Factcheck: Viral Video Of Huge Hailstones Falling From The Sky Was Created Using AI
कात्तिक १४, २०८२ १४:१६
Kathmandu: In recent days, several videos showing huge hailstones falling from the sky and damaging homes and cars have gone viral on social media. Many users questioned whether the videos were real or fake. When TechPana fact-checked the clips, they were found to be fake.
Claim
On Wednesday at 6:50 a.m., a Facebook page named Namaste Ghar Bazaar posted a video showing large white lumps that looked like hailstones falling from the sky. The footage was captured from two angles, one from the middle of the road and another from the side of a house.
The caption read, “This was amazing. It definitely wasn’t AI.” As of this writing, the video has been viewed more than 4.9 million times, liked by over 58,000 people, shared more than 14,000 times, and received over 1,400 comments. Video and Screenshot.
Research
A TikTok user named yadavpahadi427 shared the same video, claiming it showed hail in Africa. “It was amazing to see hail in Africa. It’s definitely not AI, is it?” he wrote. As of this writing, the video, posted on Wednesday, has been viewed more than seven million times, liked by over 279,000 users, and shared more than 111,000 times. Video and Screenshot.
The scene in the viral video appears to be from abroad. When searched using terms like “Giant hailstone” and “hailstorm,” similar videos were found posted by foreign accounts as well. The Facebook page AI Viral Hub also shared a video titled “Nature gone wild! Never seen hail this big before, streets are chaotic.” The video has been viewed over 240,000 times and liked by over 2,600 users.
TechPana extracted keyframes from the viral video and found that a car’s windshield, once shown as broken, appeared unbroken again later in the same clip. See keyframe analysis below.
The video was analyzed using Hive moderation, a tool used to detect AI-generated content. The tool showed that the video was 75 percent AI-generated.
Claim 2
Another Facebook user, Dil Bahadur Thapa, posted a similar video on Wednesday at 10:06 p.m., writing, “This was amazing. It must not have been AI.” The video shows several hailstones falling from the sky. Video and Screenshot.
The same video was shared on TikTok by the user br_ai_ded, where it has been viewed more than 37 million times and liked over 400,000 times. The TikTok post is labeled as AI-generated content.
Clicking on the AI-generated label opens TikTok’s explanation that such labels are added to help viewers understand that the content was created using AI. See TikTok’s detailed article explaining AI-generated content labeling.
When TechPana analyzed another similar video by slowing its playback to 0.25x speed, the hailstones appeared to move from the ground upward rather than from the sky downward. See the screenshot.
The same video was found on Instagram under the username aiwonderfel, with a watermark from AI content creation software Invideo.
The videos from Claim 1 and Claim 2 were separately claimed to be from Africa and Kansas City, USA. To verify, TechPana searched for reports of major hailstorms in Africa but found none resembling the viral clips. Only weather forecasts predicting possible hail by mid-November were found in South Africa.
Some users also claimed the video was from Kansas City, USA. Reports showed hailstorms in the area in August and September, with hailstones the size of golf and ping-pong balls. News from 12 News (Wichita, Kansas) confirmed a hailstorm on September 4, but no credible reports or footage of unusually large hailstones like in the viral videos were found.
Claim
Large hailstones fell from the sky.
Claimant
Facebook page Namaste Ghar Bazaar, Dil Bahadur Thapa, TikTok user yadavpahadi427, and other social media users.
Fact
Multiple videos claiming to show massive hailstones went viral, with users suggesting they were from Africa or the U.S. However, TechPana’s verification confirmed that these clips were AI-generated.
Keyframe analysis and slow-motion playback revealed inconsistencies in movement and visual effects. The Hive moderation tool indicated that the first video was 75 percent AI-generated.
In the second video, TikTok itself labeled the content as AI-generated, and a watermark from Invideo was visible. Thus, it is confirmed that both videos were created using AI.
Although hailstorms did occur in Kansas and forecasts mentioned possible hail in Africa, no reliable reports or evidence of such large hailstones were found.
Conclusion
The viral videos claiming that massive hailstones fell from the sky are fake. They were created using AI. Keyframe analysis, Hive moderation results, and slow-motion review confirmed that the videos were AI-generated. TikTok also labeled them as AI-generated.
While some users claimed the footage was from Africa or Kansas City, there is no credible evidence supporting that. Forecasts mentioned normal hail possibilities in Africa, and Kansas experienced hailstones only as large as golf balls in September. No reliable source has reported hailstones as large as those shown in the viral AI videos.
Feedback
You can send us social media posts that need fact-checking via our website, social media handles (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, LinkedIn), or email us at [email protected].
If you have any feedback or suggestions regarding our fact-checking, please feel free to email us.
पछिल्लो अध्यावधिक: कात्तिक १४, २०८२ १४:२४
