Public and government interest in the existence of UFOs has skyrocketed in the past year following testimony from former government officials about the existence of what are being called Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, or UAP.
The Pentagon has confirmed the existence of a government database with at least 800 reports of "anomalous" objects, launching its All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in July 2022 to investigate what we know about mysterious sightings in the sky.
One video posted on X, formerly Twitter, appeared to have caught such a sighting, showing a flying object in the desert, supposedly interfering with a U.S. nuclear tech site.
The Claim
A post on X, formerly Twitter, by user @uBF2fV1cVQxRjQo, on April 24, 2024, viewed 64,100 times, said: "A UFO descended on a nuclear facility in the USA. The UFO was then caught on video by surveillance cameras taking away key components of the nuclear device. #UFOs #UAPs #UFO #UAP #Aliens"
The post included a video of what appeared to be a metallic object floating in the desert, attracting another metallic object toward it before it zoomed into the air and out of the shot.
The Facts
This video is not only not of a UFO, or at a nuclear test site, it's not even a real video.
The original video was published four years ago on the YouTube channel Alien Planet, dedicated to computer-generated alien and UFO sightings.
The video, posted on January 13, 2020, makes no reference to a U.S. nuclear site, nor does it explain what is happening in the video beyond the description in the title "Paranormal Activity Caught on Camera | Weird UFO Sighting | Latest UFO Report."
Although the video description does not say the video is fake, there are a couple of clues. The video starts with a wobbly camera shot that pulls in to focus on an object hanging over the desert.
However, the instability of the frame doesn't increase when it's zoomed in. Moreover, the camera abruptly stabilizes between the distant and zoomed-in shots. These inconsistencies indicate that the video was made to make it look like it was filmed when it wasn't.
A clearer indication of its artificiality comes later in the video when the camera magnifies the object in the distance. It is hanging exactly above a cropping of rocks, when another object floats up from behind the same rocks.
The two objects have far clearer fidelity compared to the rocks, despite seemingly being at the same distance, strongly hinting they were painted or added into the frame.
The video posted on X appears to help mask these visual inconsistencies by lowering the quality of the video, slowing it down, and moving the shot around artificially, making it harder to see the object on the screen.
In combination, it's clear that not only does the video not capture a UFO visit to a U.S. nuclear site, but the whole thing is made up.
Pentagon official Sean Kirkpatrick said in June 2023 that the U.S. Department of Defense had a database with 800 reports of "anomalous" objects it had recorded over decades.
Many of those reported sightings remain unresolved, owing to technology and circumstances under which these sightings have been caught on film.
As was stated in a Pentagon report, while there have been occasions when UAP had "concerning performance characteristics" such as "high-speed travel or unusual maneuverability," these were connected to a "very small percentage of UAP reports," with the majority of objects in the sky demonstrating "ordinary characteristics of readily explainable sources."
The Ruling
False.
The video does not show a UFO absorbing nuclear technology from a U.S. facility.
The video can be traced to a YouTube account called Alien Planet that hosts computer-generated UFO videos. Close examination of the original video shows that it's made up.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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