This Video of a Vehicle Trapped in the Mud Predates the 2023 Burning Man Festival
The Claim
A video shows a vehicle trapped in the mud during the Burning Man Festival.
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Emerging story
Social media users recently shared a video purporting to feature a car trapped in thick mud in a desert during the 2023 Burning Man festival. The vehicle appeared to have no tires and was completely covered in mud.
The phrase "Someone who tried to escape Burning Man" is written on the video.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the video and found the claim to be misleading.
A comprehensive reverse image search revealed the widely circulated video to be outdated and has no connection to the recent Burning Man festival.
The Video of Trapped Vehicle Predates the 2023 Burning Man Festival
Contrary to the viral claim, the video of a car trapped in mud was not taken during the recent Burning Man festival. The video dates back to August 16, indicating that the video in question precedes the 2023 festival that began on August 27.
Misbar's team was able to trace the earliest publication of the video back to August 16. An Albanian Instagram account named "trokas_chihuahua," which primarily shares content related to automobiles, uploaded the video. However, the account did not provide any details regarding the video's origin or location.
History of the Burning Man Festival
In the summer of 1986, a person named Larry Harvey and his friend Jerry James created an improvised wooden figure that was eight feet tall. They then dragged it to Baker Beach in San Francisco and set it on fire, attracting a crowd of curious onlookers to witness the burning and form a semi-circle. Among the crowd was a member of the hippie movement who played the guitar and sang a song about fire. All of this marked the beginning of the annual Burning Man tradition.
This event is frequently described as a worldwide assembly of artists, innovators, and community leaders who collaborate on artistic projects and initiatives on a global scale.
The 2023 Burning Man Festival Fiasco
Thousands of Burning Man attendees found themselves trapped in traffic for hours as they attempted to depart Nevada's Black Rock Desert on Tuesday. They had been stranded for several days due to heavy rain.
On Tuesday morning, the waiting times to exit the site stretched to as long as five hours, as reported in Burning Man traffic updates posted on X. Nevertheless, hour-long delays are a common occurrence at Burning Man and are familiar to participants, referred to as an "Exodus."
This year, approximately 73,000 individuals attended the annual event. The burning of The Man, a central ritual at Burning Man, occurred on Monday, which was later than usual due to rain-induced delays. A man was pronounced deceased, but the specific cause of his death was not specified.
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