Image shows fabricated CNN story about man using lost nuclear weapon to power his home

The claim: The image shows a CNN headline claiming a man used a nuclear weapon to power his home.

There is no shortage of true stories that reinforce the “Florida Man” meme's place in internet culture, and a widely circulated headline about a man's alleged arrest in the Sunshine State claims to be the latest addition to the catalog.

“Florida man arrested for using lost US nuclear weapon to power his home for more than 27 years,” read CNN's purported headline on an image posted to Instagram on November 15.

The image includes a mug shot and an underwater photo of a man in scuba gear next to the alleged nuclear weapon. The post received more than 6,000 likes in two days.

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But a CNN spokesperson told USA TODAY that the image was fabricated and that CNN did not write such a story. The two photos used in the Instagram post are several years old.

USA TODAY has reached out to the user who shared the image for comment.

Fabricated image uses years-old, unrelated photos

The purported headline does not appear on CNN's website, and the network has confirmed that no such article ever existed.

“This image is fabricated and was not reported by CNN,” spokesperson Sydney Baldwin told USA TODAY.

The photo in the image is from a 2016 arrest in New York – not a more recent arrest in Florida. He was included in several media reports reporting a 55-year-old man arrested on suspicion of harassing a woman at a bus stop in Albany, New York.

Fact check: The edited image shows a supposed update on the use of pronouns

The underwater image is also several years old. According to reports published in 2014 by German media outlets DW and War History Online, it is one of several bombs dating from World War II that have been found in the waters off the German coast.

The edited image combining the two photos with the fabricated title was posted on iFunny, a meme-sharing website, in April. It then circulated on social media and was debunked by fact-checking outlets such as DFRAC and Vishvas News.

More recently, PolitiFact confirmed that the headline had been changed.

Altered CNN headlines on topics including climate change, former President Donald Trump and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have already been debunked by USA TODAY.

Our rating: Modified

Based on our research, we have rated as EDITTED an image that purports to show a CNN headline claiming a man used a nuclear weapon to power his home. A CNN spokesperson said the image was fabricated and that the network had never reported such a story.

Our fact-checking sources:

• CNN, accessed November 17, search for articles

• Sydney Baldwin, November 17, email to USA TODAY

• PolitiFact, November 16. This isn't a real CNN headline about a Florida man arrested for powering his home with a nuclear weapon.

• DFRAC, April 22, fact check: Man has been producing electricity from nuclear weapons for his home for years

• Vishvas News, April 20, Fact check: Claim that man uses stray nuclear bomb to power his house is false

• NEWS10 ABC, October 12, 2016, Police: Trump supporter threatens woman waiting at Albany bus stop

• The Times Union, October 12, 2016, Police: Trump supporter threatens black woman in Albany

• War History Online, February 1, 2014, War munitions still rotting in German waters

• DW, January 15, 2014, Explosive pollution

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact Check: False Claim CNN Covered Up About Man Using Nuclear Weapon to Power His Home.