False: Video shows an unidentified object flying over Arizona recently.

By: Gayathri Loka
February 15 2023

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Context

On February 4, 2023, a suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over South Carolina was shot down by the United States. Following the incident, the U.S. is reported to have shot down at least three unidentified objects flying over in North American aerospace. These developments have not only complicated U.S.-China relations and sparked concerns over airspace safety, but have also led to a surge in misinformation. A tweet posted on February 13 claimed: "Footage of a UFO over Mesa, Arizona after A UFO was shot down over Alaska this morning. Then another UFO a few hrs ago over Canada. Now F-15s and a refuel tanker were just scrambled out of Portland, and a NOTAM was just issued in Montana #ufotwitter making a #SuperBowl entrance." The video, which has been viewed over 53 thousand times so far, shows a long thin cylindrical object floating in the sky.

In Fact 

After we took a screenshot of the video and used reverse image search to search its origin, we found that the viral footage has been circulating on several platforms at least since 2010. Several social media posts and websites, the contents of which we cannot verify, have shared the footage or screenshots from the video over the last twelve years or so. A local news media outlet from New Jersey had even published an article in May 2010 with an image that matches scenes captured in the viral video. The article was titled "Police flooded with UFO sighting reports after residents see the large, tube-like object over Somerset County." According to the article, the image was taken by David Gard. The caption of the image read, "An unidentified object floats over Somerville and Bridgewater, causing a flurry of phone calls to Somerville police this morning." Local authorities told the outlet that the object was probably a weather balloon or something similar. The origin of the video was not found. However, the report confirms that the video has been in circulation for over a decade and was not taken during the Superbowl (annual final match to determined the champion of the National Football League in the United States) or anytime recently. 

As of February 13, 2023, four unidentified objects were shot down in North America. On February 4, U.S. military shot down a suspected surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina. "It had drifted for days over the US, and officials said it came from China and had been monitoring sensitive sites," BBC reported. On February 10, the U.S. military downed another object off northern Alaska. Spokesman John Kirby said told the BBC that the unmanned object was "the size of a small car" and posed a "reasonable threat" to civilian aviation. The object's purpose and origin were unclear, Mr Kirby said. 

On February 10, Reuters reported that a U.S. F-22 fighter jet shot down an unidentified cylindrical object over Canada. NPR reported that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ordered the takedown of an "unidentified object" flying over Canada's Yukon territory on February 11. Another unidentified object was shot down by U.S. forces over Lake Huron, according to the Department of Defense on February 12, NPR reported. According to the report, a similar object was detected flying over Montana a day earlier. No official statement by any government body or news reports say that an unidentified object was spotted or detected flying in Arizona.  

The Verdict

An old video circulating since at least 2010 has been shared with the claim that an unidentified object was shot down in North America was spotted recently in Arizona. There are no official reports of an object being spotted in there. Therefore, we have mark this claim false.