Well the folks behind the video which attracted 8.9 million views worldwide have made a statement regarding the authenticity of their video. Hit the jump for their statement.
+TatWZA
X
Shotta Dru on Google+
This hoax really took flight.
Dutch filmmaker and animator Floris Kaayk in collaboration with media production company Revolver fessed up to creating a “media art project†that took the world by storm in recent days — a video of inventor Jarno Smeets taking flight by flapping his arms.
But like the wax melting from Icarus’ wings, the truth is finally emerging.
Kaayak announced on Dutch television that he didn’t expect the media attention his project would generate, with over 8.9 million views across the world.
He made the project in collaboration with Revolver and Omroep NTL, sources in the Netherlands who have spoken to the filmmaker told FoxNews.com prior to the show. They admitted their hoax Thursday evening on the Dutch television show Wereld Draait Door.
Revolver — which describes its goal on its website as “to engage with audiences through storytelling and original, challenging content — was “extremely surprised†by the worldwide media attention its little project has generated, sources told FoxNews.com.
A video of the show posted to YouTube confirms the report.
“My name is Floris Kaayk. I’m actually a filmmaker and animator. I am now eight months working on an experiment about online media,†Kaayk said on the air, according to a YouTube translation.
Using Nintendo Wii technology, Jarno Smeets claimed to have rigged a contraption in which the motion of his arms is synced to that of a huge pair of wings made of kite fabric. In his first successful “flight” on March 18, he appeared to use his “human bird wings” to soar a horizontal distance of 328 feet (100 meters) above a park in the Netherlands.
