Videogame clip of plane shooting down object fooling social media users
Miscaptioned. The clip does not show an unidentified object being shot down.
(Reuters) - A clip from the video game Digital Combat Simulator (DCS) has been miscaptioned by social media users who claim it shows an unidentified object being shot down.
The video has been shared on Instagram (here) (here) amid reports that U.S. military fighter jets shot down a series of unidentified objects over U.S. airspace in February 2023 (www.reut.rs/3YEDCP2) (www.reut.rs/3RZObt8).
A reverse image search revealed the clip was first posted on TikTok by user @WinderShot (here). The caption mentions “Digital Combat Simulator World” and uses the hashtags #dcs and #dcsworld.
The clip was also posted on YouTube by the same user (here). In one of the comments, he explained it was taken from DCS (www.ibb.co/KLn0MyY).
DCS is a "free-to-play" battlefield game developed by Eagle Dynamics (here). Norm Loewen, associate producer at the company, told Reuters the clip shared online was from the video game.
User @WinderShot did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reuters has previously addressed these claims in Spanish (here), as well as similar DCS videos shared as if real footage (www.reut.rs/3S0QYSY) (www.reut.rs/3Eb5wdf).
VERDICT
Miscaptioned. The clip does not show an unidentified object being shot down. It was taken from the videogame Digital Combat Simulator.
