The ‘birdman’ is FAKE: Filmmaker behind wing suit flight video admits footage was a hoax and says it was ‘online storytelling’
March 22, 2012 | Source: Daily Mail
The Dutch “bird man” who posted a video showing a successful “test flight” of a wing suit contraption has admitted that the amazing feat was a hoax all along.
Viewers became sceptical after it emerged that no scientists actually knew “Jarno Smeets,” who claimed to have created the technology.
Now Smeets has confessed that he is actually a “filmmaker and animator” named Floris Kaayk, and has described the faked footage as “online storytelling.”
Comments (11)
by Jochen
Makes you wonder what else we are made to believe :) It is a brave new world…
by Bob V
I guess that the bird pooped.
by Stu
The video was well made, though i sensed it might be fake by the compositing in some shots . It is alarming that someone would waste so much time to pull such a stupid prank.
by JoJo
I wanted to believe it was real, plus it was posted on sites I trust, so it had me fooled.
by John
What is most alarming for me is the fact that people actually thought this video was real.
First, because anyone that knows anything at all about physics or aerodynamics would immediately know this was bogus.
But, secondly, and more importantly, the video was terribly made and obviously doctored. Anyone who CAN’T notice the obviously fake gyrations (and how they don’t sync up with the rest of the video) is in for some bad experiences in the future as more and more people become capable of producing this kind of bad fake videos.
by Glen Lincoln
Yeah, it was like watching a marketing advertisement because this emotional music starts playing, and I was wondering how could a man’s arms move those enormous wings so quickly, and I didn’t see any motors, so I shook my head and exited the video.
by Steven
I agree with your points, but I think your first point is more important than the second. Even though this video was noticeably fake, we’re nearing the point where it will soon become impossible to tell if a video has been edited (with the naked eye).
I’m more concerned about the general lack of scientific understanding that would lead people to believe this was anything other than a hoax/’story’.
by MyKindOfTown
What a load of Kaayk!
by J JOHN
DOES LARGE CORPORATIONS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS? THAT VIDEO DIDN’T LOOK FAKE.
by Swee
The government is the largest corporation. Maybe it’s another of their plots to destroy human freedom and give it to the birds!
by Spikosauropod
So now we can replace “Your name is Mudd” with “Your name is Kaayk”.
It is about time we updated that old adage.