We all know that Earth is roughly spherical and orbits the sun like the other planets in our solar system.
This has been confirmed countless times by scientists, astronauts, and even viral YouTube experiments. Sorry, Flat Earthers, but the world is round.
So how did a Flat Earther manage to win an argument over a selfie taken from the top of Mount Everest?
Just because the Earth is round doesn’t mean so-called “Round-Earthers” are right about everything, something one Reddit user learned the hard way.
Posting in the r/pics thread, user u/amazed_spirit shared what appeared to be a selfie taken from the very peak of Mount Everest, towering at 29,030 feet.
“Checkmate, Flat Earth Society,” the caption read. And to be fair, the Earth’s horizon in the background does appear undeniably curved.
However, the original poster’s argument was quickly debunked, as experts point out that the Earth’s curvature only becomes visible from an altitude of at least 35,000 feet, meaning Mount Everest’s 29,030-foot summit falls short by about 6,000 feet.
Reddit user u/SadConfiguration clarified: “You can’t see the curvature of the Earth from the top of Everest. That’s a fisheye lens. Flat Earthers are a waste of skin, but don’t be fooled into thinking you can see the curvature from 29,000ft. If that were true, you’d see it from plane windows.”
Another user, whose account has since been deleted, added: “There is better evidence of Earth being a globe than a fisheye-lens photo, namely, science done thousands of years ago and verified ad nauseum.”
World Atlas supports these claims, noting that from Mount Everest’s summit, a person can see approximately 230 miles into the distance, far too short to observe the Earth’s curvature.
Seizing the opportunity for a rare victory, Flat Earther Pete Svarrior conducted a reverse image search and uncovered the original photograph.
Posting his findings in the Flat Earth Society forums, Svarrior wrote: “Sure enough, it wasn’t taken in 2018, and sure enough, it has nothing to do with the Reddit user. It was actually taken in 2012 by Dean Carriere.
“More importantly, Dean was kind enough not to strip the EXIF data from the photograph. A copy of the (seemingly) unaltered original file can be found here.
“Anyway, let’s finish stating the obvious, now that no speculation is required. The photo was taken with a GoPro Hero3-Silver Edition with a (35mm-film-equivalent) focal length of 16mm. It’s an ultra-wide-angle lens, and so the entire image is distorted.”
After adjusting the image, the curve appeared far less dramatic than in the original Reddit post, where the lens distortion was still in effect.
However, the slight remaining curvature didn’t go unnoticed. Svarrior dismissed it as an “irregular occurrence,” attributing it to “imperfections in both the lens and the correction algorithm”, naturally, sticking to his Flat Earth beliefs.
