Fact-Check: Old Video Passed Off as Recent Visuals of Chandrayaan-3 Launch
The video could be traced back to at least December 2022 and is unrelated to the launch of Chandrayaan-3.
Fact-Check | This video is old and does not show the launch of Chandrayaan-3.
(Photo: Altered by The Quint)
After Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) historic and successful launch of Chandrayaan-3, a video is going viral on the internet with a claim that it shows the footage of the launch as viewed from a flight.
What are users claiming?: Those sharing the video have claimed that several IndiGo passengers witnessed the event while flying from Chennai to Dhaka.
An archive of the post can be seen here.
We received a query about the video on our WhatsApp tipline.
(Archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)
Are these claims true?: Neither is the video recent nor does it show the launch of Chandrayaan-3. It could be traced back to at least December 2022 and reportedly shows the launch of SpaceX Falcon 9.
What led us to the truth?: We performed a Google Lens search on the keyframes of the viral video and came across a Facebook page named 'NasaNet'.
It carried the same video and was uploaded on 24 December 2022.
The caption of the video when translated to English said, "The coincidence of going on a plane just when the SpaceX Falcon 9 is being launched at Cape Canaveral."
News reports: A report published in The Independent in December 2022 carried similar visuals and was headlined, "Passengers see SpaceX rocket launch from plane window."
It said that passengers on a plane that was flying past Florida witnessed the launch of a SpaceX rocket.
The report mentioned that the video was shared by a TikTok user.
The report was published on 16 December 2022.
Conclusion: While we could not independently verify when and where the video was recorded, it is clear that it predates the launch of Chandrayaan-3.
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