# ObL and Bert from Sesame Street - really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 12, 2001, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-and-bert-from-sesame-street-really/87022 "2001-10-12T13:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-and-bert-from-sesame-street-really/87022/1 "2001-10-12T13:08:00Z")
Hanging around here might be making me too skeptical. The [BBC](http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1594000/1594600.stm), [Yahoo News/Reuters](http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20011009/wl/imdf09102001085522a.html) and [Snopes](http://www.snopes2.com/rumors/bert.htm) are all saying that these images are for real, but despite all this reputable backup, I still can’t believe it; has anyone seen the video footage? (I’m assuming that video would be much harder to fake than stills). Is this for **real**? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-and-bert-from-sesame-street-really/87022/2 "2001-10-12T13:17:55Z")
I heard a report yesterday on NPR that said this was real. Some years ago some guy in the Phillipines created a ‘Bert is Evil’ website that had Bert in all sorts of unsavory situations. It was a really clever website and it won a Webby (Webbie?) award. The new stuff with Bert was not created by the same guy however and he has apologized publically for having started the whole thing. That said I haven’t seen it either. ---
**Author:** ![Swampwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-and-bert-from-sesame-street-really/87022/3 "2001-10-12T14:03:54Z")
What BBC, Yahoo and Snopes are saying is that there _is_ a poster with OBL and Bert. Not that Bert posed in some kind of photo-op. Somebody found the pic on the web, and wanted to use it as a way of scaring American children (“Bert? With the Bad Guy? waaaahhhhhh!!!” I could see that happening all over the country. Kinda funny, in a sick way) As you can see [here,](http://plaza.powersurfr.com/bert/) there is a very funny comic website about him. (BTW: You don’t also believe the pic on the first page of the site is real, do you?) ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-and-bert-from-sesame-street-really/87022/4 "2001-10-12T14:14:57Z")
Blessedwolf, your link gave me a series of weird clickthroughs before it finally settled on this URL, which says it’s an “official mirror site”. [http://plaza.powersurfr.com/bert/](http://plaza.powersurfr.com/bert/) The BBC article says that the official Bert is Evil website has been taken down. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-and-bert-from-sesame-street-really/87022/5 "2001-10-12T14:45:24Z")
**blessedwolf** : No, I’m not under any illusions that Bert _really posed_ with ObL for a photo. (I’m an occasional visito to [http://www.fark.com](http://www.fark.com), so I know what Photoshop can do. It’s the presence of Bert on the placard in Bangladesh that I’m talking about, I still can’t convince myself _ **that** _ isn’t photoshopped. The presence of Bert on the placard in Bangladesh is either real or the biggest media hoax in years. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-and-bert-from-sesame-street-really/87022/6 "2001-10-12T14:52:07Z")
We already discussed this down in MPSIMS (do a search :)). Snopes says it’s real: [http://www.snopes2.com/rumors/bert.htm](http://www.snopes2.com/rumors/bert.htm) [sub]Of course, Snopes appears to be down right now[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-and-bert-from-sesame-street-really/87022/7 "2001-10-12T14:54:21Z")
poor Bert. How did he get mixed up in all this. I love Bert. He loves pigeons like I do ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-and-bert-from-sesame-street-really/87022/8 "2001-10-12T14:57:43Z")
**Bert is Evil!** ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-and-bert-from-sesame-street-really/87022/9 "2001-10-12T15:02:28Z")
If Bert is Evil, is Ernie Good? ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-and-bert-from-sesame-street-really/87022/10 "2001-10-12T15:06:04Z")
D\*mn! I wasted post #300 on a discussion of Bert bin Laden. He really is evil! ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-and-bert-from-sesame-street-really/87022/11 "2001-10-12T17:36:17Z")
I’ll close this thread since it has been discussed so recently. I direct any remaining comments to the earlier thread, [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=92524](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=92524) bibliophage moderator GQ