I appreciate the thoughtful response, but I'm taint-deep in a lit review so I'm going to respond point by point to procrastinate.
I’m just addressing the fact that Reddit isn’t always correct
Nobody said reddit is always correct, so you trying to address that statement nobody made seems like a pointless strawman. He did say reddit isn't reliable "in any way, at any time, at all." I maintain that this isn't right and that this specific instance, where a user has posted original content to a local forum, is one of the handful of things reddit still does well compared to the alternatives.
we should want more credible sources than random people submitting things online with no vetting
You were directly supporting the stance of someone who didn't submit anything other than their own opinion. Considering it wrong because it's on a specific site isn't exactly better than considering it correct. His statement was very concrete, while my initially comment "doesn’t seem like it’s from a previous occurrence" was intended more to invite additional evidence (which should, again, be easily provided if that photo's been circulating online for 4+ years).
they’re just some person online just like the Reddit user
They're not just like the reddit user, as the reddit user posted an album of photos with a specific location that matches the story details. Considering that less compelling than "I can nearly swear I remember" is the sort of shit that makes people give up having good faith conversations.
Bingo. It's already started.