These videos of animals moving in circles are not proof of any conspiracy theory
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A Chinese media outlet shared a video claiming to show sheep that had been moving in circles for more than 10 days on a farm in northern China. Then, other videos started popping up .– fish, reindeer, ants – all moving in these circular formations. Some said the videos were proof of deep conspiracies: 5G, a HAARP plot, or a sign of the end of the world. But there are scientific explanations for this animal behaviour. We explain it all in this episode of Truth or Fake.
A surveillance camera captured these sheep moving in perfect circles, shown in a video published on November 16, 2022 by the People's Daily, a Chinese state-run media. The video has more than 12 million views.
The great sheep mystery! Hundreds of sheep walk in a circle for over 10 days in N China's Inner Mongolia. The sheep are healthy and the reason for the weird behavior is still a mystery. pic.twitter.com/8Jg7yOPmGK
— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) November 16, 2022
Fish, reindeer, ants...
In the days that followed, others began posting similar videos on TikTok, Facebook and Twitter. They showed caterpillars, turtles, reindeer, fish and even ants making similar movements.
The posts that shared them put forward different theories to explain these behaviours. This video, shared more than 1,700 times on Twitter, for example, explains that they are caused by 5G waves.
According to this video, which has more than 900,000 views on TikTok, these movements are caused by human activities through HAARP. The HAARP project, which stands for "High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program", is an American research program that studies the upper atmosphere. Some conspiracy theorists accused HAARP of being exploited to control the weather.
Some blame it on CERN, the European Centre for Nuclear Research, for "opening portals and black holes" that are responsible for these circular movements.
Still, others claim it is the result of pole reversal.
So what's the truth? We set out to find an explanation by asking animal behaviour experts. See what's really behind these bizarre circular formations in this episode of Truth or Fake.