Fact Check

Thunderbirds and Bees

Photograph shows couple copulating in the front seat of a car while a child sits in the back seat?

Published Jan. 25, 2006

Claim:

Claim:   Photograph shows couple copulating in the front seat of a car while a child sits in the back seat.


Status:   Undetermined.

Example:   [Collected via e-mail, 2006]






Is this photo for real? If so where did it happen, was the woman arrested?



Click photo to enlarge



Origins:   We don't yet have information about the origins and authenticity of this photograph, other than to note that the yellow sign on the fence behind the car belongs to the Australian company Temporary Fence Hire (TFH), which would place the scene of the picture somewhere in that country. (This observation fits the car shown in the photograph, which is a right-hand drive model — the supposedly amorous couple appears to be perched in the passenger seat, not the driver's seat.)

There are several possible explanations for this picture:


  • The photograph is real (possibly taken by police surveillance as part of a prostitution investigation) and depicts what viewers assume (i.e., a couple engaging in sex).
  • The photograph has been fabricated by manipulating and/or combining portions of other images.
  • The photograph is real but depicts something other than what is assumed by viewers (e.g., the woman in the picture was simply captured in the act of trying to reach something stowed in the back seat of the automobile).

Last updated:   25 January 2006


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