Was a huge 14-foot alligator found in Browns Mills, New Jersey? No, that's not true: some prankster uploaded an old photo from 2016 taken in Florida to a website where anyone can create realistic-looking prank articles and it went viral. The story is not real.
The story originated from an article published on the website breakingnews247.net on September 1, 2018 titled "Massive alligator found in Browns Mills, New Jersey" (archived here) which opened:
A 14 foot American alligator was found in a pond in Browns Mills, New Jersey. Officials say they have also found the remnants of 4 separate nests and are concerned that they could be more than 75 other alligators on the loose in that area. Residents are urged to be aware of their surroundings when near any body of water in that area.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail, leading many to think it was a real news article:
Massive alligator found in Browns Mills, New Jersey
A 14 foot American alligator was found in a pond in Browns Mills, New Jersey. Officials say they have also found the remnants of 4 separate nests and are concerned that they could be more than 75 other alligators on the loose in that area. Residents are urged to be aware of their surroundings when near any body of water in that area.
However the photo used dates from 2016 and it was actually taken in Florida:
Worst nightmare: Gigantic 15-foot-long alligator caught in Florida
To the horror of many, a giant alligator hanging from a tractor captured the internet's attention this week. The beast had been shot dead after killing cattle on a Florida farm. The gator, estimated to be 15 feet long and about weighing 800 lbs, was shot by Lee Lightsey, a Florida hunter, on Saturday after being discovered in one of his cattle ponds.
The site that published the story is a prank website where users can submit their own headline, description and photo to create realistic looking prank news articles.
Users don't even need to upload their own image, there is a built-in search function that will pull an appropriate image from Google image search.
The site is part of a larger network of prank sites all using the same basic layout but sometimes in different languages. It appears to be run by a Belgian company named Mediavibes or Media Vibes which is managed by a man named Nicolas Gouriou according to registration records.
Each site in the network comes with a disclaimer (sometimes translated into a different language) that reads:
This website is an entertainment website, jokes are created by users. These are humourous jokes, fantasy, fictional, that should not be seriously taken or as a source of information.
So don't fall for this prank now that we've warned you about it!
We wrote about breakingnews247.net before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
