Mid-air blast footage shot in US, not off Philippine coast

Published on August 7, 2025 at 11:09
3 min read
By Ara Eugenio, AFP Philippines

Philippine authorities have criticised China for launching a rocket to space in August, saying explosions heard in the Southeast Asian nation's western province caused panic among residents. But an online video supposedly depicting the launch actually shows a failed aerospace test flight in the United States four years earlier.

The nine-second video, showing a rocket spinning and then detonating in a fiery mid-air explosion, was shared on Facebook on August 5, 2025.

"Rocket from China suddenly explodes over Puerto Princesa city, Palawan," reads its Tagalog-language caption, referring to the western Philippine island facing the disputed South China Sea.

It was shared after China launched a Long March-12 rocket from its southernmost province Hainan, with state news agency Xinhua reporting it was carrying a group of internet satellites into space (archived link).

The launch was condemned by Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano who said "loud explosions" caused by launch had brought about "widespread alarm and concern" in Palawan (archived link).

He added that while no immediate damage or injury has been reported, falling debris posed a risk to people, as well as aircraft and vessels, around the Philippine province (archived link).

Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on August 6, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The same footage was also shared on TikTok, and stills from the clip were posted in similar Facebook posts.

Comments from some users alluded to tensions with China over disputed reefs in the South China Sea; Beijing claims most of the strategic waterway despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling that went against it, and there have been frequent clashes or tense standoffs between Philippine and Chinese vessels (archived link).

"Looks like a ballistic missile; they're testing its range. [President Ferdinand] Marcos ought to do something about it," read a comment on one of the posts.

Another read: "China is really taunting the Philippines. What will our soldiers do about it?"

But the video does not show an explosion linked to the Chinese rocket launch.

A combination of reverse image and keyword searches led to a longer version of the video posted on the verified VideoFromSpace YouTube channel on September 11, 2021 (archived link).

The falsely shared video corresponds to the section beginning at the YouTube video's 2:24 mark.

Its description says it shows a failed test flight of Texas-based Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket on September 2, 2021.

"At supersonic speeds, the rocket was unable to compensate for an unexpected shutdown of one of its engines earlier in the flight and it tumbled. As a result, range triggered the Flight Termination System (FTS) causing it to explode," it adds.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (left) and the September 2021 video (right)

Additional keyword searches led to similar footage published in a CNN report (archived link).

According to the report, the 100-foot-tall rocket was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base north of Los Angeles and exploded off the coast of California.

"US Space Force officials on the ground directed the company to destroy the rocket mid-air -- called an emergency abort -- so that it would not tumble uncontrolled back toward people or property. No one was harmed," read the report.

AFP has previously debunked other misrepresented video of rocket explosions here and here.

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