The moon photo that was actually a photo of a streetlight

I was scrolling through an astronomy group and saw this post titled 'Crescent Moon Through Clouds'. But the 'moon' had this weird glow pattern and a dark spot right in the middle. Zoomed in and realized it was a streetlight with motion blur, not even close to the moon. The photographer swore up and down it was real lunar astronomy until someone pointed out the power lines in the reflection. Has anyone else seen people pass off city lights as celestial objects in here?

2 comments

2 Comments

derek_coleman3d ago

Hold on a second - I actually think this is way more interesting than just a mistake. A streetlight that happens to look like a crescent moon with motion blur and power lines sounds like a cool optical illusion, not something to be embarrassed about. The photographer probably got excited about the visual effect and honestly believed it was something celestial until everyone jumped on them.

jessica_dixon3d agoMost Upvoted

Three years ago I took a photo of what I swore was a UFO over my apartment. Turned out it was just a drone with weird LED lights reflecting off low clouds. But you know what, I still have that picture framed in my living room because it looks cooler than any real UFO photo ever could.