Fact Check: Is this the video of the Chinese spy balloon shot down by US

Tensions between the US and China have been high for long. The recent shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon by the US have further strained relations

Tensions have soared between the United States and China following the shooting down of a spy balloon.

Many have taken to the social media to show wreckage of some object, with the claim that it is the Chinese balloon which was shot down in February by the US airforce.

In the video one can see an object which looks like an artificial satellite with a balloon attached to it. The video appears to be shot in a forest area. Those sharing the video tweeted, 'first video of downed Chinese spy balloon!"

"What our US apparently doesn't want us to see about what the Chinese Spy Balloons look like up close," some others said.

OneIndia has learnt that this is not the video of the spy balloon that was shot down by the US airforce. In fact the video that is in circulation is over five years old.

We also found a report which said that the debris of the balloon was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean. In the viral video one does not get to see any ocean.

We also found a similar video posted on Instagram on September 4 2021

The video was captioned, " first they fill out the balloon with helium. When balloon is strong enough to carry the satellite it is released from the truck. Satellites provides just 1% of world wide internet and are circling around flat Earth circuit on so called "Low Earth's orbit". They are not so many as NASA claims they are. As the balloon ascends, the pressure of its environment decreases, and the balloon begins to expand. This expansion continues until the material of the balloon is stretched to its breaking point, causing the balloon to burst. This typically occurs at stratospheric altitudes between 30 and 35 km."

This made it clear that the viral video is not that of the balloon that the US shot down.

We also found a couple of tweets which spoke about where the video was shot. One user had asked, 'is this Brazil? Sounds like they are speaking Portuguese, hard to hear what they are saying though.' To this another user replied, ' well if it helps, that's Brazil, they are speaking Brazilian Portuguese.'

We also found a video on YouTube with the title 'satellite crashes in Brazil.'

Another search led us to an article, with the title,, ' Explained: Satellite crashing attached to a balloon [Google's Project Loon].'

What is Project Loon:

Project Loon was a former research and development project by Google's Alphabet Inc aimed at providing internet connectivity to rural and remote areas using high-altitude balloons. The project was announced in 2013, but officially ended in 2021.

After conducting multiple tests, Google announced in January 2021 that it was winding up this project due to the inability to provide a sustainable business model.