A rather creepy picture of what looks to be a "human-sized bat" is dividing people online, as nobody can agree whether it's real or not.
Some people like bats, and some don't... take Batman for example who is definitely real and nobody can tell me otherwise.
But what happens if the small flying mammals suddenly become human size? Suddenly they aren't as cute and are a genuinely terrifying sight.
Photos of the flying beast were circulated on Twitter back in 2020 by user @AlexJoestar622, who tweeted: "Remember when I told y'all about the Philippines having human-sized bats? Yeah, this was what I was talking about."
The post went viral purely because nobody could quite believe what they were seeing - it definitely looks like something straight from a nightmare.
People immediately began debating whether the image was real or not, because let's be real, it could easily be some sort of Halloween decoration.
"AT FIRST GLANCE I THOUGHT THAT WAS SOMEONE IN A BAT COSTUME!! I can't believe human sized bats are real, i'd cry if I saw one [in real life]," one person tweeted.
Others delved into an argument online about whether it is actually that big, with one person stating: "It’s an illusion; it looks big cause of the camera angle. So yes, it is real, just not man-sized."
Another person explained: "This picture is a matter of perspective though, it's not really an almost 5 foot tall bat. The bat is closer to the camera than the bike in the background and that makes the bat appear taller than the bike, but it's actually closer in size to the basket next to it. Still not something I'd want to have over for dinner, but not human sized. No thanks."
To clarify, the beast is very much a real thing. It's a giant golden-crowned flying fox, which somehow makes it sound less scary.
The New York Post reports that the flying foxes are found in tropical locations around Asia and Australia, and their wingspan can reach five feet and their bodies can be 16 inches long.
So no, not the size of an adult human, but still terrifyingly big! Fear not, however. Their diet consists of fruit so there's no chance of one crawling through your window and devouring you.
Perhaps it was the angle of the image that made the flying fox seem bigger than it was - but it's completely reasonable to be terrified of it.
