A video of an airplane suddenly disappearing into the sky is being shared with users claiming that it shows the “leaked footage” of the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370.
The claim: Those sharing the video have said, "New footage of the alleged Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. It seems to show the plane in a decent and on fire when the “orbs” appear. At least one of the spheres comes out of the water. Once the UAPs are around the plane it seems that the plane levels out before vanishing.(sic)"
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)
The video had recorded more than 92,000 views at the time this report was being written. More archives of similar claims can be found here, and here.
What is the truth?: The video has been available on the internet since 2014, and is not a new footage as claimed. According to several experts, the video has been created using different computer applications.
What's the context?: According to a report, a Malaysia Airline flight carrying 239 people on board went missing while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The airlines had said that it lost contact with the aircraft two hours after the takeoff.
Older version of the viral video: We performed a keyword search on YouTube and came across the same video uploaded on an unverified channel named 'jose matos'.
The video was uploaded on 27 August 2014 and was titled, "Satellite+Video-+Airliner+and+UFOs.mp4."
Recreation of the video: Team WebQoof found a video uploaded on a YouTube channel called 'Dom Burgess' who tried recreating the MH370 video.
The video's narrator mentioned that the video was first shared on 19 May 2014 on a YouTube channel which did not mention or link it to the MH370 accident.
The narrator was able to recreate a similar video using computer applications, such as Cinema 4D and Adobe After Effects. He further said that it is not impossible to recreate such kinds of videos.
Viral video created using stock image?: Another YouTuber 'Jonas De Ro', in a video, claimed that the viral clip carries his stock image, which date back to 2012.
Jonas explained that the stock image is from Japan and has been used as the background for the viral clip. He also showed that the stock images are available on a website named 'textures.com.'
The user further compared his stock images to the viral clip and said that the latter one has not been made properly. Jonas used the help of Adobe Photoshop to explain the process.
VFX artists debunk the viral clip: Corridor Crew, a set of visual effects artist, pointed out on their YouTube channel that the viral clip is too "shaky."
The group said that the entire video could be easily produced in four to five hours, which contradicted a claim where people said that the video has to be real because it came only months after the accident.
The group further mentioned that the clouds in the background does not seem to be moving. The frame appears to be still.
They dismissed the claim that the video was recorded from a satellite.
Recent updates on the missing airplane: A report in Bloomberg said that barnacles found on a plane debris might help in discovering what happened to the aircraft. It mentioned that the aircraft could have "drifted far south" of where previously speculated.
The Malaysian government had ended the search for the plane in 2017. A private company had conducted a second search in 2018 but suspended the operations same year after they did not find anything.
Conclusion: It is clear that the video is old. According to experts, the video has been created using different computer applications and does not depict the moment when the aircraft went missing.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)