Awesome Photo of Bomb Dropping in Iraq (Must See Photo)

6/30/10 | ???

[Sunshine Sister]

Thank your for a huge laugh! Wonderful work.

[OneVike]

Made by Raytheon, perhaps?

The missile probably was, but I must admit that the photo was not....LOL

Not photo shopped by me though, I found the photo as is, but the one that was posted by "dead" in comment # 51 is much much better.

[Chode]

if that is real, i hope it was taken with a looong range lens cause that is way too close to the impact area if not

[Slings and Arrows]

"*whew* Ran out of gas."

[Slings and Arrows]

[OneVike]

Now that’s one big bullet!

[Slings and Arrows]

Yeah, but where do you find a CCW holster for the gun that fired it?

[Aggie Mama]

That’s the post I was waiting for! LOL =)

[aruanan]

I agree. Kid in soccer shirt has no feet. Photoshop.

Foot out front is obscured by the foot of the kid in front of him. Foot in back is obscured by the bush. The question you never bother to ask is why someone's image being photoshopped into a picture would necessarily, as a result of being photoshopped, have both feet missing? You may as well say that since the boy to the far left is floating above the ground and since we know that no one can levitate but David Blaine, that must be David Blaine or else the picture has been photoshopped as evidenced by the levitating Iraqi boy.

[aruanan]

By the way, everyone who is looking, is looking 20 or more degrees to the left of the missile.

[Radix]

Helen Thomas would be more scary.

[Polarik]

Has Dr. Polarik been consulted?

Not yet. Ctdonath2: I don't know at what magnification you were seeing the bomb - which is a Texas Instrument GBU-12 (Paveway II) - when you made your comments. Here is an 8x close-up (800%) of the smart bomb and that blocking behind the tail is definitely not consistent with any other part of the image.

I ran the image through JPegSnoop, which identified it as a Sony Cybershot photo imported into Photoshop, saved at Save as 7, and then resaved at 75% quality by one of many image editors having the same compression signature. The fact that chroma subsampling is 2x2 limits the field to only a few, like Photobrush or Irfanview.

The Error Level Analysis also confirms that the rectangular blocking artifacts are off by themselves and do not follow the contours of the bomb.

Compare it to this photo of a Copperhead moments before hitting a tank.

And the ELA of it:

This photo was shot by an Olympus camera, imported into GIMP, and then saved at 87% quality. (There are four Olympus models listed; but, it's probably the C2000Z because of its massive zoom lens. The subsample does not match, however, I'm still betting on the C2000Z being the one). When you look at just the bomb enlarged 6x (600% to make it about the same size as the GBU-12), you can see consistent blocking on it and all throughout the the picture (although the focus is soft and not as sharp as the Iraq bomb, and because the Copperhead photo is legit):

IMPO, the bomb was Photochopped onto an existing photo - a practice so common in the Middle East that the vast majority of photos coming out of Iraq, Gaza, and Lebanon have been chopped for maximum propaganda effect.

[Polarik]

The image is probably real. The fake part is the description. It has nothing to do with Iraq or the US.

The photo shows an Israeli attack on Hamas in the Gaza strip in 2007. The photographer probably shot a burst and got lucky.

WELL, THIS DOUBLY CONFIRMS WHAT I SAID BECAUSE THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS "LUCK" WITH PALLYWOOD PHOTOGRAPHERS AND PRODUCERS.

[null and void]

We really shouldn’t have canceled the Copperhead...

[Gideon7]

Awesome analysis!

[Rebelbase]

Just needs a sex crazed poodle and that is a complete photo.

[cynwoody]

Thanks for your analysis!

[OneVike]

Wow, I am very impressed with the time and effort you put into this.

Very impressed also by your expert analysis.

Thanks for the education, it was awe inspiring to say the least, because I truly learned something I never knew before.

Thanks

[rxsid]

"If I zoom in, will I see a COLB in the corner?"

LOL. Good one!

[Osage Orange]

LOL!!

I do a couple things purty good....