Fact Check

Does This Photo Capture a Skull-Like Face in the Clouds?

If you think this is scary, you ought to check out some of Iron Maiden's album covers.

by David Mikkelson, Published Sept. 23, 2019



Claim:
A photograph shows a skull-like cloud formation above California.
Rating:
False

About this rating


Article 5 of 6 in Collection

One of the more common "face in the clouds" images that circulate on social media is the following picture, which seemingly captures an evil, grinning, skull-like countenance said to have appeared in the sky in any one of a number of various locales.

Even viewers who aren't well-versed in digital editing can spot this image for what it is, particularly if they're heavy metal fans — the macabre visage supposedly glimpsed in the clouds and captured on film was directly lifted from the cover illustration for Iron Maiden's 2000 album, "Brave New World":

The album's title was taken from the famous 1932 dystopian Aldous Huxley novel, and the sky portion of its cover art was created by artist Derek Riggs.

Article 5 of 6 in Collection

By David Mikkelson

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.


Source code