Two Viral Headlines, Zero Videos: The Search Goes On

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorHours after our first look, the question is no longer what is in the video. It is whether anyone has ever seen it.

2. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorHank, I have spent the afternoon with two headlines, one spreadsheet and a growing sense that I am the only adult in this investigation.

3. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorWhat do the documents say?

4. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorDocument one, from Universidad de Córdoba in the US, is about four hours old.

5. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorIt promises a viral Pori Moni clip tied to Maasranga Television on Instagram.

6. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorDocument two arrived roughly three hours ago. It names Maasranga again, spells it a different way, and adds Mehjabin Chowdhury and the word trending.

7. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorDifferent spelling. Same video. Or no video. Frankly, this is how every cover-up begins.

8. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorNeither headline describes the video's content.

9. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorNeither says what is in it, who made it, or whether it exists.

10. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThey do contain a plus sign, an exclamation mark, a sun and a tiny triangle.

11. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorA triangle?

12. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorPointing right. Toward what, we do not know. I have asked.

13. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorLet's build the timeline. Four hours ago, headline one. An hour later, silence. Then headline two, three hours ago.

14. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorThat silent hour is where the video lived, Hank. Then it vanished. I have charts.

15. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorYour chart is a line going sideways, Dale.

16. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorSideways is how a plot moves when nobody is watching. Look at the clip count. It is zero, and that is suspicious.

17. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorZero is also what you would expect if there is no video.

18. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorOr if somebody got to it first. I spent two thousand nine learning that nothing online is ever just missing.

19. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThen comes the rabbit hole. Earlier today I said an emoji is not corroboration. I stand by that. But I have now interviewed the sun.

20. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe sun.

21. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorIt declined to comment. It was very bright about it. I am treating that as a refusal to cooperate.

22. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorIt knows something. It has been up there the whole time, watching.

23. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorIt has been up there for four and a half billion years, Dale. It watches everything. That is not evidence.

24. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorFine. Then the confrontation with the obvious. Who benefits when a clip nobody can describe is announced loudly? The pages that announce it.

25. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSo they are selling the headline itself, and the video is just decoration.

26. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThat is the verdict. Names people search for, a promise of a clip, and symbols to look busy. No video has been produced.

27. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorComing up later, a beloved Santa Monica nightlife spot is closed after twenty years. What is replacing it? A private club, allegedly. I have questions.

28. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorSo the video does not exist, and the case is solved. You are welcome.

29. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThe first sensible thing you have said all week, Dale. You are still unserious.