I'm surprised no one added it to the Chronology topic, but at the same time I now struggle to recall the details and find it.
I was pretty certain that Solid started it, in '09 or '10, and I think in either Gallery or Creativty.
As I recall, he had some obviously photoshopped image, but said it was real because it had a pine tree in it.
It was just really funny, and it became a joke that if your picture had a pine tree in it then it was authentic. And then it was used the opposite way, that is that an image without a pine tree in it could potentially be fake.
That's how I recall it at least. I'm not sure how much is true, and I have no idea why I think it was Solid.
for some reason, i thought it was from something similar, though i'm not sure at all what board it was in or what forumer started it
i just remember a series of really dark sunset-after sunset(?) photos of someone's small town, i think they were trying to get people to spot stuff maybe?? i can't remember the purpose of the photos except for that, but i slightly remember there being some photoshopping involved, something about a radar dish and the FBI/CIA?? and then people started to point out the pine trees that surrounded the town and then claimed everything in the topic was real because it had a pine tree and then it went on like how you said
i also remember another early pine tree moment involving a bunch of forumers freaking out over a whale or something and it had to do with the pine trees too
thing is though is that i can't remember the topic well at all other than that, i remember last visiting it a few years ago and half the images were broken/expired so it just became a confusing mess of dark photos, and i want to say it was a popular thread but i feel like if it was i would've at least remembered it's name/what it was about
edit;
This was the topic: https://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=85275.0
Wow, great job finding it!
Crazy how many details slipped in my mind over the years, like the OP and where it was posted.
It's a shame that most of the images have broken since.
oh ok, i see now lol. it looks like i got the two topics i was thinking about mixed up into one bad mess of a memory, but glad to have refreshed it some again
