No, The Images Are Not Taken By Sunita Williams From The ISS.

After the safe return of Sunita Williams from the International Space Station, various posts related to her went viral on social media. We came across a photo allegedly from the recent Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj with the claim that the photo was taken by Sunita Williams from ISS. The viral photo is a collage of three images, one image shows Sunita Williams, the inserted image shows a satellite image of a river and the other shows possibly a drone shot of a river which has bridges and is surrounded by people. 

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However, as we investigated, we came to know that the claim was false. The images are not taken by Sunita Williams. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check 

We started our investigation by conducting a reverse image search of the viral image by cropping it. 

First Image 

The reverse image search led us to an Instagram post where a video containing clips similar to the viral image was uploaded on 25 August 2021. We could see the same bridges as the viral image in the video.

According to the caption, the video is from Haridwar.

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Taking this clue, using relevant keywords we found the viral image in the stock image website “Alamy” on 14 January 2021. According to the caption, the image shows pilgrims taking a Holy dip in the river Ganges in Kumbh Nagri Haridwar, Uttarakhand.

A video containing similar clips can be seen below. It shows the 2021 Kumbh Mela in Haridwar.

Similar images can be seen here and here.

This makes it clear that the image is not from the Prayagraj Maha Kumbh, it’s from Haridwar.

Moving forward, we conducted a reverse image search of the satellite image. This led us to a report published in The Times of India on 22 January 2025 which contained the viral satellite image. According to the report, the image was captured by ISRO. 

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Using relevant keywords, we found a report published in Hindustan Times that contained the viral satellite image. The credit for the image was given to ISRO-NSRC. 

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We found the image on the official website of the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC).

This makes it clear that the viral images were not taken by Sunita Williams.

However, Sunita Williams’s cousin Falguni Pandya, in an interview with CNN-News18, said that Sunita Williams shared pictures of the Maha Kumbh Mela from space with her. 

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the claim is false. The viral images are not taken by Sunita Williams. The first image is from Haridwar Kumbh Mela in 2021 and the second image (satellite image), which shows Prayagraj Sangam was captured by ISRO.