Fact check: Alien moon footage is from a fictional short film, not a Chinese lunar rover
The claim: Video of walking alien is authentic footage from Chinese lunar rover
Some social media posters are sharing video footage they claim shows an alien walking on the moon.
The video, which is embedded in a 2021 blog post, shows a tall, thin creature walking and squatting on a barren moon-like landscape.
"Strange Alien Walking On The Moon Was Filmed By The Chinese Lunar Rover," reads the caption of a June 20 Facebook post that linked to the blog.
The blog garnered more than 13,000 interactions on Facebook, according to social media analytics tool CrowdTangle.
But the footage is not authentic. It is taken from a fictional short film series.
USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook users who shared the post for comment. The blog author could not be reached.
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Alien moon footage is from fictional short film series
The footage the blog presents as coming from a lunar rover is a cropped version of a video created for a short film series by a production company called MeniThings.
The video, which was uploaded to YouTube in 2015, is titled "Alien on Moon | Project Blue Book." The video's caption describes it as being "part of the Project Blue Book short film series."
Other films associated with Project Blue Book are also available on the MeniThings YouTube home page.
The production company's website describes MeniThings as "a full featured production company that supports ... original live action and animated work."
Check Your Fact previously debunked a claim involving similar footage of a purported moon alien. In that case social media users said the footage was captured by NASA.
MeniThings did not respond to a request for comment.
Fact check: False claim that Buzz Aldrin saw an alien on his trip to the moon
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that a video of a walking alien is authentic footage from a Chinese lunar rover. The footage is from a fictional short film series.
Our fact-check sources:
YouTube, Sept. 16, 2015, Alien on Moon | Project Blue Book
YouTube, accessed June 24, MeniThings
MeniThings, accessed June 24, Home page
YouTube, accessed June 24, MeniThings About
MeniThings, accessed June 24, Twitter
CrowdTangle, accessed June 24, Home page
MeniThings, accessed June 24, About
Check Your Fact, April 25, Fact Check: No, this is not NASA footage of an alien on the moon
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Alien moon footage from short film, not Chinese rover