A video shared on social media does not show an unidentified flying object over Afghanistan, contrary to claims on Facebook. It was seemingly created by artists specialized in computer-generated imagery (CGI).
The clip shows a triangular-shaped object spinning through a valley while soldiers appear to film. It was posted with the caption, “Afghanistan is full of UFO” (here).A reverse image search showed the video was first posted seven years ago. It led to a subreddit with the description, “A community for discussion related to Unidentified Flying Objects”
The post in question includes a link to a YouTube video that has since been deleted, but an archived version is available (bit.ly/3J9cFh3). It shows the same video currently circulating on social media.One user commenting on the subreddit said the clip was originally shared by a YouTube channel called “Section 51” (bit.ly/3JdVuLn), managed by CGI artists. Indeed, the logo seen on the bottom right corner of the clip is the same as the one visible on Section 51’s website (here).The channel, which regularly posts videos of supposed UFO sightings, has the following description:
“Welcome to Section 51 Universe, we are French visual effects artists and pleased to share our point of view on sciences, space, UFO & ancient aliens theories (sic) and many more!” (here)While some captions on their videos indicate they were created with CGI, this is not always the case. Their website says their videos are for “entertainment”
Section 51 did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.
VERDICT
Miscaptioned. The video was seemingly created by CGI artists and does not show a real UFO sighting in Afghanistan.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here .
