Did children on a school bus go “poof” after they went through a portal? No, Ms. Frizzle, this isn’t the Magic School Bus.
A viral video shared on Facebook appeared to show a bus full of school children suddenly disappearing into thin air. “All the Kids Disappeared from the Bus OMG, Where Did They Go?” read text on the screen of the Sept. 25 video, suggesting that perhaps they had gone through a portal.
(Screenshot of Facebook video)
It was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
This video was created by a Christian organization called Turning Point for God led by Dr. David Jeremiah, a radio and television minister.
The viral clip was taken from a “Rapture Pre-Enactment” video shared on their website, Perhaps Today. The website explains that its videos are meant to illustrate what the rapture might look like when caught on camera. Some Christians believe that one day Jesus Christ will return to Earth and bring his believers to heaven; this anticipated event is called the rapture.
A careful bus driver is in the midst of his school day routine,” reads a video caption on the website. “And then, it happens! In this dramatic pre-enactment you’ll discover what the Rapture, the next event on God’s prophetic calendar, might look like.”
Other videos on the site include fake police body cam footage and a bystander video that supposedly capture the moment people vanish. The scenes appear to unfold in churches, airports, and restaurants.
The site is explicit that the dramatized footage is meant to drive people to the site and learn more about Christian beliefs. “This realistic ‘caught on camera’ user-generated footage grabs the viewers’ attention and creates curiosity that leads them to our Perhaps Today! website (the one you are on, right now!), where they discover more about the Rapture and find the Gospel message.”
The claim that this video depicts a real event is Pants on Fire!
