Fact Check: Viral Video Is Related to Space X Rocket Liftoff, Falsely Linked To Chandrayaan-3 Launch

New Delhi (Vishvas News): The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched Chandrayaan 3, its third lunar mission, aiming to explore the moon’s surface and conduct scientific experiments, on July 14, 2023. After the launch, many social media users started sharing different videos online; one of the videos is viral with the claim that a passenger towards a Chennai-Dhaka IndiGo flight filmed the Chandrayaan 3 launch.

However, Vishvas News has confirmed that the viral video in the claim is not of the Chandrayaan 3 launch but of a SpaceX Falcon Rocket liftoff recorded in December 2022.

Claim:

Facebook user Mohan Nagwani shared a post (archive link) claiming:

“The message and video sent by renowned photographer Bhai Prashant Pachauri showcase the flight of Chandrayaan-3. An Indigo flight was flying from Chennai to Dhaka. Coincidentally, it was passing over SrihariKota at the time of launch of Chandrayan-3. The pilot announced that the passengers can be the witness of the historic event, launch of Chandrayan-3. A passenger at a window seat recorded a video on his mobile and it is the first ever amature video of a space craft from space. The video has been twitted by Dr P V Venkitakrishnan, Director (retired), ISRO Materials and Rocket Manufacturing. (Actually speaking, the airspace around SrihariKota should have been a no fly zone at the time of launch and the aeroplane was well outside the no fly zone) A wonderful caption has been suggested by a twitter user When Aviation Meets Astronomy.”

Many identical posts were shared by users on Facebook.

Investigation:

To investigate, Vishvas News used Google Lens and the results showed that the video is not recent but can be traced back to at least December 2022. The video, posted by NasaNet, actually shows the launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Station in the US. 

News articles by Republic World and The Independent showed visuals matching the viral video. According to The Independent’s report, “Passengers on a plane flying past Florida were treated to the spectacular sight of a SpaceX rocket launch.” The photo was taken by a passenger on a commercial flight flying over Cape Canaveral, Florida, on the night of December 17, 2022, it said. 

When Vishvas News reached out to Nick Leimbach, whose post was shared by The Independent, he confirmed, “Yes, that is the SpaceX launch on 26/11/22.” Nick works as a photojournalist with NBC Washington.

Vishvas News also found another video, this one from Ponraj Arumugam, who claimed to be the passenger who filmed the Chandrayaan 3 launch during his IndiGo flight from Chennai to Dhaka.

When we contacted Ponraj Arumugam, he said he is the owner of the “original” footage. As for the footage in the viral claim, Ponraj responded on LinkedIn, “No this is SpaceX video. You can see the flight is very close to the launch site. In India, they would not allow it within the NOTAM area. In my capture, you can see it is far away and after zooming it is a little closer.”

Vishvas News could not independently verify if even the video taken by Ponraj Arumugam is “original” or authentic.

That leads to two straightforward points:

• It is evident that the viral video in the claim by Facebook user Mohan Nagwani and some others has no connection to the Chandrayaan 3 launch. 
• At the same time, there exists another, different video, shot from a longer distance by Ponraj Arumugam, that may or may not be of the Chandrayaan launch. Vishvas News cannot confirm this video’s authenticity either.

The Facebook user Mohan Nagwani, who shared the viral video of the SpaceX video and falsely linked it to ISRO’s Chandrayaan, is from Katni, Madhya Pradesh, as per his FB profile. His bio reads: “Basically a student in the clothing of a teacher. Ranked in University merit during graduation and post-graduation studies.National Scholarship during post-graduate studies. Awarded in mission excellence as best science teacher. Working on environmental issues.”