Was it the original “viral video”?

TheExplodingWhale.com was mentioned in a recent article on the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper’s website. The article, titled Viral Videos: Spread of Internet video clips is catching, points to the infamous 1970 exploding whale video(which, of course, is the focus of this site) as an early example of a so-called “viral video.” The author explains:

More than five years ago, people were sharing an uproarious video, a 1970 TV news report from Portland of a beached whale carcass that authorities blew up into fleshy chunks (one falling piece actually struck a parked car). That sequence is now so famous it has its own fan Web site, http://www.theexplodingwhale.com.

Five years? It’s been at least ten years because my involvement with the Exploding Whale dates all the way back to the early 1990s, and I know I wasn’t the first one to see it! (For a history of this website, please see our About this site page.) No matter, is it possible that our favorite exploding whale video was, in fact, the original viral video?

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