Daniel Gomez Megalodon Video Footage Hoax

About

Daniel Gomez Megalodon Video Footage Hoax is a hoax claiming that a video of a 60-foot megalodon shark being killed by NASA was taken by fisherman Daniel Gomez on September 2nd, 2023. The rumor went viral on TikTok in early September 2023 after it was shared in several videos by TikToker @forbiddencombo, which asks viewers to share the video to see the footage, inspiring some viewers to search for the megalodon video. Prior to the video's virality in late August, several videos by @forbiddencombo and @lexagtradm7 about alleged megalodon footage went viral on TikTok, with one claiming that NASA killed the last megalodon and that a man named Richard Gomez had footage of the animal.

Origin

On August 7th, 2022, TikToker^[1] @forbiddencombo posted a video claiming to show real footage of a megalodon, an extinct, giant shark, garnering over 26,000 views in a month. The footage is fake. Over the following weeks, the TikToker uploaded more hoax videos about the megalodon, often claiming that the megalodon was either caught on film and that the last megalodon was killed by NASA.

On August 22nd, the TikToker^[2] posted a video claiming NASA killed the megalodon during "Operation Big Fish." The video claims that a local fisherman, Richard Gomez, who was skeptical about NASA's secrecy over the operation, followed NASA's fleet of boats for three days. Gomez eventually realized the boats were not research vessels, but whaling ships. Gomez allegedly captured footage of NASA harpooning a 60-foot megalodon. The video gained over 8 million views in two weeks (shown below).

On August 26th, TikToker^[3] @lexagtradm7 posted a video sharing the same story, garnering over 300,000 views in two weeks. On September 5th, TikToker^[4] @forbiddencombo posted a video making a similar claim, only using the name Daniel Gomez rather than Richard Gomez, garnering over 10 million views in a day (shown below). The video urges viewers to click "Share," "More" then "Google Maps" on the video to see the footage.

Spread

The video and other videos claiming that the megalodon was filmed became the subject of reactions over the following days. On September 5th, 2023, TikToker^[5] @taviansmith02 posted a video scrolling their FYP to see the video, garnering over 350,000 views in a day (shown below). On September 6th, HITC^[6] reported on the hoax.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References