{"id":18405,"date":"2024-04-24T11:48:31","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T10:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=18405"},"modified":"2024-04-24T11:49:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T10:49:15","slug":"true-americas-statue-of-liberty-was-struck-by-lightning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/true-americas-statue-of-liberty-was-struck-by-lightning\/","title":{"rendered":"True! America\u2019s Statue of Liberty was struck by lightning\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Claim: <\/strong>\u00a0A Facebook user claims<\/a> that lightning struck America\u2019s famous Statue of Liberty.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Verdict<\/strong>: True. DUBAWA\u2019s checks confirmed the popular Statue of Liberty was struck by lightning on Apr. 3, 2024, after a windstorm and heavy downpour in New York. The image was taken by a British Freelance photographer, Dan Martland<\/a>, and confirmed by the National Weather Service<\/a> of America.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Text<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On Apr. 4, 2024, a Liberian Facebook user<\/a> claimed that America’s Statue of Liberty was struck by lightning on Apr 3, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWow! Shocking news from America. Just yesterday night lightning struck Lady Liberty, the representing statue of Liberty in America,\u201d the post said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Screenshot of the post<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention has said<\/a> the Statue of Liberty is a towering monument made in Paris by the French sculptor Barthodi, in collaboration with Gustave Eiffel, as a gift on the centenary of American independence. It was inaugurated in 1886 and stands at the entrance to New York Harbour.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data available on Facebook showed that the post had received 413 likes, 54 comments, and 14 shares as of Apr. 19, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DUBAWA decided to probe the claim as part of its campaign against misinformation and disinformation in Liberia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verification<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Checks by DUBAWA using Google Reverse Image Search showed the reported incident happened in New York on Apr. 3, 2024, as claimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The images of the Statue of Liberty being zapped by a bolt of lightning were first shared by a Freelance photographer, Dan Martland, on his social media handles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The celebrated photographer wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Apr. 3, 2024:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe\u2019s Electric. This afternoon’s passing storm didn\u2019t disappoint. The #StatueOfLiberty getting zapped by a bolt of #Lightning #storm #weather #NYC.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A further check by DUBAWA showed that the incident had been reported by some media organisations in America, including the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), operated by the Walt Disney Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ABC reported<\/a> that:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCheck out this picture taken by an eyewitness viewer. This is Miss Liberty\u2026striking the torch almost right there, illuminating the torch bar,\u201d the reporter said, pointing to one of the pictures taken by Dan Martland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, reacting to the pictures captured by the photographer, the National Weather Service of America wrote<\/a> on X (formerly Twitter) that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven Lady Liberty would agree: \u201cWhen Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!\u201d No place outside is safe during a thunderstorm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See here<\/a> and here<\/a> for other media reports about the incident.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sources have confirmed that the New York-based Statue of Liberty, popularly called Lady Liberty, was struck by lightning on Apr. 3, 2024. Therefore, the claim is true.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claim: \u00a0A Facebook user claims that lightning struck America\u2019s famous Statue of Liberty. Verdict: True. DUBAWA\u2019s checks confirmed the popular Statue of Liberty was struck by lightning on Apr. 3, 2024, after a windstorm and heavy downpour in New York. The image was taken by a British Freelance photographer, Dan Martland, and confirmed by the National Weather Service of America.\u00a0\u00a0 Full Text On Apr. 4, 2024, a Liberian Facebook user claimed that America’s Statue of Liberty was struck by lightning on Apr 3, 2024. \u201cWow! Shocking news from America. Just yesterday night lightning struck Lady Liberty, the representing statue of Liberty in America,\u201d the post said.  UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention has said the Statue of Liberty is a towering monument made in Paris by the French sculptor Barthodi, in collaboration with Gustave Eiffel, as a gift on the centenary of American independence. It was inaugurated in 1886 and stands at the entrance to New York Harbour.\u00a0 Data available on Facebook showed that the post had received 413 likes, 54 comments, and 14 shares as of Apr. 19, 2024. DUBAWA decided to probe the claim as part of its campaign against misinformation and disinformation in Liberia. Verification Checks by DUBAWA using Google Reverse Image Search showed the reported incident happened in New York on Apr. 3, 2024, as claimed. The images of the Statue of Liberty being zapped by a bolt of lightning were first shared by a Freelance photographer, Dan Martland, on his social media handles.  The celebrated photographer wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Apr. 3, 2024: \u201cShe\u2019s Electric. This afternoon’s passing storm didn\u2019t disappoint. The #StatueOfLiberty getting zapped by a bolt of #Lightning #storm #weather #NYC.\u201d  A further check by DUBAWA showed that the incident had been reported by some media organisations in America, including the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), operated by the Walt Disney Company. The ABC reported that:\u00a0 \u201cCheck out this picture taken by an eyewitness viewer. This is Miss Liberty\u2026striking the torch almost right there, illuminating the torch bar,\u201d the reporter said, pointing to one of the pictures taken by Dan Martland. Also, reacting to the pictures captured by the photographer, the National Weather Service of America wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that: \u201cEven Lady Liberty would agree: \u201cWhen Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!\u201d No place outside is safe during a thunderstorm.\u201d See here and here for other media reports about the incident.\u00a0 Conclusion Sources have confirmed that the New York-based Statue of Liberty, popularly called Lady Liberty, was struck by lightning on Apr. 3, 2024. Therefore, the claim is true.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[1571,3815,1688],"tags":[],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[2473],"class_list":["post-18405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-check","category-homepage","category-news"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-4MR","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":2473,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"laymah-kollie","display_name":"Laymah Kollie","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3e8f21bfb7f38038adda7814f321e394e07b71be6eaa313cfaeb3ba15adcf62c?s=96&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Image-of-Statue-Liberty.-Photo-Source-World-atlas-Google.-.jpg?fit=512%2C341&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18405"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18407,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18405\/revisions\/18407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18405"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=18405"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=18405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}