**THE CLAIM:** A viral news graphic is circulating on X and TikTok, claiming: **"BREAKING: Norfolk Southern Railway officials have announced plans to 'dissolve' the township of ‘Snowden’ after the town’s entire population of 97 residents signed a petition to rename it ‘Elon, USA’ in exchange for a $50 million Starlink investment."**
**VERDICT: FALSE**
**Why it’s fake:**
1. **No such place exists:** There are over 1,200 "Township" civil divisions in the U.S., but none are legally named "Snowden." (A quick search of the USGS Geographic Names Information System yields zero results for a populated place named "Snowden" on a township map). The name appears to be a recent cultural reference (Edward Snowden) rather than a genuine locale.
2. **Railroads don't dissolve towns:** Norfolk Southern is a private freight railroad company. It has absolutely no legal authority to dissolve a municipal township. That power lies solely with state legislatures and county commissions through complex legal processes. A corporation, regardless of its size, cannot abolish a government.
3. **Check-handle logic flaw:** The graphic states the petition was signed by 100% of the population (97/97) to rename the town *in exchange* for a $50M investment. However, the fake report claims the railroad is dissolving the *current* town as a *reaction* to the petition. If everyone already agreed to the name change, the railroad has nothing to "punish."
4. **Source: The graphic's logo** shows a slightly blurred version of the "The Onion" logo, which was clipped at the top corner to hide the word "Satire." This is a classic bait-and-switch trick where a genuine parody website's article is stripped of its identifying context.
**Bottom line:** This is a work of absurd satire playing