Claim: A video shows the first stage of the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, in which “fire [started] falling from the sky” when a celestial object was struck by unidentified objects and erupted into flames.
Fact: The video is not only unrelated to the Los Angeles wildfires but was digitally created and originally posted back in September 2023.
On 10 January 2025, Facebook user ‘Baitullah Pashteen’ posted (archive) a video of what looks like a celestial object suspended in the sky being struck before it erupts in fire.
The clip contains superimposed text in Persian that reads as follows:
“لحظه برخورد شهاب سنگ های عظیم به خورشی فیلم ضبط شده دقایقی پیش
[The moment a huge meteorite hits the sun; video [was] recorded minutes ago]”
It is also accompanied by a Pashto-language caption, which reads as follows:
“د امریکا د لاس انجلس د اور شروع کيدو اوله مرحله له آسمانه اور راغورځي د دی ایالت نه یی سم جهنم جوړ کړی
[The first stage of the Los Angeles wildfires in the United States [is] fire falling from the sky. It turned this state into a veritable hell]”
LA wildfires
Los Angeles is currently battling three major fires, the Palisades, Eaton, and the Hughes fires, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE or CDFFP), which noted (archive) that as of 21 January 2025, a total of 47,894 acres have been burned. Others — such as the Hurst, Auto, and the Little Mountain fires — have been contained.
While authorities have not yet provided a definitive cause of the Los Angeles fires, investigations by The Washington Post and The New York Times suggested that remnants of a New Year’s Eve blaze may have played a role.
Both publications also identified the approximate point on the map where the fire started, which is extremely close to a “burn scar” left after the aforementioned New Year’s Eve blaze next to the Temescal Ridge trail near Skull Rock.
At least 29 people have died, according to the Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner (DME), and NBC4 Los Angeles reported that 14,362 structures destroyed.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the viral clip and came across two results on YouTube.
The first — from 4 March 2024 — confirms that the video is unrelated as it predates the Los Angeles fires.
The second (archive) — from 6 September 2023 — was posted by YouTube channel Meteor Shorts with the title, “Meteor shower accidentally hits the moon!(not real)#shorts.” Its description states that the video was created “with Blender and gimp”. The hashtag “#vfx” further confirms that the clip was created digitally.
Blender is a free, open-source “3D creation suite” that “supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline” and includes video-editing features, whereas GIMP, or GNU Image Manipulation Program, is described as “a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring”.
The creator appears to have marked the video as “Altered or synthetic content,” which, according to YouTube policies, means that either the sounds or the visuals “were significantly edited or digitally generated”. One of the three conditions for content to be marked as such is if a creator “generates a realistic-looking scene that didn’t actually occur”.
The same creator has also posted the clip on other social media platforms, including on Instagram and Facebook.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the clip posted here, here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook.
Conclusion: The video was digitally created and has no connection to the recent Los Angeles wildfires. It was originally posted on YouTube in September 2023.
Background image in cover photo: Jessica Christian
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