I checked a local news story about a 'bear attack' in my town park and the truth was way less scary

A post on our neighborhood app said a bear attacked a jogger in Mill Creek Park last Tuesday, with a blurry photo of something brown in the bushes. I got worried, so I looked up the police report online. Turns out, it was just a big dog that got loose and knocked someone over, no injuries. The photo was from a different state two years ago. Has anyone else had a local rumor blow up that was easy to check but nobody bothered?

3 comments

3 Comments

felixm2914d ago

Remember when someone posted about a giant snake in the sewer last year? It was just a garden hose someone threw down a manhole. At this point, I'm waiting for the "alien landing" to be a kid's drone with a pizza box stuck to it. People just hit share so fast their brains don't even turn on.

harperp2414d ago

Wow, that's wild. Makes you wonder if people just like the drama more than the truth. Bet half the shares came from folks who never even go to that park. Now I'm second guessing every "urgent" alert on that app.

quinnm7714d ago

Remember reading about that fake "bear attack" alert that went around last summer? Some guy just saw a big dog in the woods and panicked. The story got shared thousands of times before anyone checked. It feels like the truth doesn't matter anymore, just who can yell the loudest first. I've stopped trusting those alerts completely unless I see a real news station confirm it. The whole system is broken when a garden hose can become a city-wide crisis.