Yahoo News Video shows performance by aerial display team, not 'Allah-shaped meteor'
Old footage of an aerial display team performing a night-time flyover in the US state of North Carolina has resurfaced in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed a meteor shaped like the Arabic script for Allah falling from the sky. The footage has circulated since January 2024, when the Bandit Flight Team flew over an outdoor ice hockey game in the city of Charlotte.
"A meteor in the shape of ALLAH fell on the United States of America. What does this signify?" reads Indonesian-language text on a TikTok video posted on March 24, 2024.
Spanish-language text overlaid on the video reads: "Strange phenomenon captured in the skies of Charlotte, North Carolina, USA".
The video appears to show flames in the night sky that resemble the Arabic script for Allah, the Arabic for God.
The clip was shared in similar posts on TikTok, YouTube and SnackVideo here and here, racking up more than 80,000 views in total.
However, the clip does not show a meteor.
Ice hockey flyby
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the video found the footage posted on Instagram two months earlier, on January 20 (archived link).
The video's caption read: "Seen in Charlotte NC. What do you think it is?"
Below is a screenshot comparison between the clip in false posts (left) and posted on Instagram (right):
According to The Charlotte Observer newspaper, the video sparked debate among the city's residents, with some speculating it showed a UFO (archived link).
The article, however, clarified it in fact showed planes from North Carolina's Bandit Flight Team flying over an ice hockey game in the city on January 13.
A schedule posted on the team's website confirms they were booked to perform in Charlotte that evening (archived link).
It lists them as performing for the Charlotte Checkers ice hockey team.
The Checkers were hosting an outdoor hockey game at Charlotte's Truist Field on January 13 (archived link).
Footage posted on the Bandit Flight Team's YouTube channel shows them performing similar flybys at other sports events in North Carolina here and here (archived links here and here).
A keyword search led to a YouTube video of a travel vlogger 8-Bit Vacations who attended the game and captured the flyover (archived link).
The flyover can be seen at the video's 14:30 mark.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the falsely shared video (left) and footage of the flyover captured from within Truist Field (right), with corresponding landmarks highlighted by AFP:
The footage circulating online appears to have been filmed from southeast of Truist Field, near East 4th Street (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison between the falsely shared video (left) and Google Street View imagery (right), with corresponding features -- the Founders Hall building and the Truist Center -- highlighted by AFP:
