Twitterati troll Aurangabad teen over 'hoax' claim of NASA selection; NY scientist offers help for legitimate ways

A 14-year-old girl from Aurangabad was recently in the news after she claimed that she has been chosen as a fellowship panellist for the American space agency NASA. The girl, Diksha Shinde, was however trolled on social media after the claim turned out to be a hoax

After the reports went viral, a New York-based scientist, Jackie Faherty, whose name was included in the girl's 'certificate', intervened and said that it was some type of scam as she was not aware of any such development. "I have no idea what this is or what department I’m supposed to be in charge of.  Also @AAS_Office could never give away that much money," she tweeted after a user tagged her to confirm the same.

I have no idea what this is or what department I’m supposed to be in charge of. Also @AAS_Office could never give away that much money.

— Jackie Faherty (@jfaherty) August 20, 2021

Faherty even offered to help the girl in fulfilling her dream of becoming a scientist through legitimate ways. “I don’t know why my name got tied into this but someone has created a scam using a 14 yr old girl in India and her dream of being a scientist. If Diksha really has a passion for Astronomy she can reach out to me and I’ll find some legitimate pathways for her passion," Faherty tweeted.

As per reports, Diksha won a seat at NASA’s MSI Fellowships Virtual Panel. The panel meetings were held from July 12-16. As per news agency ANI, she wrote a theory that was accepted by NASA after 3 attempts, she was asked to write articles for their website.

"I wrote a theory on black holes & God. It was accepted by NASA after 3 attempts. They asked me to write articles for their website," she was quoted by ANI as saying.

Aurangabad, Maharashtra  14-yr-old Diksha Shinde was selected as panelist on NASA's MSI Fellowships Virtual Panel; panel meetings held from July 12-16

She says that she wrote a theory that was accepted by NASA after 3 attempts, she was asked to write articles for their website. pic.twitter.com/JElU0K37TA

— ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2021

However, netizens were quick to sniff out inconsistencies in the whole narrative. Some Twitter users pointed out factual errors in the 'certificate', while others said the NASA certificate looks like it was made on a photo editing software. Some pointed out that in order to qualify got the MSI Fellowship, a person has to be a US citizen.

*URGERT

That confirms it’s really an email from NASA, and not Nidhi type job at Harvard.

Also, someone who writes their name as DlksHa shlndE surely has all the sincerity & wisdom needed to write an academic paper.  pic.twitter.com/RZ4fE4Hpab

— Neta Ji (@AapGhumaKeLeL0) August 20, 2021

NASA will never issue substandard certificates like this. The first one has flowers as background and the second one doesn't even have signatures of the CEO and dept. chair. Absolutely sure the girl herself made both of these pic.twitter.com/CzKLN7BEzZ

— S (@datsIit) August 20, 2021

The official MSI Fellowship website states that the candidates must be US nationals/citizens and must hold a bachelor’s degree. Is Diksha Shinde either? @smitaprakash pic.twitter.com/jYs4y5zKIC

— Shefali Vaidya. (@ShefVaidya) August 20, 2021