Rainbow landscape
Real. It shows the Rainbow Mountains in China, where layers of different-colored rock have come to surface.
Tennis match.
Real. It's Andre Agassi and Roger Federer playing on a helipad covered into a tennis court on top of the Burj al Arab in Dubai, over 695 feet above the ground.
Unusual wolf.
Real. This is the maned wolf.
The Cottingley Fairies
Staged. Two girls, ages 9 and 16, faked the photos by sticking pictures of fairies on pins in the ground. The photos were taken for real around the world.
Pope resigns from Vatican.
Real. This was disputed, but there's video evidence of the lightning strike at the time of the Pope's resignation.
Big jump
Altered
Victory Day Kiss.
Real. The sailor really did grab the nurse and kiss her when the end of WWII was announced. The nurse slapped him afterwards.
Rubber duck in harbor
Real. Rubber Duck is a "floating sculpture" by the Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman.
Jet over beach
Real. The beach, only meters from the runway on the island of St. Maarten, is a popular spot for planewatchers.
Shark attack during ocean rescue.
Altered. It was widely circulated on the Internet as real, and was claimed to be a winner of the National Geographic Photo Contest. The magazine went public to
Vacation selfie
Real. The couple put the camera on timer for a selfie and were upstaged by an inquisitive squirrel.
New York construction workers's lunch
Real but staged. The workers didn't really have lunch like this. They just sat here for the photo.