FACT CHECK: Does Social Media Video Show A Lunar Impact?
A video shared on social media purportedly shows a video of an asteroid colliding with the moon, creating a massive fireball.
Is this real???? pic.twitter.com/ZN7Zo1yaGm
— Kristi Yamaguccimane (@TheWapplehouse) August 30, 2023
Verdict: False
The video is a digital fabrication.
Fact Check:
The Super Blue Moon was visible Aug. 30, being the last time it will appear until 2037, according to CBS News. A blue moon is the second full moon in a month and accounts for just 3% of full moons.
The Twitter post purports an asteroid collided with the moon. The post shows clear footage of the moon as an asteroid collides with it resulting in an explosion of flames.
The caption reads, “Is this real???”
The video is fabricated. There is no credible news report that suggests this video is real. Check Your Fact conducted a research that revealed the video first appeared on a YouTube account called Diego Sinclair.
This account features several clearly fake videos of space phenomena. The owner of the account replied to a comment on the video saying, “Yeah, it’s just an edit, but explosions from impacts happen on the moon all of the time tho”
This video also features a combustion of flames upon impact. In order for there to be flames oxygen would have to be present which is absent from the moon atmosphere, according to the National History Museum in the U.K. (RELATED: Joe Biden Embellishes Fire Story In Recent Remarks In Hawaii)
However, there have been lunar impacts that have been caught on camera. NASA reported on a visible meteor shower that occurred in 2013. The video of the impact is far different than the posted fabrication
This is not the first time misinformation has been shared online. Check Your Fact debunked a claim a photo shows a volcano in Ethiopia erupted with blue lava.
