Was Humiliating Navy Rifle Photo Actually Photoshopped?

Was the Navy's embarrassing rifle photo actually photoshopped and edited?

The Navy published a photo on its social media platforms Tuesday of a man firing a rifle that had optics mounted backwards, the lens covers appear to possibly be closed, his arm was chicken winged out, the butt of the gun riding up his shoulder and the selector switch appeared to possibly be flipped to full auto at an unclear target in the water.

It was a wild post, and it's downright shocking nobody near the man firing realized the insanity of what was going on or that nobody posting it did either.

It was beyond embarrassing, led to social media roasting it and was eventually deleted. Well, it turns out the situation has a new wrinkle.

Navy deletes embarrassing photo. (Credit: Screenshot/United States Navy)

Was viral Navy rifle photo edited?

I spoke with an expert in photo analysis (specialization in WWII photos) whose name is withheld for privacy reasons, and he floated something I didn't even think of: The weapon's optic was on backwards because it was edited to be on the rifle after the fact.

"I can tell you that the scope was added to the recent US Navy photo after the photo was taken.  If you look at the photo knowing that, it becomes obvious:  the shadows are inconsistent and there are photo-editing traces around the scope.  It remains embarrassing, of course, but that does explain how the issue happened.  The Navy probably doesn't want to admit that they doctored the photo, since that, too, is worthy of criticism and opens up more questions about other photos," the photo expert told me.

He pointed out that it's incredibly important that the public understands the truth and that edited photos aren't allowed to go unnoticed.

"Military photo authenticity and accuracy is so important.  We're losing historical integrity of photos through photo-editing and the even more common problem of wholesale misinterpretation or misapplication of content.  For some people, all of that seems like an unimportant matter, but I've seen doctored military photos in hundreds of publications both in print and online.  Eventually, these things snowball, and from what had been crucial and undeniable historical evidence we are then left with questions about accuracy and truthfulness," the expert explained.

While it's impossible for someone like me with an untrained eye to know for sure, his theory seems accurate. He also provided plenty of evidence to prove his credentials are legit. The photo expert suggesting the optic was added after the fact would explain why nobody on the ship's deck stopped the shooting as it was happening. I find it hard to believe a Navy ship full of people didn't notice a rifle had backward optics. That makes the weapon literally impossible to accurately aim.

People weren't impressed with the photo.

As you'd expect, people weren't overly impressed by the fact the Navy posted the photo and nobody in the workflow didn't realize all the incredible mistakes.

Check out some of the reactions below.

What started as a funny social media mishap has turned into a lot of mocking and a much deeper conspiracy. Was the photo staged? Was it edited? Is any of it real? Let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.