CGI video shared to show 'alien' sighting in Las Vegas

By: Vivek J
June 27 2023

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Context

A video of an “alien” creature is circulating on Twitter and TikTok with the claim that the purported extraterrestrial being was captured on camera in Las Vegas. In the background of the video runs the voice of a distraught person asking for help from authorities over the phone as something lands in his backyard. One such tweet with over 453,000 views at the time of publishing stated, “LIVE ALIEN CAPTURED ON CITIZEN VIDEO CAM, IN LAS VEGAS UFO INCIDENT….” Similar posts sharing the video and its different versions have been shared online by several users, and some posts have garnered millions of views. However, the video does not actually show an “alien.” 

In fact

A reverse image search using a screenshot from the viral video led us to a TikTok video with the same visuals of the “alien” creature. The video was shared on June 9, 2023, and the accompanying caption mentioned “#cryptid #cgi #blender3d #creepy” suggesting that the video was digitally created. The same TikTok user ‘owlTreeStump’ shared another post on June 17, 2023, showing how the visual of the “alien” seen in the viral video was created using Blender—a free, open-source computer graphics tool used to make 3D visual effects. In the latter video, the user also demonstrates how the creature and the rock were placed in the video, thus confirming the visual of the “alien” was generated artificially. 

What about the audio?

We came across several news reports of an “alien” sighting by a family in Las Vegas. While searching for more details, we found a news segment by the Las Vegas-based outlet 8News Now. The segment was shared on the outlet’s YouTube channel on June 8, 2023. The same phone call heard in the viral video of a man asking for help was aired in the news segment. According to it, the audio was a recording of a 911 (U.S. emergency helpline) call made by a man from Las Vegas as soon as his family and he saw “creatures walking around” several minutes after “something crashed into their backyard.” The segment also shows visuals of some police officers talking to the concerned man and his family in the early hours of May 1. Over five minutes long, the news segment did not show any visual of an “extraterrestrial” creature or an “alien.” However, it is clear that a part of the audio from the news segment was taken and superimposed on the viral video allegedly showing an “alien.”

CNN also ran a video report on its website on the said incident with the title, ‘Vegas police respond to report of “10-foot creature” in yard after green flash across sky’. The video report showed similar visuals as the 8News Now news segment, with police officers talking to people and enquiring if they saw any “creatures” after seeing a “ flash” in the sky. The report also noted that the police investigated the event but closed it as unfounded. Citing U.S. agency NASA, several news outlets later reported that the “flash” or the object “falling from the sky” seen in Las Vegas was actually a small meteor. 

It is hence clear that audio from a news report of an incident in May and a CGI (Computer Generated Image) clip from June were put together to make the viral video look like an actual “alien” sighting. 

The verdict

The viral video, claiming to be visuals of an “alien” sighting, is artificially-generated. A CGI clip and sound from a news segment were put together to make it like a real incident. Therefore, we mark the claim false.