Such reports can be seen here, here and here. Screengrab of tweet by Screengrab from viral video | Courtesy: Twitter we noticed fire and black smoke after the missile hits the balloon, neither of these were seen in the footage of the incident shared by various news outlets. An aircraft appearing around 1:04 minutes into the viral footage does look animated too. Screengrabs from viral video | Courtesy: Twitter then scanned through the comment sections of the post carrying the clip, and noticed several users pointing out that the video is a simulation product. Thirdly, the fighter jets seen in the footage resemble a F-22 Raptor -aircraft used by the US Air Force to shoot down the Chinese balloon. The video also showed an aircraft shooting a missile and taking down what appears to be a “balloon”. We first noticed that the audio in the background appears to show two aircrafts communicating with one another. Newschecker began our investigation by closely analysing the viral video. Newschecker also received the video on our WhatsApp tipline (+91-9999499044) requesting to be fact checked.Īlso Read: Nepal Plane Making Emergency Landing At Indian Airport? No, Simulation Video Viral With False Claim Fact Check/Verification News outlet Firstpost also featured one such tweet in this report on the taking down of the Chinese balloon by a US fighter jet. Screengrab of tweet by Screengrab of tweet by Screengrab of tweet by Screengrab of tweet by versions of such tweets can be seen here, here, here and here. airspace over Idaho.”įollowing the announcement, several social media users shared a two-minute-eleven-second-long video purportedly showing the “US Air Force shooting down Chinese spy balloon.” Newschecker found the footage to be a flight simulation, and not showing the actual incident. The balloon traversed Alaska, Canada and re-entered U.S. officials first detected the balloon and its payload on January 28 when it entered U.S. A release by the Dept Defence read, “U.S. Last week, the US Department of Defence confirmed that the US Air Force had shot down a Chinese “spy” balloon which had been floating in the American skies since January 28, 2023.

Balloon shooter