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| - A video shared on social media in June 2024 claimed to depict a sea serpent monster known as the "leviathan." The clip showed what appeared to be Google Earth or Maps data of an island that, when zoomed in, showed people riding a boat next to a two-eyed, reptilian-like creature just below the surface of the water.
A reverse image search found that the same video had been shared across social media platforms and websites alike, including MSN, YouTube, X and Instagram.
The video is fake. A mapping expert said someone stitched the clip together using genuine satellite data, such as that obtained through Google Earth or Google Maps, and an animation from one of the many film versions of "Godzilla."
Some instances of the video included a TikTok watermark for the profile @hidden.on.google.earth, which originally posted the clip on June 6, 2024. A caption with the video read in part, "Wtf is hiding in the ocean…"
The account posts other clips that similarly display satellite data, presumably from Google Earth, as a hand zooms in and manipulates the video to give the appearance of a walk-through of genuine data. Some of those videos also purported to show monster-like contact, including one that claimed to have found Godzilla in Tokyo and another with an explosive scene of a large water feature and monster. A matching profile on Instagram is identified as an "Entertainment website"
Snopes contacted the account through an email listed on its TikTok profile for further information about how the video was made. We will update this article if we receive a response.
Hayley Drennon, a senior research assistant at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, identified the location in the video as Guichan Island in Tawaian, which can be seen on Google Earth here.
Furthermore, Drennon noted that images like those showing ocean seascapes are collected using satellites in space. In most locations, this does not allow for a deeper look at locations below the ocean's surface.
Similarly, most satellite systems that currently acquire data imagery of the ocean do not take images at a resolution high enough that would show a human face, said Drennon. It's a different technology than is used for Google's Street View images, for example, which are taken from a vehicle and allow for a closer look at objects on the ground. Even if the data collection system was able to capture faces, Google's blurring technology is "designed to blur identifiable faces."
Drennon highlighted a scene taken from the video that shows a highly pixelated oceanside mountain. If a large landmass is pictured at this low of a resolution, it's unlikely that the picturing technology would have been able to capture the detail of individual faces.
(TikTok/@hidden.on.google.earth)
"Also, it should be noted that the 'monster' is Godzilla," said Drennon, noting that the pictures of the "leviathan" and people appear to have been mixed in with authentic data.
Also known as Turtle Island for its turtle-like shape, Guichan Island measures about 1 square mile and is a major attraction for tourists and scientists alike. NASA writes that satellite images of Guishan Island collected in 2021 show a "distinct area of light-blue water near the 'turtle's head,'" adding:
The discoloration is the result of dozens of hydrothermal vents on the seafloor dispensing sulfur-rich volcanic plumes. Sulfur, sulfur bacteria, and gas bubbles make the water surface appear milky white, earning the area the nickname "Milky Sea."
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, hydrothermal vents are submarine hot springs that form near underwater volcanoes. They are caused by seawater percolating through fissures in the ocean crust.
Snopes has debunked other videos that also appear to show scary scenes incorporated into Google Earth or Maps data, including one scene that was said to show "zombies" and another that claimed to have found a dead body.
Our newsroom has also examined whether a giant snake skeleton named "Titanoboa" was shown on Google Maps, a woman stranded on a desert island was seen in Google Earth data, and a purported airplane crash in the ocean.
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