A clipped work of animation featuring a mermaid is being shared on social media with claims that the fabled marine creature was spotted. BOOM found that the video was made by an international film production company.
The 13 second long video clip shows movement of what appears to be a mermaid on a makeshit jetty, as astounded watchers can be heard in the background.
The tweet originally composed in Hindi reads, "A mysterious creature fish like creature has been spotted. It has a head and two hands like human beings. Don't know where it has been found, cannot get understand what is this or is it a doctored video? Please #FactCheck."
(Original text in Hindi: "एक अजीब सा बड़ी मछली जैसा जानवर जिसके इंसान जैसा सर है और 2 हाथ भी हैं, कहीं पाया गया है, कुछ समझ नहीं आ रहा कि ये क्या है, या फिर मॉर्फड वीडियो है? Please #FactCheck")
एक अजीब सा बड़ी मछली जैसा जानवर जिसके इंसान जैसा सर है और 2 हाथ भी हैं , कहीं पाया गया है, कुछ समझ नहीं आ रहा कि ये क्या है, या फिर मॉर्फड वीडियो है?
— Dr Nupur Oberoi✍ (@Nupur_Nupur_) April 9, 2020
Please #FactCheck@PIBFactCheck @boomlive_in @AltNews @free_thinker pic.twitter.com/pMNUwc7z1j
After the Government of India announced a nationwide lockdown in the country, several old and unrelated videos are viral with claims that wild animals are reclaiming the human habitats because of restricted movement. BOOM has debunked multiple of these videos.
Fact Check
BOOM was able to ascertain that the video is a work of animation and art and no such creature has been discovered.
We found a video, a compilation of three bizarre creatures, that was uploaded on September 30, 2019 by a YouTube channel JJPD Producciones. The clip featured the viral mermaid video which can be seen after the time stamp 1 minutes 42 seconds.
The YouTube uploader, JJPD Producciones's Facebook page clearly states that it makes films based on the animation genre. This channel is run by two Nicaraguan YouTuber Joaquin Perez and Jimmy Perez who make videos with special effects.
Video viral on TikTok
The same video, cropped to fit in a different aspect ratio, was earlier viral on TikTok. An audio of people watching the mythical creature was added to the same. Several users had cropped the watermark of the production house (visible on top right). BOOM has compared the original scene with the viral video.
The sequential transition can be seen below that was uploaded by a YouTube channel Internauta Mx on March 4, 2020.