I don't think it's a construct, a stitched panorama maybe, but not a fabrication.
Having a good knowledge of the area, and seeing a very similar view(albeit from another location along the coast) I can say that
if it is a construct, it is a
very accurate representation of what it looked like to my eye on the night! The lightning
was there, so too the comet, and there were 5 firework displays in various places in Perth on Australia day.
From my position on the coast, it was awesome as I could see all 5 fireworks displays and the lightning.
Who cares if the camera had to be panned and then two or three images stitched to form a panorama?
BTW, according to Cartes du ceil(see link below), the image is real, ie, the distances between the pointers at far left, the comet, and Venus just to the left of the lightning right on the horizon. Try it yourself, location is Perth, 26th Jan, approx 9:15pm (inc. DST = +9 GMT)
Also, the lightning was striking over the horizon, it didn't get close untill much later in the night.
In my mind, this image is 'real' in that everything in it, I saw on the night, and that if the image is stitched from 3 frames, then the images would have been taken maybe a few mins apart.
Cheers,
Simo
Oh, and I can see lots of motion blurred people!
A larger version of the pic in question which appeared in the
Aussiehomebrewer forums.(I came here to post it, but was beaten
):
http://members.iinet.net.au/~ben.rig...us_auspva0.jpg
CDC view:
http://members.westnet.com.au/foo2/Ausday.gif
(yes it's two stitched screen grabs!)