As the conflict between Iran and Israel continues to intensify, a war footage that allegedly showed what is happening on the ground is circulating among Filipino social media users. This is not true and the video is from a military simulation game.
Published as early as June 15, copies of the video were posted by these Facebook users and continue to circulate online. One of the videos bore the following text:
“Iran vs Israel. Sa movie k lang nakkita na may ganito, sad to say meron pla sa totoong buhay (sic)
(I only see these in the movies. Sad to say they also happen in real life).”
The one-minute clip showed several jets weaving through the sky and bombarding a city as anti-aircraft missile launchers try to take them down.
A reverse image search revealed that these spurious reels came from a video game called Arma 3, a military tactical shooter simulation game released in 2013.
The original video was published by YouTube channel Battle Dragon in May this year. “This is a virtual simulation and does not represent real events,” the channel said, adding that the combat scenarios were made within a “powerful sandbox environment.”
Clips from the mentioned game have often been misportrayed as real videos taken from true-to-life conflicts. VERA Files Fact Check has debunked several Arma 3 clips given a false context that emerged during other conflicts in previous years.
The erroneous videos continue to circulate online as Iran rejected calls to surrender in the face of more Israeli bombardment, warning the United States that intervention will further escalate the conflict between the two countries.
At least four FB users published the same video with false context, collectively garnering over 290 reactions, 130 comments, 400 shares and 163,000 views.
