In early March 2017, Zambia was trending for many Facebook users across the globe. The reason? A photograph taken of the sky over a shopping mall in the African country that apparently depicted some sort of figure floating across the clouds.
Two photos surfaced online (below), each showing the mysterious figure as it seemingly floated across the clouds. Often the photos came with captions claiming the figure was visible for around 30 minutes, and many bystanders fled the scene in horror.
Reported in various African media outlets, it wasn’t long before the Western tabloid media got a hold of the story (The Daily Mail, naturally) who offered their own embellished explanations for the misty apparition. These ranged from God to Harry Potter style Dementors, and from alien invasions to unusual cloud formations.
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But for those more sceptical viewers out there, it was soon apparent that this tale was displaying some symptoms of trickery. For example, if the figure was floating around for around 30 minutes as many captions claim, why are there no other photos?
The answer is simple. The photo has been digitally altered. There is no mystery, other than the identity of who created this work of digital art. The figure itself isn’t a person or living entity. It’s a kite. Or rather, a Spirit Man kite, which you can see below. In that photo, you can see the kite strings (we’ve enhanced it on the bottom right.)
The photo of the kite has simply been digitally added to the photo of the Zambia shopping mall.
Case closed.
