The mystery surrounding the main stars of the famous "VJ Day Kiss," may finally be resolved through a new scientific study that focused on the analysis of the shadows in the photo. A team of astronomers discovered that the exact time of the kiss is at 5:51 p.m. on Aug.14, 1945 - a clue, which may finally lead to the identity of the kissing couples.
Alfred Eisenstaedt from Life magazine took the iconic photo as part of his coverage of the Victory in Japan Day, which is the day the Japanese troops surrendered, signaling the end of the World War II. Since the photo was published, the public has been clamoring for the identity of the sailor and the nurse locking lips in the middle of New York Times Square. The couple's entire face cannot be deciphered as it was obscured in the photo
As the nation celebrates the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, a group of scientists from the Texas State University decided to utilize their knowledge of celestial concepts to investigate on the famous kiss.
The study led by Donald Olson and Russell Doescher, together with Steven D. Kawaler, an astrophysicist from the Iowa State University observed that the clock in the letter 'O' of the word, "Bond," plastered across a clothing store show a time that looks close to 4:50 p.m., 5:50 p.m. or 6:50 p.m. To eliminate the three possibilities, the scientists took into consideration the shadows of the skyscrapers of the nearby buildings. They noticed a shadow above the clock that falls over the Lowe's Building, and by analyzing hundreds of photos captured during that time, the scientists found that the shadow is the signage of the Astor Hotel, which was reverted much like the letter 'L.' From this, they created a model of the Times Square buildings.
The scientists used a mirror to simulate the rays of the sun and indeed, their estimated time of the kiss was correct. The shadow they created matched the original photo of the famous kiss; hence, the experts firmly conclude that the kiss happened at exactly 5:51 p.m.
Many people have come out to say that they were either the sailor or the nurse, but none of them have showed enough evidence to prove their claims. One of the most notable men was George Mendonça; he said he was currently watching a movie at the Radio City, which started at 1:05 p.m., but at around 2:00 p.m., he went out of the movie theater upon hearing the news of the Japanese surrender and kissed Greta Zimmer Friedman, a 25-year-old dental assistant, who was then on her lunch break. Greta affirmed George's story and even said that when she returned after lunch, the doctors instructed her to cancel all afternoon appointments in anticipation for the upcoming celebrations.
"The widely-accepted scenario of... George Mendonça kissing Greta Zimmer near 2pm is ruled out by the astronomical analysis," said Dr Olson in a statement. "That's not going to happen after 6pm. Those details of her account are entirely inconsistent with the sunlight and shadows which show that the photographed kiss happened at 5.51pm."
With the new study, experts should conduct an entirely new search for the man and woman in the photograph as the astronomical data do not support the claims of the highest-possible prospects.
Photo: Katie Killary | Flickr
