IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Extreme 'Selfie': Fighter Pilot Snaps Epic Action Shot

<p>Image taken at the moment F-16 pilot fired an air-to-air missile.</p>
Royal Danish Air Force pilot Thomas Kristensen fires an AIM-9L air-to-air missile from his F-16 Fighting Falcon.
Royal Danish Air Force pilot Thomas Kristensen fires an AIM-9L air-to-air missile from his F-16 Fighting Falcon.Courtesy Royal Danish Air Force

A Danish fighter pilot has gone viral with a 'selfie' taken at the moment he fired an air-to-air missile.

Thomas Kristensen is one of the Royal Danish Air Force's most experienced F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots, having completed missions over Afghanistan, the Balkans and Libya.

The photo, which shows Kristensen at the moment he fired an AIM-9L air-to-air missile, was posted on the force's Facebook page earlier this week.

But the image may not match up to the dictionary definition of a selfie. It is actually a screen grab taken from a video shot with a GoPro camera mounted in the plane's cockpit, Thorbjorn Forsberg, a Public Affairs Officer with the Danish military, told NBC News Thursday.

Read more about the science of selfies, and their surprisingly long history, in this article from NBC News Science Editor Alan Boyle.