Fact Check: CGI video of asteroid exploding on impact with moon shared as real

Hyderabad: A video showing a huge explosion from an asteroid colliding with the lunar surface is viral on social media.

A Facebook user shared the video with the caption, “Live footage: Asteroid hitting the moon.”

Multiple Facebook users shared the video claiming the same.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the video does not show a real incident. It was computer generated.

On performing a reverse image search, we found the video posted by an Instagram page, The Deep Astronomy, on June 3. The caption said that the video is CGI-generated and is credited to ‘diego.sinclair’.

Taking this as a cue, we looked for the YouTube channel of Diego Sinclair and found the video published on it as shorts on February 25.

We also found several other videos showing asteroids hitting the lunar surface published by the channel. Click here, here, here and here to watch the videos.

We skimmed through the comments on the video and found Sinclair responding to a user that the video is an edit. He said, “This is obviously just an edit, but explosions from impacts on the moon happen a lot. The rocket that hit it recently left a double crater.”

Responding to another user, Sinclair said, “NASA has been sharing videos of impacts exploding on the moon for years. A Japanese scientist Daichi Fugii recently recorded some explosions from impacts on the moon too.”

According to the Daily Mail, Daichi Fuji who is head of astronomy at the Hiratsuka City Museum, had reportedly captured the biggest lunar impact flash from his home in Hiratsuka, Japan.

Since the creator of the videos, Sinclair has clarified in the comments that he has edited the video, we conclude that the video is computer-generated. The claim is false.