French Scientist Apologies For Presenting A Slice Of Chorizo As A ‘Planet Photo’

On Twitter, Etienne Klein went viral after posting a tweet he claimed was the newest incredible photo of the Star Proxima Centauri, captured with the new James Webb Space Telescope. He alleged that Proxima Centauri was the closest star to the Sun, located 4.2 light years from Earth.

He also said in the tweet: This level of detail. A new world is revealed day after day.” 

The photo garnered attention for different reasons. Most people were gullible, believing it was an actual planet photo. But a few recognized the photo posted by the preeminent physicist was, in fact, a slice of Spanish Sausage. One person wrote: “I’m not sure that serving the aperitif to conspirator is a bright idea. The joke can be nice, but not right now.” 

Another said: “Coming from a scientific research director, It’s quite inappropriate to share this type of thing without specifying from the 1st tweet that it is false information when you know the speed at which false information.”

In response to the backlash, Klein has now publicly apologized while acknowledging that most users had not understood his joke, which he said was aimed at encouraging people to question and not automatically accept eloquent images from people in positions of authority. He wrote: “Let us learn to be wary of arguments from authority as much as of the spontaneous eloquence of certain images. 

After Klein’s apology, many people appeared to agree with his point of asking questions as one wrote: “The point of the joke was to show how gullible society is, especially when they believe everything they see because it came from a notable person. It means even the most renowned people can’t always be trusted because, in the end, they’re still human and flawed.”