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In this image taken from video released by the National Transportation and Safety Board, the cargo ship Dali is stuck under part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the ship hit the bridge, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP)
No, this isn’t a photo of a black figure on Baltimore’s Key Bridge before it collapsed
If Your Time is short
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The bridge in this photo doesn’t resemble the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, and it’s been online for at least more than a decade.
Legend has it that Mothman, a looming, red-eyed monster, appeared above the Ohio River before the Silver Bridge collapsed in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in 1967.
An image that has previously been associated with that tale is now being repurposed to suggest something sinister about Baltimore’s March 26 Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse March 26.
"Someone shared this photo of a black figure on the bridge before it collapsed," reads the text above a Facebook post sharing the image of a bridge, with a black shape on one of its apexes highlighted.
(Screenshot from Facebook)
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
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It’s clear from photos of the Key Bridge that the image in the Facebook post is not it.
And it’s been online for years.
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A reverse-image search on TinEye found it first appeared online in 2008. Users in other forums, like this Reddit post, recall seeing it on websites even earlier.
A 2016 YouTube video exploring Mothman myths further contends that this photo doesn’t show a cryptid on the Silver Bridge, but a piece of metal falling into the water from the Ironton-Russell Bridge in Ohio.
That bridge, which has since been demolished, does resemble the bridge in the Facebook post’s image.
We rate claims that this image shows a black figure on the Key Bridge before it collapsed False.
Our Sources
Facebook post, March 26, 2024
YouTube, Did Mothman Exist? Part 2, Jan. 31, 2016
NTSB Safety Compass Blog, THE SILVER BRIDGE COLLAPSE: DON’T BLAME THE MOTHMAN!, Dec. 15, 2017
The Boston Globe, The mystery of Mothman, the red-eyed monster of Point Pleasant, Nov. 3, 2022
WCHS, Live stream of Ironton-Russell bridge demolition, May 17, 2017
Historic Bridges, Ironton-Russell Bridge, visited March 27, 2024
The Oakland Press, Francis Scott Key Bridge through the years | PHOTOS, March 26, 2024
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No, this isn’t a photo of a black figure on Baltimore’s Key Bridge before it collapsed
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