Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Claim
Visuals show a strange light in Turkey before the recent earthquake.
Archived versions of such post can be seen here, here and here.
Fact
A Google reverse image search on the keyframes of the viral clip led us to a YouTube video by @taraszhytynsky2938, dated November 12, 2022. It carried a longer version of the viral footage with the title ‘Satellite over the city of Balkhash, Kazakhstan.’
Following this, we looked up Balkhash on Google images, and after skimming through various photographs of the city’s street view, could spot the exact location as seen in the viral video.
We could thus confirm that the video is actually from Kazakhstan and not Turkey as widely claimed.
Newschecker continued our investigation to know more about the video. We took a screengrab from the YouTube video and looked up the same on Google image search, which yielded a report by RTBF, dated January 30, 2023. Carrying screengrabs from the viral video, the report stated (translated from French), “The video, shared many times on social networks in recent hours, has something to question. We see a translucent form crossing the sky. In the background, people exclaim film the scene with their mobile phones… It (video) actually dates from September 2022 and was taken in Kazakhstan.”
The report further stated,”the glowing shape is reminiscent of a rocket taking off..Soyuz rocket took off bound for the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with an American and two Russians on board. The light seen in the video moves from left to right, taking a trajectory from west to east – as confirmed by Google compass. This is in agreement therefore with the position of Baikonur in relation to Balkhash.”
We were not independently able to verify the same.However, we could conclude that the viral video does not show a “strange light in Turkey sky before earthquake.” The video dates back to 2022, and shows visuals from Kazakhstan.
Result: False
Sources
YouTube Video By @taraszhytynsky2938, Dated November 12, 2022
Google Images
Report By RTBF, Dated January 30, 2023
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
