No, this video does not show ‘rain of worms’ in China
Media outlets such as Inside Paper and The Rio Times shared the video claiming it rained worms in China.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 16 March 2023 5:13 PM IST
(Screengrab source: Inside Paper/Twitter)
Hyderabad: A video showing little worms splattered over cars and a woman walking with an umbrella has gone viral on social media. Media outlets such as Inside Paper and The Rio Times shared the video claiming it rained worms in China.
New York Post reported the video with a headline suggesting that it rained worms in China. However, the article also mentioned that several users have claimed that the video shows poplar flowers that resemble worms.
Several verified Twitter users shared the video claiming China was hit by raining worms. (Click here and here to see more posts.)
(Screengrab source: Twitter)
Fact Check
NewsMeter verified that the video shows black poplar flowers splattered on cars, not worms.
A Twitter handle, @Vxujianing, called the Inside paper tweet “fake news.” The handle shared four photos showing identical worm-like things blooming on a tree and splattered on the road.
“The things that fall from poplar trees in spring are not caterpillars, but poplar inflorescences. When poplar flower spikes start to fall, it means that they are about to bloom,” it tweeted.
Chinese journalist Shen Shiwei, replying to the Rio Times tweet, said the video is fake. “I’m in Beijing and this video is fake. Beijing hasn’t got rainfall these days,” he tweeted.
Another Twitter handle, JournoTurk, tagged New York Post and said the things on the cars were leaves, not worms. It also said that TV channels and news sites all over the world shared fake news about China being hit by a rain of worms.
Further, we searched for black poplar flowers and came across a CGTN article about things that people complain about in China in Spring. It featured an image of catkins (flowers) of black poplar that looked identical to the “worms” seen in the viral video.
(Screengrab source: CGTN)
We also ran a keyword search about Chinese media outlets reporting on the worm rain but did not find any such report.
From this, it is evident that the viral video shows black poplar flowers splattered on cars, not worms. Hence, we conclude that the claim is false.
