Fortunately for humanity, king cobras are not on the loose in Wyoming.
Residents of Casper, Wyoming, eager to keep their lives snake-free got some unwelcome news on Tuesday when a widely circulated Facebook post announced that a truck carrying a load of king cobras had overturned on a local highway, releasing hundreds of the venomous reptiles.
“This is frightening,” one alarmed Facebook user wrote. Wrote another, “The beginning of a Stephen King movie.”
King cobras, the longest of all venomous snakes, can grow to be up to 18 feet long and unfurl into a “standing” position, and they’re perhaps best known as the preferred species of South Asian snake charmers. Fortunately for the snake-averse (and pretty much anyone driving on Interstate 25), the post about the creatures’ Wyoming invasion turned out to be fake. But not before the story slithered all over social media, prompting the Wyoming Highway Patrol to issue a statement making it clear the city was not, in fact, facing a king cobra emergency.
“We would like to clarify that a commercial vehicle carrying cobras did NOT overturn on I-25 near Casper,” the WHP wrote on Facebook. “There is no danger to the public and I-25 is open. Please stay calm and rely on official sources for accurate information.”
The snakes-on-a-Wyoming-highway story originated with Casper Planet, a Facebook page with 69,000 followers that clearly identifies itself as satire. In its post Tuesday, Casper Planet reported that the driver of a semi truck carrying a shipment of king cobras from a Colorado research laboratory to another lab in Montana lost control of the vehicle in an attempt to avoid hitting a deer.
“The truck veered off the road, flipped onto its side, and ruptured the containment units holding the cobras,” the post reads. “Emergency response teams, including wildlife experts and snake handlers, were dispatched to the scene immediately.”
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The fake incident happened at 6 a.m. local time, according to the satiric post, which said the accident forced parts of Highway I-25 in both directions to close. By Tuesday night, the post had been shared more than 25,000 times and garnered more than 3,000 comments.
While plenty of people took the story seriously, those familiar with Casper Planet are well-acquainted with its brand of absurd humor. One of the page’s other recent satiric stories told a “remarkable tale of bravery, compassion and unexpected friendship” between a Wyoming man and the grizzly bear he knocked out before nursing it back to health and riding it home. Another headline blared news of Bigfoot’s capture in Natrona County, Casper’s home.
Even some unfamiliar with the satiric community expressed suspicions about Tuesday’s post after seeing an accompanying photo of a semi-truck not only with its side smashed, but large sections incinerated. “Wait, the report said the truck flipped on its side and didn’t say anything about it burning,” one Facebook observer commented. Not only that, the photo exudes a bit of that shiny and surreal AI-generated vibe.
This new Facebook “marked safe” designation probably won’t need to be used all that often.
The tale of the Wyoming king cobras is also yet another tale of how rapidly fake news spreads online, and how susceptible internet inhabitants are to being misled. About four hours after posting the king cobra “news,” Casper Planet posted a follow-up story that made it explicitly clear king cobras had not taken over the central Wyoming city. Native to Asia, the snakes prefer rainforests, bamboo thickets and mangrove swamps.
“The panic began earlier today when an imaginary truck crash released imaginary king cobras on the highway, causing a stir among the locals,” the second post reads. “Despite the complete lack of visual or physical evidence, the rumor spread like wildfire, leading to widespread concern and a significant drop in traffic on I-25.”
Concern, yes, but also laughter. “Y’all win the internet for 2024,” one Facebook user told Casper Planet. “Please gloat. You’ve earned it.”
Another even created a new Facebook “marked safe” designation for the occasion. “Marked safe” messages, which can be posted via the platform’s “crisis response” section, allow users to reassure their online circles they’re okay in the wake of natural disasters and other emergencies. This one reads “marked safe from imaginary cobras today.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the name of the highway patrol unit. It’s Wyoming Highway Patrol.
