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Koi UFO Video 009: "Act of War” viral marketing 

 

   

[DEBUNKED] Koi UFO Video 009 is video appearing to show an aircraft (resembling a stealth aircraft) being shot down by rockets in London over the Houses of Parliament.

The video was posted on at least one UFO forum in 2005. Initial opinions on the video varied from "quite intriguing" and "fascinating without doubt", to "basic 'shoot 'em up' digitally blended rubbish".

 

In fact, as detailed below, the video was a viral advertisement for the "Act of War : Direct Action" computer game. This viral advertisement was produced and put on the Internet by a company in the UK called, Maverick Media.  

 

Sections below:

1. The relevant video

2. Stories and claims relating to this video

3. The real background to this video

4. Relevant online discussions

 

 

1. The relevant video

This video appears to show an aircraft (resembling a stealth aircraft) being shot down by rockets in London over the Houses of Parliament.

A copy of the video posted on Youtube in 2007 is entitled "Plane Shot Down Over Parliament" and has the caption "Patriot missiles shoot down stealth bomber over British Parliament".  As discussed below, the video had originally been posted in 2005.

 

Screen shots from the video are included below for ease of identification:

 

 

 

2. Stories and claims relating to this video

This video was originally released on the "How safe are we" website in 2005 on a page entitled "The Jefferson Parliament Bomber footage". Captions on that webpage stated stated "This footage was caught on camera on 11th February 2005" and "This is the only footage of this event found so far." 

 

3. The real background to this video

This video was filmed and put on the Internet as part of the viral marketing campaign for a new computer game (Atari's "Act Of War: Direct Action").

 

The video was produced and put on the Internet by a company in the UK called Maverick Media.

 

The footage was directed by Ben Wheatley and entitled "The Jefferson Parliament Bomber Footage".

 

 

In 2005, Maverick Media's website included a "News" page which included the following:

"17/FEB/05 How safe are we? This blockbuster-style viral shocker, directed by Ben Wheatley and produced by Liz Martin, went live today to amazed audiences worldwide... Were you there? Did you see anything? See the full story on www.how-safe-are-we.com"

 

 

In 2005, "thethule" posted on a digital art discussion forum that the relevant video was his "latest work on a viral for Atari's new game Act of War", stating that the video was done in "3ds Max in 8 days and the models were bought and slightly modified".

The relevant advertising campaign was also referred to on various websites relating to the advertising industry during 2005, including one which noted that it was tanked at the top of the viral chart at that time

 

 

I contacted Maverick Media during 2005 about this video. They found the discussion of their video on a UFO forum to be "very interesting".

 

 

4. Relevant online discussions

Relevant discussions online include the following:

http://ufoupdateslist.com/2005/sep/m03-015.shtml