Did they find an 800-year-old mobile phone in Austria?

An image purportedly showing an 800-year-old mobile phone found in Austria has achieved widespread fame among conspiracy theorists, despite appearing completely false.

According to the story, the phone was found by archaeologists during an excavation in Fuschl am See, in Austria. It’s supposed to be 800 years old and covered in cuneiform symbols, but it looks a lot like a Nokia mobile phone.

However, the image appears to be fake. While it’s unclear where it came from, the image has been circulating online since around 2012 and never appears to have been associated with any official source.

It is likely that the phone does not belong to any ancient civilization and was not found in Austria. It was most likely made in Photoshop, taking inspiration from the same old phones that it closely resembles.

It is unclear where the claim that the phone is 800 years old came from. Cuneiform writing largely fell into disuse around the 7th and 6th centuries BC, and had almost ceased to be used, except in scholarship, by around the 5th century AD. It was certainly not used regularly enough to be the markings would use on the keys of a mobile phone, even if there was a civilization that had the ability to make them.

Some have suggested that the discovery of the phone in Austria suggests that there is a larger conspiracy afoot, but it is much more likely that the story was distorted in the telling and that the strange location was never intentionally mentioned.

“No one is able to fully understand or explain what a cuneiform device like this does in Austria,” writes conspiracy site To The Death Media. “Unfortunately, information about this ‘sensational’ discovery is limited.”

But others have suggested it could come from an even more unusual place. The phone is proof of a visit from an extraterrestrial civilization, some say.

“This device, which looks like a cell phone, was clearly created by someone with advanced knowledge of the future,” wrote Scott Waring of UFO Sighting Daily. “Language is said to date back tens of thousands of years… a very interesting discovery.”