I don't think a day has gone by when I haven't seen the phrase "Pics or it didn't happen" in comments over at Digg.com. Sometimes it's a necessary cry for images to substantiate stories; other times it's just plain ridiculous.
The phrase has become somewhat overused online, and is often met with many members of the Digg army burying those who dare utter the fateful words. There have been, however, some stories where some people have requested images, and someone has come through with the goods.
Here are 10 of those times:
10. Landmark completion of South Pole Telescope - 263 diggs
A fascinating article about the completion of a huge new telescope in Antarctica surfaced on Digg earlier in the year, and came with an ambiguous image that could have been any telescope on any part of the planet. The Digg army came along to comment on the article, and the above image surfaced.
9. 7 Year-Old Boy Finds $8,900 Worth of Crack Cocaine in his jacket pocket - 1178 diggs
This unbelievable story was posted at Digg, but was linked straight to a very nondescript article about the issue. Digg user rebopper came through with the goods: a (marginally) better article, and pics of the confiscated drug.
8. Ancient flying dragon discovered in China - 1217 diggs
An intriguing article surfaced on Digg during March 2007 stating that Chinese scientists have discovered the remains of a small "flying dragon" that lived during the time of the dinosaurs. While the article itself was interesting, the disappointment came through with no images of the find. It was much later that the image above surfaced.
A German man was protesting a looming jail term. He spent 10 days in his own created box on top of a 72 foot pole. He was lured down by a topless photo of his wife, sent up to him in a lunch box. As soon as this story was posted, people were already quoting "pics or it didn't happen". The German news site that originally reported the event had the topless photo.
6. Children make coffin for dying teacher - 1605 diggs
A Dutch school teacher was given a few weeks to live - her elementary-age students stepped up to her side to help with one last project: building her coffin. The story appeared morbid to some and just crazy to others - and sure enough, eventually a picture surfaced to prove that this was a true story.
5. Comic Book Hero Captain America Dies - 1627 diggs
I suppose in retrospect, something like this was bound to happen in Marvel's Civil War storyline - but at the time, comic book geeks didn't expect the news that Captain America would be assassinated. While the original article was very basic, Digg user allanpat came through with the goods for fans - when he posted the link for a far more detailed article complete with "the" picture. Hey, it may not be real, but it's big news for geeks, damn it!
4. Man bets wife in card game and loses - 1632 diggs
An intriguing story about a Russian man who gambled his wife away surfaced on Digg made many question the validity of the story - it seemed like such an urban legend. That was until Digg poster ruspecnaz found the direct link to the Russian news story, complete with picture of the ex-wife and her new man.
Why are you laughing? That was the description left by submitter bonlebon over at Digg when this story was posted earlier this year. Sadly, the link to the CNN story is now no longer existent, but the Digg Army came through with the goods on the pic - a disturbing and surreal image. Kudos to the diggers who also posted links to Red Meat.
An article posted about the permissible public nudity in Battlesboro raised both some eyebrows and some doubts (amongst other things). It was only much later after the article went to the home page that Digg user Johnnybaby found the website nakedinvermont.com proving once more that there were pics, and that it does indeed happen.
1. Wife wins "half the house": Husband chainsaws home in two - 1899 diggs
In the result of an ugly divorce, the wife was awarded half the house. The 43-year old German man settled the issue by using a chainsaw to cut the house in two, and heading off with his half in a forklift truck. The story just sounded way too wild to be true - until the above images surfaced online. Pics, and it DID happen.
