By Vurdlak on October 17, 2006, with 116 Comments
This is our newest user-submitted optical illusion. Mary sent this photo with following description: “Hello, attached is a picture I have used for a wallpaper. I have no idea where it is from or where this island is located. None the less it is nature at its best”. Here at Mighty Optical Illusions, we are buffeled with this one as much as Mary. Is it for real or just a hoax/photoshopped image? Anyone has more info? If it’s for real, be sure to submit Google Earth co-ordinates. In the mean time check our Google Earth Category for more!
(30 votes)
that is obviously photoshopped or done by another program , this is no where near beleivable
thats cool
agreed, the area of water around the islands looks completely different. not even the same bit depth
That is a Photoshop job on an island known as Molokini, off the south coast of Maui. The Star does not exist, the crescent is for real.
I agree…it’s a Photoshop edit!
Fake,
The island is without the star is Molokini a few miles from Maui.
Great place to go diving.
Fake,
Island without star is Molokini few miles from Maui.
The waves breaking on lagoon side of the “star” island reveal the hoax. You can also see the cuts on the upper edges of the “star” island. The crescent island is the Molokini crater in Hawaii.
The moon shape is Molokini crater, an extinct volcano off the south coast of Maui. It is one of the top ten dive sites in the world. The star was added to the photo. It is really a cool pix.
If it is an illustration (a photoshopped image), it’s a very well done one.
if i saw it on google earth i would be a believer. neat non-the-less.
fake
Yeah, have a look at http://student.fortlewis.edu/LRANDERSON/Hawaii%20molokini.jpg
this is an island off the coast of maui and it does not have the star in it.
Alright so now that TEd has proven with a link that it is a fake. Where do we find “Star Island”?
Yeah, the crescent is Molokini. I snorkeled there when I went to Maui. I have a poster of the crescent but the star is all Photoshop.
this was done using terragen (or maybe some other terrain-creating software. i bet its terragen though)
for those interested terragen is fantasic and allows you to create amazing scenery
It is a good idea to add the star to the crescent and a good job doing it. Looks very cool…to bad it isn’t real!
She said wallpaper… Does she have a high-res version?!
The original photo: http://student.fortlewis.edu/LRANDERSON/Hawaii%20molokini.jpg
the boat beneath the star is a copy and paste job from the other boat.
i dont care what you guys say. i say that it’s real
Hmmm, could be the newest territories of Turkey!
—
May the Force of the Dragon’s Spirit be With You!
- CoolDragon )O(
I found the link for this picture.
Check Here
GarZ is the name of the woman who photoshopped the moon star picture. It looks fantastic along with other pictures that she has doctored in the photo section of her blog.
Nice work GarZ!!!!
AS to the two posts I posted before, I have done the research, and although it says the island is part of Palua, the island’s website gives no recognition to this island. Also the pictures of molokini do transfer over onto the picture with very little discrepency. I pull back my previous statement about it being a real island, although I do know I have seen it my geography book which is strange. The rest of the pictures on GarZ’s site i believe are real.
Bis Spaeter
I know that island. I think it’s in Hawaii. The crescent part of it is real, but the star shape it DEFINITELY photo shopped.
Here is a link to the origianl image: Click Here
The star is obviously cloned from the main island. Look close and you can identify element in the star from the crescent.
Don’t you realize that everybody is saying the same? Yeah it’s photoshoped. It’s obvious. Nobody is going to win the Nobel Prize…
woah so freaky.reminds me of past life…or just a deep night of magic.=) =/
I went to the crescent island when i went to Hawaii and I went snorkeling! However, the star wasnt there. Maybe this is somewhere else besides Hawaii? Its a really good Photoshop job if its fake.
It is absolutly a work of photoshop. Look at the indside of the star, there is obvious clone stamping around the ‘shores’ of the star island. When compared to the crashing waves on the moon shaped island (the real one) they are outragiously huge. Photoshoped, and poorly done too.
It probuly is photoshopped, but I have heard that if you are really rich, you can pay to have people construct an island for you, using large machines to move large amounts of earth. But like I said first, it is probuly photoshop
Ok, ive seen this pic before but it was in turkey where i seen it… Their flag is this but backwards…its a moon cresent with a star in the middle…
dear person who posted this if this is real or fake please post some facts about it like where it is.
The star is heavily pixelated while the crescent is lightly pixelated.
This is a FAKE!
This picture is not fake! This is an island off the coast of Maui. There are amny man-made islands in the world now. Japan even has a pyramid-city now.
come on everybody it is an manmade island.
ridiculous. im pretty sure the “moon” island is molokini in hawaii. ive been snorkeling there and there is no “star” island. obviously photoshopped.
i think its real i saw a show on tv once where some rich bratty prince in africa somewhere MADE several islands that resembles a palm tree with a circle around it,i know he ordered others to be built…could this be one??
It could be real, but this isn’t anywhere near a google earth image!
thats bull its photoshopes that is molokini crater in hawaii there is no star there cause i whent snorkling there.
It may be fake, but since no one has yet to identify the symbolism, let me ;P
This is a symbol in antiquity, most know it as Van Gogh’s “Cypress Star” the “star” is actually venus.
Another website telling you morons abt it
http://www.hemmy.net/2006/10/12/our-beautiful-world/
the ‘moon’ will be real, the star will have been photoshopped
the moon part is from molokini off the coast of maui i think. I was there over the summer… It’s pretty cool, especially when you’re flying over it in a plane. the star was just photoshopped. It’s pretty though :)
THiS iS MiLOKiNi(ThE MoOn)ThE StAR iS FAkE…WhO EVER DiD ThIS ShOULD ThINK WhAT ThE LOCALS WOuLD ThINK…YES ii dO LiVE iN hAWAii…ThiS pERSoN ShOULd hAVE dONE HiS/hER RESEARCh FiRST!!!
that is an island in the gallapagos the cresent is real but the star is fake
the crescent’s coordinates are:
20 37’57.32″N, 156 29’46.25″W
just copy and paste that into google earth.
It could be real, I know off the coast of Aba Dubia (south of Saudi Arabia, in the country of United Arab Emerates) there are islands that looks like a map from space, and more than look like palm trees, all man made and sold as prime beach side property.
Dude that is photoshopped some may think that is Molikini but it isnt Molikini is smaller…trust me i went diving there
It isn’t photoshopped or nature.
It’s man made.
I know for a fact that this is a hoax, in fact right behind me not 5 feet away is a poster on the wall of the same crescent. The star has been photoshopped.
Actually this IS a real Island, however it is man made. The Cresent and Star are part of an EarthWork, one of the art pieces made most commonly during the late 70′s early 80′s. (I forget the artist’s name but we studied him just last week, and this is one of his works) There is also another one made by him in Salt Lake, called the Spiral Jetty.
The reason you ONLY see the cresent, is because the star was put in during the season the tide is lowlest, during high tide season the water rises and covers the star leaving only the cresent to be viewed.
Just so you guys all know, off the coast of Dubai, there are several man-made islands that are in shapes that obviously would rarely, if ever, occur naturally… Ever consider that someone bought themselves a star?
http://neddy.blogsome.com/2006/01/13/crescent-star-island/
Here is a link to history about the photo… how many times it has been used and where w/ links provided to check for your self… also they may say who the first guy is to have used it. (?) can’t remember…
check it out
http://www.robertsmithson.com/earthworks/spiral_jetty.htm (link to spiral jetty)
Robert Smithson is the Artist that made the Spiral Jetty, earlier mentioned… but his website doesn’t mention such a feat as the Star & Crescent Moon Islands… Nor do any articles attributed to him.
His site has ‘Earthworks’ which is what he has done regarding landscape changes and art… such at the Jetty… but no island is listed… http://www.robertsmithson.com/earthworks/ew.htm
http://www.worldwindcentral.com/hotspots/index.php?cat=13
This link shows satilite photos of land formations …Natural and Manmade and his Spiral Jetty is listed but nothing is listed about the Star & Crescent Island… (for those of you that have mac and can’t go to Google Earth… this site is helpful for this discussion)
Opinion: Although impressive… the Spiral Jetty and other Earthworks he has done, all fail in comparison to the Star & Crescent Moon Islands. If he did it…wouldn’t he list it as one of much pride?
Rembelle2006
Where did the “Moon and Star on Earth” photograph originate? The above image was uploaded to the flick.com photography site by Ajith Kumar on 1 November 2005. He describes himself as a communication operator working for “Indian Express”, a daily newspaper. Sometime during or before 2005, Wilson Hayes included the image on a webpage entitled “What A Beautiful World.” The same image, with the same title, “The Moon and Star on Earth”, is also found in a collection of beautiful photographs by “Oracle Whimsical” entitled “You only pass this way once,” dated September 23, 2005. A third site, “Secretopinions.com” included it also. I found it at “Gar’Z”, circa 2006, where it was entitled “One of Earth’s Dynamics of Unity – Moon/ Star Lake .” In January 2006, the image was uploaded to a site of predominantly Muslim themed images from Turkey: http://spaces.msn.com/members/onurhoney
ITS OBVIOUSLY A CALDERA, with an obnormaly shaped islands. it is completely belivable.
Google “Molokini Island” before you say that this star is real, or that the island is in Dubai. A few clicks to enlightenment. It’s so easy to find out what it really looks like.
if the star isnt in google images, then the tide must be up coz when the tide goes up only the cresent is left above water. :)
Hey is this island Molokini or not? I wish someone would clear that up…
GREAT photoshop!!
The star is photoshop.
The cresent and Star represent Islam, you can see it on the flag of turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, the older flag of Egypt, ect…
Yes Its Molokini, been there. Did you know on the cliff side there are some rockets embedded into it? Must have been target practice from the near bye army base. nice shot:)
That looks like a turkish flag…
It’s molokini in hawaii and a photoshopped star. There is no reason for the rough white water on the east side of the star. Where would those waves be coming from with a shallow lagoon in the crescent? With waves in the pacific moving from east to west the white water on molokini makes sense but not on the fictishish star. Erosion wouldn’t come from the side of the sheltered bay. The crescent is an old volcano caldera which blew it’s left half off. Molokini is not inhabited, a famous dive site and was once used by the US military as a bombing target.
omg thats amazing
Just to clarify chaps – the star island was photoshopped by a Portsmouth fan for an old Football Forum Pompey-Fans.net.
http://files.myopera.com/GarZ/albums/33829/Moon%2CStar%20on%20Earth.png
http://www.cdaccess.com/samples/photog2/atoll.gif
this is a real place. just a natural illusion.
don’t think it’s real, look at the waves hitting the star from the inner part of the crescent. waves could’t be strong enough to do that in the crescent
How did he get a picture of the star?byw,It’s the background on my computer.0:)
Thats molokini island by maui! ive been snorkling there before. the water looks dif because its the top of a volcano! but the star is not real.
” Imagination is more important than knowledge, for while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination is all we might yet discover and create..” Albert Einstein
..this beauty is not real,ok!but still..it can be created!
This is definitely photoshopped..by someone with a sense of humor. This exact island setup is part of a massive multi-player online role playing game called Perfect World..I’ve flown over it several times on my skymanta..lol
it looks like the flag of pakistan but fake photo (nice try though)
Okay, I live on Maui… so, um, i KNOW that is one photoshopped pic!!! You really can’t fool anyone there. That Moon shaped island is called Molokini, and that star… um ya, its photoshopped! Get your facts right!!!
It is beautiful!
the moon island is Molokini near Maui in Hawaii…
the star…haven’t found that yet.
I’ve flown over Molokini hundreds of times. I would noticed the star if it were ever there.
MOLOKAI MAUI, WHERE MANY PEOPLE SNORKLE