"Watch this beautiful satellite view of India, taken by NASA on Diwali night". There is a high probability that you have seen this message making the rounds on your newsfeed every Diwali, though it had been proven several times that the illuminated image of the Indian subcontinent is more about a representation of population growth than actual lights glowing across the subcontinent. However, like every year, this fake photo of India (with Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Burma) gets shared like a hoax. Thanks to Twitter, people analysed this picture closely and came up with their own explanations. Here are a few:
Exclusive picture of India from space released by NASA after Bakri Eid. pic.twitter.com/QHWziXdrqf
— Sand-d Singh (@Sand_In_Deed) November 12, 2015
People who uploading this Diwali Pic & say it's NASA image are same who vote Modi after seeing #GujaratModel pic.twitter.com/jyxpYQc6sz
— BJP Scams 2014-19 (@BJPScams) November 11, 2015
We don't know about view from space, but Twitter was brightly lit yesterday. Here's how India Tweeted #HappyDiwali https://t.co/qK5GbrJ0oK
— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) November 12, 2015
Wow NASA has just released the noiseless Diwali photo pic.twitter.com/pgmtsh3YiN
— Anurag Verma (@kitAnurag) November 9, 2015
New video on the YT channel from #OnAirWithAIB - Can You Not Forward That NASA Diwali photo? https://t.co/SzxZT7EiNy
— All India Bakchod (@AllIndiaBakchod) November 11, 2015
India during Diwali from space by NASA! Incredible! So pretty! [Note: After Bihar elections, as per Amit Shah.] pic.twitter.com/Y4U20QQB94
— Peter Griffin (@zigzackly) November 11, 2015
NASA photo of UK & Europe tonight - Indians over there celebrating Diwali on account of Modiji's visit #ModiInUK pic.twitter.com/HABLRJS4Gh
— Atul Khatri (@one_by_two) November 12, 2015
[Year 3050] *NASA finds life on Mars* *Indians are still sharing fake NASA pic of Diwali night*
— EngiNerd. (@mainbhiengineer) November 11, 2015
That beautiful image of nighttime Diwali lights in India? It's a really old fake https://t.co/u3wtMAYxyO pic.twitter.com/ByrR4sxJWz
— NASA Earth (@NASA_EO) November 12, 2015