Video of Cloud Formation Resembling ‘Wormhole’ Not Actual Footage of Hurricane Melissa

The video of Hurricane Melissa circulating on social media showing a dramatic “wormhole” cloud formation is entirely fabricated, according to an investigation into the footage’s origins.

As Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on October 28, 2025, as a devastating Category 5 storm with unprecedented 185 mph winds, social media platforms were flooded with purported imagery of the hurricane. Among these was a viral video allegedly taken from a passenger plane window, showing clouds swirling in a mesmerizing pattern that many users described as resembling a “wormhole.”

The footage quickly gained traction across major platforms including X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, with thousands of shares as users marveled at what they believed was a rare glimpse of the powerful storm from above.

However, a digital forensics investigation has confirmed the video was generated using artificial intelligence technology, not captured by an actual aircraft. The earliest instance of the video was traced to TikTok account @earthimpacts, which posted the footage on October 25, 2025. Notably, this account’s profile clearly states “AI disaster curiosity” and the video itself carried TikTok’s “AI-generated” content label with the hashtag “#ai.”

Meteorological evidence further undermines the video’s authenticity. Hurricane cloud formations typically extend between 30,000 and 50,000 feet high, according to data from the United Kingdom’s Meteorological Office and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Commercial passenger aircraft generally cruise at altitudes between 30,000 and 42,000 feet—a height that would place them well away from the storm’s structure.

Flight data confirms this assessment. Public flight radar records from the 24 hours preceding Hurricane Melissa’s landfall show commercial airlines deliberately avoiding Jamaica’s airspace and the surrounding area affected by the hurricane. The only aircraft that ventured near the storm were specialized hurricane hunter planes operated by government agencies for data collection purposes.

These hurricane hunters typically fly at much lower altitudes—around 10,000 feet according to the U.S. Air Force—to penetrate the storm and collect critical meteorological data. Flight logs from the National Hurricane Center archive show reconnaissance missions into Hurricane Melissa operating between 12,000 and 20,000 feet, significantly below the altitude depicted in the viral video.

Authentic footage from these hurricane hunter missions presents a markedly different view than the AI-generated video. Real clips posted by U.S. Air Force hurricane hunters show aircraft equipped with propellers—consistent with the specialized aircraft used for these missions rather than commercial passenger jets—flying through dense cloud layers to reach the hurricane’s eye.

Hurricane Melissa’s impact on Jamaica was historically significant as the strongest hurricane to directly hit the island on record and one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes at time of landfall. The circulation of fabricated imagery amid a major natural disaster highlights the growing challenge of misinformation during crisis events and the increasingly sophisticated nature of AI-generated content.

Social media platforms continue to implement various labeling systems to identify AI-generated content, but these identifiers are often lost when videos are downloaded and reshared across different platforms, allowing artificial content to be misconstrued as authentic documentation of significant events.

As recovery efforts continue in Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa’s devastating impact, meteorologists and emergency management officials emphasize the importance of relying on official sources for weather information and storm updates rather than unverified social media content.