Spotting a Fake: Using your instincts

Sometimes the best tool in spotting a fake photo or video is just using common sense. When you are looking at something you’re unsure of, use a critical eye.

 Try asking yourself some questions about the photo.

Does it look set up?

Often faked images are easy to spot because the anomaly is in the exact center of the photo. While it’s possible that someone saw something and tried to center it in a photo, in most reputable paranormal photos the anomaly appears in an unusual location.

Also, if there are people in the image, try and exam their expressions. Do they look genuine? Are they responding to the anomaly? You can tell a lot about a photo simply by analyzing the people in it.

Is the image in focus?

A lot of unfocused paranormal photos and videos are circulating the internet. And while many of them are produced by genuine people, if an image is out of focus it becomes almost impossible to tell what you are actually looking at.

Do you know anything about the person who took the photo?

People do amazing things with Photoshop. Unless you know the person who took the photo, fakery is always a possibility.

Is it too good to be true?

Sometimes the most obvious red flag in faked photos is that the images are too perfect. If the picture seems too good to be true, it probably is.

With a little bit of knowledge and experience you should have no trouble identifying images that have been faked. And pretty quickly you will figure out that most of them are.