A 15-second video showing objects resembling explosives falling from the sky is being widely shared on social media, with users claiming it captures an Iranian attack on Dubai.
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched a joint military assault on Iran, targeting key military installations. The strikes reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with several senior figures of the ruling establishment. The attacks also caused civilian casualties, including 165 students and staff members when a missile struck a girls’ elementary school. In retaliation, Iran carried out strikes on US military bases across Central and West Asia, including in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan and Qatar. The situation remains fluid and highly volatile at the time of writing, with developments continuing to unfold.
X user Hon. Peter Salasya (@pksalasya) shared the viral clip on March 1 with the caption, “Dubai is burning now .Iran please forgive them now .It’s enough our sons and daughters are in dubai”. (sic) The post has received over 9.9 million views and has been reposted over 1,400 times. (Archive)
Several other users shared the same video, claiming that it showed an Iranian attack on Dubai. Below are a few instances:
Fact Check
To verify the clip’s authenticity, we ran a reverse image search using keyframes from the video. The search led us to an Instagram reel posted by @lovindubai in December 2022. It featured the same footage now being passed off as visuals from the ongoing war — making it clear that the clip is old and unrelated to current events.
The text on the video frame read: “Asteroids incoming to Dubai.”
View this post on Instagram
We also found another post by the same page, dated December 12, 2022, clarifying that the video did not show asteroids but skydivers using flares.
The caption stated: “With the Geminid meteor shower (a celestial phenomenon) expected to dazzle the UAE skies on December 14 and 15, residents recently have been baffled over the random asteroid-like sightings. Dubai Astronomy Group set the record straight and exclusively told Lovin Dubai that the flares seen on the night of Sunday, December 11, ‘were definitely not a meteor shower’. The spokesperson clarified that ‘this is also skydivers and the flares they are using’.”
View this post on Instagram
Hence, from the above findings, it is clear that the viral clip does not depict an Iranian attack on the UAE. The video is from 2022 and shows skydivers with flares.
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