Photo appearing to show controller of Titan sub is altered | Fact check
The claim: Photo shows video game controller used to steer Titan submersible on the ocean floor
A June 23 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of a tweet that claims to show a video game controller, similar to the one that was used to steer the imploded OceanGate Titan submersible, sitting at the bottom of the ocean.
“The cheapest part survived,” reads the tweet's caption.
The Instagram post was liked more than 40,000 times in five days.
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Our rating: Altered
The image has been digitally edited. The original photograph has been online for years and does not show a video game controller. It was taken during a research project looking at the impact of deep-sea mining.
Original image shows tracks in Pacific Ocean
The photo is presented as if it shows the repurposed video game controller used to steer the Titan, a submersible that left June 18 to take passengers to the Titanic wreck site before it imploded killing all five on board. The vehicle was built in part by using off-the-shelf components, including the controller. Recovery efforts are underway.
The image featured in the post is an altered version of one that was taken in 2015 as part of a project studying the impact of deep-sea mining activity on aquatic life. The 2015 photo shows marks left in 1989 on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, but no controller.
The unaltered image can be found in a 2016 fact sheet about the research, a 2020 study and a 2020 BBC report.
A Coast Guard spokesperson, who declined to be named, told Paste BN on June 28 that no pictures of the submersible wreckage have been released. The Coast Guard has convened a Marine Board of Investigation to examine the incident.
Debris from the sub was found on June 22 about 1,600 feet from the Titanic wreck site.
Fact check: False claim missing sub was found without passengers
Paste BN could not reach the Twitter user who first shared the photo. The Instagram user who shared the claim did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Associated Press, AFP and Lead Stories also debunked this claim.
Our fact-check sources:
- Coast Guard spokesperson, June 27-28, Email exchange with Paste BN
- Coast Guard, June 25, U.S. Coast Guard convenes a Marine Board of Investigation into loss of Titan submersible
- GEOMAR, July 2016, Long-term Impacts of Deep-Sea Mining
- Progress in Oceanography, November-December 2020, Abyssal food-web model indicates faunal carbon flow recovery and impaired microbial loop 26 years after a sediment disturbance experiment
- BBC Future, Dec. 3, 2020, The unseen man-made tracks on the deep ocean floor
- Popular Mechanics, June 22, Like the Lost Titan Sub, American Weapons Use Video Game Controllers, Too
- Associated Press, June 23, How the unconventional design of the Titan sub may have destined it for disaster
- CNN, June 26, A robot is combing the sea floor for debris from the Titan submersible implosion as a multinational investigation begins
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