Lightning video predates Tropical Storm Hilary
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on August 24, 2023 at 16:54
- 1 min read
- By Natalie WADE, AFP USA
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"Another shocking footage Of #HurricaneHilary aint no joke wtf," says an August 19, 2023 post on Twitter, which is being rebranded as "X."
The post includes a video of lightning shooting across a cloudy sky.
Similar claims spread elsewhere on X and Facebook as Tropical Storm Hilary caused landslides and life-threatening floods in Southern California.
But the footage is unrelated to the storm, which at its peak registered as a Category 4 hurricane before crossing into the United States.
The clip originated in a June 23 TikTok post captioned: "Thunderstorm with lightning discharge."
"Interesting videos real and edited," says the bio of @RTsarovVideo, the account that shared the footage (archived here).
The TikToker told Reuters that he created the lightning effect using software. AFP reached out to the user for comment, but a response was not forthcoming. AFP did not determine the location where the video was recorded.
AFP has debunked other misinformation about Hurricane Hilary here, here and here.
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