# Is this a photo of a real human head? WARNING: GRAPHIC, NSFW, etc.! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 22, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447 "2006-11-22T18:13:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/21 "2006-11-24T03:19:02Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] Nineteen posts and nobody’s mentioned the illegality of travelling ANYWHERE with a severed human head unless you’re a medical examiner?? I’d call bullshit on this story on that count alone. Please. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] What do you mean? That’s exactly why the article says he was arrested. So I don’t see your point. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/22 "2006-11-24T03:31:29Z")
**Cartooniverse** - [Here’s another link to the story.](http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,9294,2-7-1442_2032510,00.html) > [@](#): > > East London - A 24-year-old man has been arrested at Butterworth for carrying a human head in his luggage at a bus rank in the Eastern Cape town on Saturday, said police. > > Captain Jackson Manatha said the man was arrested about 11:00 after a tip-off. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/23 "2006-11-24T04:45:06Z")
Frequently, things are not what they seem. Look at this picture (may be upsetting, so I have broken the link): [http://peninsulaclarion.com/images/052606/11927\_512.jpg](http://peninsulaclarion.com/images/052606/11927_512.jpg) For the less sensational explanation, read the whole story: [http://peninsulaclarion.com/stories/052606/news\_0526new002.shtml](http://peninsulaclarion.com/stories/052606/news_0526new002.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/24 "2006-11-24T06:01:26Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] [peninsulaclarion.com/stories/052606/news\_0526new002.shtml](http://peninsulaclarion.com/stories/052606/news_0526new002.shtml) [/QUOTE] Takes me to a signup page for the newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/25 "2006-11-24T11:55:38Z")
[QUOTE=Rigamarole] What do you mean? That’s exactly why the article says he was arrested. So I don’t see your point. [/QUOTE] The cops got duped too… ? It can happen, in the heat of the moment. If the piece is a prop, it’s not illegal to transport. **Uncommon Sense** is right. The thing is a fake. Human blood dries to the same color tone. Would it dry faster thinly spread on the face, opposed to an area saturated like the torn-apart neck area? Sure. But c’mon, this “head” has been in a guy’s BAG? It’s a latex prop. People see what they want to see. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/26 "2006-11-24T14:12:18Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] The cops got duped too… ? It can happen, in the heat of the moment. If the piece is a prop, it’s not illegal to transport. **Uncommon Sense** is right. The thing is a fake. Human blood dries to the same color tone. Would it dry faster thinly spread on the face, opposed to an area saturated like the torn-apart neck area? Sure. But c’mon, this “head” has been in a guy’s BAG? It’s a latex prop. People see what they want to see. [/QUOTE] I got the feeling that the picture used the the news story was the fake, as opposed to the actual head from the story. The news needed a graphic, so they staged it. It that right? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/27 "2006-11-24T14:27:44Z")
Yeah, the story is real, the picture is of a fake. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/28 "2006-11-26T05:39:58Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Takes me to a signup page for the newspaper. [/QUOTE] If you just cut and paste this; \*\*[http://peninsulaclarion.com/images/052606/11927\_512.jpg](http://peninsulaclarion.com/images/052606/11927_512.jpg) \*\* it’ll take you to the photo. And to all; yes the photo is a fake photo used to illustrate a real story. The guy was carrying a real head. The photo in my link was of a fake head that someone at MOPO.CA used for _their_ story. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/29 "2006-11-26T05:41:18Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] **Uncommon Sense** is right. The thing is a fake. Human blood dries to the same color tone. Would it dry faster thinly spread on the face, opposed to an area saturated like the torn-apart neck area? Sure. But c’mon, this “head” has been in a guy’s BAG? It’s a latex prop. People see what they want to see. [/QUOTE] Someone a few posts up linked to the exact head for sale on a website. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/30 "2006-11-26T07:40:40Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] Someone a few posts up linked to the exact head for sale on a website. [/QUOTE] The exact photo even. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/31 "2006-11-26T08:36:56Z")
Looking at the rest of the stories on that site, they frequently have an entry that mentions an article, then a photo which is tangentially related to the article while not actually claiming to be a photo from the story itself. It seems like this is the case with this story. They wanted a graphic for their “guy caught with severed head” story, so they googled up a graphic of a severed head, not caring if it is real or fake. It’s just for effect. We have no reason to believe that the guy who was arrested didn’t have a real severed head, nor any reason to believe that the linked web site is claiming to have an actual picture of the head found in the luggage. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/32 "2006-11-26T08:40:52Z")
[Here](http://www.mopo.ca/2006/11/strip-search-lands-officer-michael.html) [NSFW]is a perfect example. It’s a story about an officer strip-searching a prostitute, and the accompanying photo is of a group of naked women lined up against a wall as if they’re going to be frisked. It obviously has nothing to do with the story. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/33 "2006-11-26T23:57:16Z")
The exact photo, you say? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/34 "2006-11-27T01:30:41Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] The exact photo, you say? [/QUOTE] The exact photo. Follow my link above. It’s the third image down. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447/35 "2006-11-27T03:45:47Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > Having had the unbiased joy of seeing a decapitated corpse on one occasion and expsoed to plenty of stories in the ambulance biz, my first thought was waaaay too neat. Human bodies do not come apart in nice clean lines anything like the pic unless cut off with tools. That’s as maybe. But I recently picked up a photography book called [Anonymous](http://www.amazon.com/Enigmatic-Photographers-Robert-Flynn-Johnson/dp/0500542929/sr=8-3/qid=1164598792/ref=pd_bbs_3/104-5221516-4874339?ie=UTF8&s=books) and was confronted with 2 shots of a grisly car accident on a rural road sometime in the 1930s. The car was totaled and lying on its right side, the driver crumpled beside it – his head lopped off by some unknown force – and rather neatly, I must say. Stranger yet, said head was some 20 feet _in front_ of the car –resting _neatly upright_ in the road. A medium closeup of just the head was also taken: it looked as if the poor bastard had simply been buried up to his neck in the dirt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-photo-of-a-real-human-head-warning-graphic-nsfw-etc/381447.md?page=1)