A video purportedly showing a cloud sinking from the sky over Indonesia is going viral on social media. In the video, we can see some people wearing similar uniforms running towards a white object falling from the sky to the ground. We fact-check this claim through this article.
claim: Video of clouds setting/falling from the sky in Indonesia.
fact: The white substance seen in the video is not actually a cloud falling from the sky. The director of the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) confirmed that it was likely condensation of water vapor or gas created due to human activity, and not a natural cloud. Therefore, the claim made in the post is correct false,
To check the veracity of the viral claim, we searched the internet using relevant keywords to see if the media had reported the incident. This search led us to a news report published by The Times of India about this incident.
According to this report, this incident actually happened in an industrial area of Indonesia. It also mentioned that local authorities have concluded that the foam-like substance seen in the video “It was probably formed due to condensation of pollutants in nearby industrial and mining areas.,
To learn more about this incident, we conducted a keyword search on the Internet in Indonesian language, which led us to several local news reports on this incident (here, here, and here).
According to these reports, this incident took place in Morong Raya area of Kalimantan province of Indonesia and its video went viral on social media. CNN Indonesia and VOI reported that the white mass seen falling from the sky was not a cloud.
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has confirmed this. According to reports, the BMKG director said that the white mass seen in the video is not a natural cloud but condensation of water vapor or gas due to human activity taking place in the mining area.’
“Andrey explained that clouds cannot fall to the surface in the form of dense clusters because the particles are very light and scattered with low density. This is because clouds are collections of very small and light water droplets or ice crystals, so they float in the atmosphere with the help of air currents. VOI reported. He further said that usually the cloud particles evaporate before reaching the ground.
According to National Geographic, clouds are a visible accumulation of water droplets in the Earth’s atmosphere, and they are found at an altitude of 2000–12000 meters above the Earth’s surface. You can find more information about clouds here, here and here.
In short, a video of a white mass caused by the condensation of water vapor or gas is falsely shared as footage of a cloud falling from the sky.
(This story was originally published by Factly, and republished by NDTV as part of Shakti Collective)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
