Wikipedia since 2006.

The rest of the background in the scene was composited from a 2015 photo taken in Glacier National Park, Montana, featuring Wild Goose Island (USA).

Looking closer, the author also analyzed the rows of trees in the foreground of the "giant turtle mountain" photo that coincide with the photo taken at Glacier, in which there is a characteristic crooked tree in the middle. The eyes, nose and mouth of the "turtle" were also added using Photoshop techniques.

Notably, the photo is low-resolution, making details like the cliffs look blurry, or the turtle’s “nostrils” look blurry. According to technology site Digital Trends , lowering the resolution helps hide the traces of editing in the fake photo.

Snopes analyzes the photo which was edited from many sources (Photo: Snopes).

Previously, this photo appeared many times in travel groups, nature lovers, and landscape enthusiasts with many incorrect captions.

In fact, there are some mountains in the world that are said to resemble turtles. For example, Turtle Mountain in Macheng (China). However, in this area, there is no mountain that resembles the image that has been spread.

Previously, the Snopes website created a comparison photo collage, clearly showing the similarity between the "turtle mountain" photo and the two original photos.

Since it is a digital composite, both Snopes and AAP FactCheck have confirmed that the image of the “turtle mountain” is a fake.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/tiet-lo-su-that-ve-buc-anh-khoi-nui-co-hinh-con-rua-khong-lo-gay-sot-20250914155435342.htm