Grand Canyon Photo Prank Goes Viral: Samantha Busch Appears to 'Go Over the Edge' in Attempt to Send Mom into Panic Mode [PHOTO]

A Reddit user simply referred to as AlphaF (later identified as 22-year-old Samantha Busch) attempted to send her mother into total panic mode when she posted a photo from the Grand Canyon where it looks like the jokester has frantically tripped and fallen over the edge of the massive cliffs. In reality, Busch was safely standing on a ledge beneath her and holding onto the rocks with a firm and steady grip - even so, the hilariously clever photo made its way onto the front page of the popular social news photo-sharing/networking site, becoming an instant viral hit. Some users found the photo utterly amusing, others... not so much.

AlphaF recently posted the bogus "over the edge" Grand Canyon photo along with this message:

"Mom was worried about my trip to the Grand Canyon, I sent her this picture."

After the photo went viral, Busch told ABC News that while vacationing with her boyfriend at the Grand Canyon, she thought it'd be funny to send her (overprotective) mom Rebecca the rather horrifying photo:

"For five days up to when we left, my mom had warned me about falling off the cliff or being blown off. So when we were hiking around the corner, I found a good spot where I could stand on the ledge. He angled the camera just right and he took a great picture."

Initially Rebecca Busch and her co-workers were not so amused:

"I messaged it to her first and she works for a medical auditing company and there are women who have known me since day one, and they freaked out over it also. I emailed it to them, too, and they were all freaking out over it saying I gave them a heart attack... I work for her, so constantly every single day we communicate over work stuff," Busch explained. "So for the whole week I decided not to let her know where I'm at. I had to give her some practice to not know where I am every day...She's fine. She wasn't even angry. She was just relieved upset."

Busch obviously meant it as a joke, and she was apparently not in harm's way, but some other Reddit users (thousands commented on the viral pic) weren't very amused with her attempt at a Grand Canyon prank:

"My sister-in-law went to the Grand Canyon and when she saw that there were no guardrails became so worried and nervous for everyone (EVERYONE) visiting that she had to leave."

"Grand Canyon can actually be a seriously dangerous place."

"To be fair, that still looks like a huge fall that I wouldn't want any part in."

Others managed to find the cleverly positioned image entertaining, with one user posting, "that image in my mind is just hilarious. I would probably do the same thing. =)"

So what do Msarz readers think of the Grand Canyon prank photo?