A view from a plane window into the eye of a giant storm: real or AI?

As shared

View the post on X

Posted on X by @Khhanzy · Shown as an embedded post · Source

AI-MADE

A machine made this.

How sure we areVery high

Based on 2 strong and 1 supporting pieces of evidence.

What we found

The clip shows a view from a plane window, looking down on a huge ring of swirling cloud like the eye of a hurricane. It spread on Facebook, X and Instagram in October 2025 as footage of Hurricane Melissa, and came back on TikTok in September 2026 labelled as the eye of Hurricane Polo. Full Fact found the earliest copy on TikTok, posted on 26 October 2025 by an account called @earthimpacts. Its caption said the video was not real and was a simulation made with AI. Lead Stories found the same clip on a matching Instagram account that describes itself as an AI-generated profile. Both fact-checkers pointed out that real footage from inside these storms does exist, filmed by the crews of storm-hunting aircraft. Dramatic storm clips often return under a new storm's name, so it is worth looking for the first upload.

Key facts

Original source: Posted on X by @Khhanzy
First published: Not recorded
Earlier appearances: Not recorded
The claim you saw: No caption recorded
Signs of AI: Yes. Shown below, but not what decided it

The evidence, strongest first

Strong Decides the answer

Published fact-checkLead Stories, 30 September 2026↗Published fact-checkFull Fact, 29 October 2025↗

Supporting Points the same way

Community NoteCommunity Note on the X post↗

Weak Shown, not relied on

How it looksThe hole in the clouds is a neat, deep funnel, a bit like water going down a plughole. Real hurricanes do not spin this fast. Ordinary planes cannot safely fly over a hurricane, so nobody could film this from a window seat.

Detector scores are often wrong, so they never decide a verdict here.

What we couldn’t establish

Exactly how it was made, and with which prompts, beyond what the sources above say. If you know more, tell us.

Bottom line

Made by AI: a published fact-check traced it.

See the original ↗Think we’re wrong?

Was this explanation useful? ·

Check something like this yourself

Start with where it came from: reverse-search the picture, then find who posted it first. Or paste it into our free checker.