Did a video shared on social media genuinely show a UFO that was recorded flying over Sweden? No, that's not true: Lead Stories determined that the original clip shared on Instagram was created as part of a school project by 16-year-old Swedish "3D artist" @qvist_designs. The account holder confirmed to Lead Stories that the video was "fake."
A version of the claim originated in a post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, on February 6, 2024 (archived here), with a caption that read:
UFO filmed in Sweden!
This video allegedly shows a UFO filmed in night vision flying over Sweden.
This is how the post appeared at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Fri Feb 9 20:56:02 2024 UTC)
The video was made by a 3D designer on Instagram, according to a community note (archived here) mentioned under another posting of this clip on X. The link in the community note led to the Instagram profile page of qvist_designs (archived here), described as a "3D artist" located in Sweden. The person, a male, requested Lead Stories that he be identified only by his account name.
The original rendering was posted on Instagram on February 6, 2024 (archived here), with a text overlay that read "05/02/2024," which is February 5, 2024, in a European date format. An accompanying caption read:
UFO footage
#ufo #aliens #footage #foundfootage #100%real #ufofootage #sweden #sky
Lead Stories contacted the account holder via email. He confirmed that "the video is fake and it [was] done in a 3D software called Blender."
In an email received on February 9, 2024, qvist_designs told Lead Stories that the video started as a school video project centering around proving "that aliens exist." Since qvist_designs is a 3D artist, he chose to make a "fake UFO video." The process took him about an hour to finish the 3D scene and another 40 minutes to render and add "noise effects and text in a video editing software called DaVinci Resolve."
Qvist_designs told Lead Stories that he originally posted the video to Reddit on February 5, 2024, and to two subreddits, r/AliensAndUFOs (archived here) and r/aliens (archived here).
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Other Lead Stories debunks related to aliens can be read here.
