Two strangers overcome by emotion shared a passionate kiss after President Harry S. Truman announced Japan's surrender on August 14, 1945. The iconic "VJ Day Kiss" photo was snapped by Arthur Eisenstaedt, but details surrounding the photo are unclear. The confusion has led to several people saying they were the nurse and sailor in the photo, but new research using the sun and shadows could solve a few mysteries regarding the timeless moment.

Researchers from Texas State University used the sun and some keen observational skills to figure out when the photo was taken by Eisenstaedt. Several individuals have claimed to be the ones to share a spontaneous kiss -- including George Mendonsa and Greta Zimmer. They were identified in "The Kissing Sailor," a book by George Galdorisi and Lawrence Verria.

"I felt that he was very strong. He was just holding me tight. I'm not sure about the kiss... it was just somebody celebrating. It wasn't a romantic event. It was just an event of 'thank god the war is over,'" Zimmer said of the kiss in a 2005 interview.

Mendonsa and Zimmer claim to have shared the kiss around 2 p.m., the former heading to Times Square upon hearing the news of Japan's surrender while the latter was taking lunch; but the sun doesn't lie. The researchers were able to determine the time of the photo was 5:51 p.m., based on the position of the shadows on several buildings in Times Square. It took one sign -- an ad for the Astor Roof shaped like an upside down "L" -- to break the case wide open.

"Greta Zimmer’s account states that she was on her late lunch hour, starting at 1 p.m., and after the kiss she returned to the office and the dentists told her to cancel the afternoon appointments. That's not going to happen after 6 p.m.," Donald Olson, a Texas State physics professor, said in a statement. "Those details of her account are entirely inconsistent with the sunlight and shadows which show that the photographed kiss happened at 5:51 p.m. If George Mendonsa is the kissing sailor, then he didn't go to the 1:05 p.m. movie -- he went to Radio City for the 4:07 p.m. showing."

As for Mendonsa and Zimmer, they are not the only ones who have claimed to be the kissing duo in Eisenstaedt's photo. Edith Shain claimed to be the nurse who was being kissed while Glenn McDuffie said he was the sailor. McDuffie had his claim bolstered by Houston Police Department forensic artist Lois Gibson.