With an increase of technology Americans today are becoming front row witnesses to a huge variety of home videos placed on the Internet. Some of these videos are shocking and some are funny, making watchers either gasp or laugh.  Their popularity has even inspired a variety of new television shows that feature the best of the best home videos with some careful editing, voice-overs, or sound effects to add to their appeal. Whether the audience is gasping, laughing, or crying, however, the emotions these videos evoke are instant and real.

Recently a video was released depicting a huge bird circling a grassy field, as a young family enjoys a sunny outing. The video shows a toddler is sitting on the grass watching his parents play with an older child. In the sky above him what appears to be a Golden Eagle is seen circling lower and lower. Then, suddenly, the bird swoops down and grabs the toddler, much like it would when it attacks its prey. Witnesses shout, gasp and scream as the bird lifts the toddler a few feet off the ground before seeming to lose its grip, drop the child, and fly off.  This video has received over five million views on YouTube within 24 hours.

There’s a catch though; it’s a hoax.

The video was produced by three students at The National Animation and Design Centre in Canada and is a complete farse. Using 3-D animation and digital design, the students produced an emotional, astonishing video that seems so real views watch over and over again.

This is not the first time this school has produced a video hoax. In 2011 students produced a video showing a penguin apparently escaping from the Montreal Biodome. It is apparent that these students have incredible skills that will someday help produce the 3-D movies audiences’ love, and, in the meantime they will keep us guessing. Did that really happen?

Astonishing videos, such as these, first gain notoriety on the web and then are often picked up by national news programs. They are quick to spread and are seen by millions, whether or not they are eventually labeled real or, in this case, a hoax.  Advances in technology will make videos such as these more realistic and prevalent, but the emotions they bring out in us might be the only real thing about them.