Between August 5-9, Russian-language accounts on Facebook (1;2) and Instagram published a video that, according to them, depicts a metallic unidentified flying object. The posts claim that the video was filmed over Pico de Orizaba volcano in Mexico and that, according to locals, an alien base is hidden there.
The claim that the video shows an unidentified flying object is not true. In reality, the video shows a large telescope installed on Sierra Negra Mountain, which is not clearly visible because of the clouds.
As the posts suggest, we are supposedly seeing Mexico’s highest peak, Orizaba, or its surroundings in the video. Our investigation determined that no such object is located on Orizaba. In fact, the unidentified object in the footage is not on Orizaba itself but on a nearby peak.
After examining Orizaba and the surrounding area on Google Maps and Google Earth, we found that very close to it there is another volcanic mountain – Sierra Negra, which is the fifth-highest in Mexico.
In photos available online, including in Google Maps, a fairly large white object can be seen on the summit of Sierra Negra. Using Google Earth, we also found an overhead photo of this object, labeled as the “Large Millimeter Telescope.”
At the summit of Sierra Negra stands a telescope with a diameter of 50 meters, which has been in operation since 2011. It is also noteworthy that its circular section is movable and can change direction as needed, which is why it appears at different angles in various photos.
The video circulating on social media, along with the claim that it shows a spherical unidentified flying object, was also fact-checked by the American fact-checking organization Lead Stories. They confirmed that the footage actually shows the telescope on Sierra Negra. The article also notes that the telescope’s spherical appearance in the video is an optical illusion caused by the angle of filming and the alignment of the light, which is corroborated by the shadows of the cars. Specifically, it can be determined that sunlight is coming from behind the telescope, from the left-hand side, and if the object were truly spherical, its left side would be illuminated while the right side would be in shadow.
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