Did an angel from heaven appear as a bright light in the sky above the African country of Botswana, causing fear and surprise among those who witnessed it?
A post currently circulating via Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp claims it did and even includes an image to prove it.
According to the post, a “bright light from the sky” turned into an angel with bright and beautiful wings after 15 minutes. After 45 minutes a very loud voice from the sky urged watchers on the ground to repent their sins because Jesus Christ is coming soon. Then, the angel disappeared.
But, in fact, the story is fanciful nonsense and the picture is just the result of some quite dodgy photoshopping.
The source photograph (see below) used in the fake image was not taken in Botswana. Instead, it depicts a September 2019 storm above Imperial Beach in San Diego County, California. The image was included in a September 4 Fox 5 news report about thunderstorms in the area.
Some prankster has simply flipped the original San Diego County photograph and added in the angel image from another source. He or she has then tacked on the fanciful angel story and launched it on the interwebs.
Here’s a screenshot of the circulating post:
Here’s the original image:
Image: Erika Diaz De Leon
Transcript of the circulating post:
Today afternoon in Botswana there was a bright light from the sky that came from heaven and after 15 minutes there was a bright and beautiful Angel that stretched it’s bright wings and after 45 minutes there was a very loud voice from the sky saying” repent your sins Jesus Christ is coming soon”. The people of Botswana was so afraid. It was so bright that the people could not drive. Everyone was surprised then the angel disappeared. The bright light was gone . Here is the picture of the Angel and it’s bright wings.
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
