Fake NASA Image of India Seen from Space is Back on Twitter and it Finally Feels Like Diwali

Every year on Diwali, many in India invariably fall for an alleged NASA image of how India looks from space on Diwali. The image depicts India with its outlines glowing due to the alleged lights and diyas burning across the country.

Despite being repeatedly debunked by various fact-checkers as a fake image, the image rises from obscurity every year to fool some more gullible believers of WhatsApp forwards.

This Diwali is no different. Even amid the familiar debates of crackers vs no crackers and the annual chatter on eco-friendly diyas, the fake "NASA image" of India on Diwali is back to remind Indians that despite the festive season, fake news never stops.

This time, however, it seems by netizens are finally done falling for the internet hoax. This time, NASA's iconic (and obviously fake) satellite image of India 'celebrating Diwali' is making rounds on a different note — to pull jokes.

As soon as the images surfaced, netizens and naysayers hijacked fake news loyalists abd took to Twitter to bust the NASA photo myth. Many joked that Diwali was, in fact, incomplete without the NASA image.

@NASA releasing satellite pictures after every diwali #WhatsApp pic.twitter.com/dVkgDkmkak

— Shruti (@shrutihihihi) November 11, 2020

But it seems, few are yet to learn how to spot fake news.

The stunning image showing how India is lit up on Diwali may have been beautiful to look at but it was certainly fake.

However, earlier NASA officials confirmed that the image aimed to show the population growth over time where the white lights depicted where the population was centered before 1992 and the other colours show how the population moved on to other locations

Diwali isn't the only time when NASA's image seems to have gone viral.

On April 3 earlier this year, PM Modi had appealed to the country to put together a show of solidarity in India's fight against Coronavirus. This was the same image which was repurposed at the time and shared as an image of how India looked on that day.

The PM asked the citizens to give him 9 minutes of their time at 9 pm on Sunday to end the "darkness" of COVID-19 by lighting candles or flashing torches, mobile phones from their doors or balconies. While doing so, he added to not venture out in the streets and maintain social distancing.

Soon after his address, social media was lit up with Diwali memes showing how Indians would "celebrate" the festival that has come early this year. It's no surprise that the 'NASA satellite image of India celebrating Diwali every year' resurfaced on the internet soon after.