Fact Check: Did the Las Vegas Sphere show a Blue Screen of Death during the CrowdStrike outage? Viral image debunked 

Claims of a ‘Blue Screen of Death’ message being displayed on the Las Vegas Sphere went viral on Friday, July 19, 2924. This comes after a faulty CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. software update disrupted Windows systems worldwide.

Despite the image of the Nevada tourist attraction going viral online, it is far from the truth. The structure did not showcase the Windows message.

On July 19, X (formerly Twitter) user @tferris was one of the first netizens to take to the social networking site to share an image of the Las Vegas Sphere. It showed the BSOD term, which was coined for the Microsoft “error” message that appears on computing systems.

The BSOD message is accompanied by a blue background and white text, which Microsoft Windows users see when the system crashes. The tweet that shared the image of the Nevada attraction also read:

“Microsoft Windows users right now. #crowdstrike #bsod.”

At the time of writing this article, the tweet had gone viral and amassed nearly 4.3 million views.

As the photo of the sphere continues to make its rounds online, it has been confirmed that it is not real. It seemingly appears that the content going viral was created using Artificial Intelligence.

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The image of the Las Vegas Sphere showcasing the Windows message is not real

A spokesperson for Sphere Entertainment, which manages the Nevada attraction, confirmed in an email to KGW8's VERIFY team that the image going viral was not real.

Furthermore, the image going viral appeared on the internet last year as well. If one tests the authenticity of the photo of the sphere using software like FotoForensics, it can be detected that the image was altered and manipulated.

Moreover, on doing a reverse search image using photo techniques like Error Level Analysis, it can also be confirmed that the image was modified. No established news outlet also confirmed that the Las Vegas Sphere certainly showcased the Windows error message.

Hence, it is safe to say that the Las Vegas Sphere image, which has garnered immense traction online, is fake.

CrowdStrike’s Information Technology outage caused numerous business and medical buildings to stop functioning at their best. The Associated Press reported that the error caused delays in air travel as well.

Following the outage, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella took to X to reveal that the organization was collaborating with CrowdStrike “to guide our customers through the recovery process and restore their systems securely.”

CrowdStrike’s CEO, George Kurtz, also assured users that the outage was “not a security incident or cyberattack.” He also confirmed that the issue was “identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.” Kurtz then said:

“We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilised to ensure the security and stability of Crowdstrike customers.”

Meanwhile, a person named Vincent Flibustier went viral on X for falsely claiming responsibility for the CrowdStrike incident. He claimed that he was fired and also jokingly tweeted at Elon Musk, asking for a job.

As per Flibustier’s X account, he runs the Nordpresse parody news outlet and also shares satirical content on his own social media pages.