# Angel or moth?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [November 9, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732 "2006-11-09T17:59:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732/1 "2006-11-09T17:59:42Z")
A woman claims to have photographed an angel hovering over the fairgrounds at some state fair in South Carolina. [Link](http://www.wusatv9.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=53476). Hmmm… Bright lights, warm evening, South Carolina. It looks like a [Carolina Sphinx Moth](http://nitro.biosci.arizona.edu/zeeb/butterflies/figs/moths/Sphingidae/M_quinquemaculata.jpg) fluttering by, reflecting the light.
But, she can believe whatever she wants. No harm, no foul.
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2006, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732/2 "2006-11-09T18:09:15Z")
Wow, what balanced reporting.
> [@](#):
>
> As you can imagine, Catherine has showed the picture to a lot of people, but not everyone sees what she does.
>
> “There are some skeptics who say it’s something other than an angel, but most people who see it immediately say it’s an angel,” says Catherine.
No mention of what the “skeptics” actually think (i.e. MOTH! IT’S A GODDAMN MOTH!), just “I believe in angels… It’s an angel.”
OK, they’re probably taking the mick, but you’d think they could actually point out that it’s a moth to stop people reading it and forwarding it to other idiots with a note saying “Hey, they photographed a real angel. Science is wrong again, huh?”
Kind of reminds me of the Darwin [“meteorite” photo](http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap041207.html) that turned out to be a bee. (Although that one fooled a lot more people.)
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### Author:  [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732/3 "2006-11-09T18:11:25Z")
C: Tinkerbell!
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### Author:  [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732/4 "2006-11-09T18:35:52Z")
I beleive in moths…it’s a moth.
Moths also have a head, wings and legs.
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### Author:  [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732/5 "2006-11-09T19:42:26Z")
Throw it into a bug zapper and see what happens.
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### Author:  [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732/6 "2006-11-09T20:04:48Z")
Bloody Vorlons are showing up everywhere these days.
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### Author:  [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732/7 "2006-11-09T20:05:30Z")
The body’s kind of disproportionate to the wings, but that’s probably the angle and lighting.
Speaking as someone who’s as much as a Christian as the next guy who chows down on wafers and wine… yeah, that there’s probably a bug.
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### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732/8 "2006-11-09T20:18:05Z")
I’ll never cease to be amazed by people who skip the “It looks like a …”
observation to the “It is a …”.
What must it be like to watch clouds go by with these people?
“That one looks like a horse.”
“No, it is a horse.”
“That one looks like an angel.”
“No, it is an angel.”
“That one looks like satan.”
“Agghhh!!!”
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### Author:  [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732/9 "2006-11-09T20:40:55Z")
[QUOTE=Winston Smith]
C: Tinkerbell!
[/QUOTE]
TINKERBELL IS AN ANGEL!!! :eek:
_Alternative:_
TINKERBELL IS A MOTH!!! :eek:
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732/10 "2006-11-09T20:50:13Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon]
Wow, what balanced reporting.
No mention of what the “skeptics” actually think (i.e. MOTH! IT’S A GODDAMN MOTH!), just “I believe in angels… It’s an angel.”
[/QUOTE]
Welcome to November Sweeps.
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### Author:  [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732/11 "2006-11-09T21:43:47Z")
Sigh. I sat through the stupid “news” video just to see the actual picture instead of the cropped section. When you see the “angel” in context, the moth hypothesis becomes overwhelmingly probable.
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### Author:  [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732/12 "2006-11-09T21:52:09Z")
Come on, miracles are for those who will see them. Leave the poor woman alone.
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### Author:  [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angel-or-moth/379732/13 "2006-11-09T23:49:14Z")
I realize that copy editors have gone the way of high-button shoes, but, honestly, what are they teaching people these days?
“…something some might call a heavenly host.” So, like, is that a person who throws a heavenly party?
One angel (or moth) does not a host make.