Fact Check

No, This Video Doesn't Show 2 Helicopters Escorting a UFO

The video appears to show a total of three helicopters, with one of them using a spotlight to search the ground.

Published Feb. 6, 2022

 ( Aaron Foster / Getty Images)
Image Via Aaron Foster / Getty Images
Claim:
A video shows two helicopters escorting a UFO over Durham, Connecticut, in January 2022.

In early February 2022, UFO believers shared a video that some claimed showed an alien spacecraft flying over the town of Durham, Connecticut, escorted by two helicopters.

According to UFO conspiracy theorists, the sighting occurred on Jan. 20, 2022. The video was shared online with headlines like this one from The Sun tabloid: "Black Hawk helicopters 'filmed chasing tic-tac UFO across sky' above Connecticut town."

We were unable to locate the original video, and therefore haven't been able to confirm elements like the date and location the video was taken. The versions we have seen online are also too grainy to determine whether the helicopters are in fact Black Hawk helicopters.

However grainy the videos are, though, what can be seen is a spotlight illuminating the ground under the middle aircraft. It seems likely, therefore, that the video shows three helicopters, not two helicopters escorting a UFO. The middle helicopter is using a spotlight to search for something, or someone, on the ground below, and appears particularly bright because the light is facing the camera.

Bethania Palma is a journalist from the Los Angeles area who has been working in the news industry since 2006.

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