Here’s The Full Context Behind Viral ‘Flying Coconut’ Video From News Nation

In reality, the person who was in the viral clips was 'exposing' another man who alleged to have tantric energy.

WebQoof: Users misunderstood the aim behind the video. It showed people exposing a 'fake baba,' by employing one of his tricks. 

(Source: The Quint) 

A video featuring an individual making a coconut seem to float in the air is being shared on social media.

Users allege that the person executed this act on News Nation, reportedly employing mantras, but the camera inadvertently recorded the thread.

Several people shared this clip and raised criticisms for airing such acts promoting pseudo-science on television media channels.

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

Several other users also shared this video with similar claims.

The Quint's fact-checking unit, WebQoof investigated that claims made about this video and found something different.

• This clip comes from News Nation’s program ‘Operation Pakhand’, created to reveal fraudulent “miracle babas” and charlatans.

• The thread was 'intentionally' displayed to illustrate how individuals can be deceived by these tactics. The individual in the clip, Kuldeep Mishra, a magician was 'exposing' Dayanand Maharaj, a self-proclaimed god-man with miraculous powers.

Details of the News Nation Show: At first, we found the longer version of the viral clip on the News Nation's YouTube channel which was streamed live on 21 March.

• In the beginning of the video, Dayanand introduced himself to anchor and journalist Rohit Ranjan.

• In the video, the 25-year-old self-proclaimed god-man Dayanand Maharaj claimed that in addition to banishing ghosts, he could also heal ailments such as cancer using his siddhis and tantric abilities.

• In the question-answer segment of the program, at the 10:15 timestamp of the video Ranjan informed Dayanand that they have viewed a video of him causing a coconut to float in the air. To this, he replied that he accomplished this feat using a mantra dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Bhadrakali.

• Later in the video, religious leaders Kaushal Kishore Thakur and Acharya Sanjeev Agnihotri, along with magicians Kuldeep Mishra and Amar Singh joined the show for a discussion and debunk the claims made by the Baba.

• The religious leaders rejected his claims and said that it could be magic more than religious verses or 'siddhis' used to move the coconut.

• Later, Agnihotri mocked such 'babas' who made such claims in the name of religion. He said that Dayanand was committing forgery by his claims and was looting the country.

• Towards the middle of the show, Ranjan brought the opinions of the magicians and asked Mishra whether the coconut would float. To this, he accepted it sarcastically and challenged the Baba to move a needle placed before him.

• Around 28:51 minutes is the part which went viral on social media showing Mishra attempting to float the coconut in the air.

Here is a screengrab from the News Nation video. 

(Source: News Nation/Screenshot) 

• Similarly, the other magician also debunked Dayanand's claims and noted that the only way to levitate any item in the air was to use a thread and tie it around. Singh, too, used an almost invisible thread and tied it around a lemon to soar it in the air.

• News Nation also uploaded the part about the magicians confronting Dayanand about his claim separately, as well.

News Nation clarifies: Taking to their official X account, the media outlet noted that a small part of their show, 'Operation Pakhand,' was being shared in a 'wrong context.'

• The post noted that the magician displayed the 'flying coconut,' to educate people how some people fool innocent people by doing such miracles.

• It also mentioned that the thread with which the coconut was flown in the air was deliberately shown by the channel so that people can understand the reality of 'fake babas.'

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: News Nation/X/Screenshot) 

It is clear that a small portion of News Nation's program on exposing self-proclaimed babas, who mislead people with their fake techniques under the disguise of allegedly curing their diseases or drive away ghosts is being shared on social media.

Users have shared the video without proper context and thus failed to understand the aim of the show by the media outlet which was trying exposing those who deceive people by employing such tricks.

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