That video of a drone shooting fireworks into a crowd is not what it seems
Have you seen the video of someone who appears to use a drone to launch fireworks into a partying crowd in Brazil? Well, it's not exactly what it claims to be.
The video, which has been circulating on Reddit in recent days, has a title which loosely translates to "When you have funk dancing on the street, upload your drone with a rocket and finish the party." People have widely taken it at face value -- as a person who was upset by a loud street party getting some rather spectacular revenge via drone.
But it seems the whole thing was a stunt by a popular Brazilian Instagram personality, Lucas Albert, and his pals. As some media outlets have reported, the clip appears on Albert's Instagram with a caption that says roughly, "My friends did a barbecue on the street and they did not invite me look at what I did with them."
Albert went on to address the video in clips posted to an Instagram story. He derided the way the video had become "fake news" and claimed "it was a joke" he pulled off with friends. The story also featured clips of people shooting fireworks at each other, putting the ultimate combination of drone and bottlerockets into fuller context.
One Brazilian news outlet strung together some of the clips below (starting at the 1:15 mark).
Just because this is a stunt doesn't make the situation any less dangerous, but the whole thing is a lot less engrossing when you know the real story.
Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.
