Thread by @brechtcastel

🏔️Probably you have seen this breathtaking video of an avalanche. 😲 Everyone survived.

Where was it shot? 📍

Let’s do some #GeoLocation 🌍! 🧵👇 1/…

#OSINT 🔎
#Verification 🎥
#HowToOSINT 🧐

There are NO street signs, logos, number plates, trees or any other visual indications 🫤... except 🏔️🏔️.

This part of #GEOINT is new to me. 🤫

I used a mountain range only once for a fact check of migrants arriving in the Balearic Islands 👇: knack.be/factcheck/fact… 2/…

🥳Luckily a great TUTORIAL was released by Eyran Millis (@Istihbarat1800L) recently: linkedin.com/posts/eyran-mi… (as seen on Week in #OSINT by @Sector035)

With only this pdf-cocument 📄 I decided to give it a try. 3/…

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 As always, I looked for the oldest version of the video first. ⏳

I found it on the Instagram page of the person who filmed it: instagram.com/harryshimmin/

In another post he publisched a video "documenting where I was which I made about 30 mins after the avalanche" 🟪. 4/…

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 He mentions he was in the Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzystan, but this is a HUGE area...

Luckily, that second video contains more mountains and a striking lake. 👀

Finding this lake would be easier than finding some very similar mountains in the avalanche video. 🤔5/...

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 Over to Twitter.

Maybe someone has already geolocated this footage? 🙏

Well, I found a very interesting analysis by @EtienneBerthie2 of this avalanche with a quick search. 🔎

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 The tongue of the glacier collapsed entirely over almost 300 m. The volume loss is roughly 1. 5 millions m³. 😲

For this analysis 🛰️ images were used.

How did they know where to look? "Kyrgyz colleagues gave me the coordinates of the glacier". 🟥 7/..

labo.obs-mip.fr/multitemp/kyrg…

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 Seems like a very good source! 👆

Unfortunately these coordinates are not mentioned in the article. 😢

BUT I found a way around. 👇8/...

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 The analysis includes a link to a map 🗺️ of changes in the height of glaciers: maps.theia-land.fr/couches-cartog…

Online maps usually have the coordinates of the location in their URL❗️

Just look for some numbers and "lat" and "lng" (latitude and longitude) 🟥 in the URL. 9/...

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 We enter these coordinates in the search bar of Google Earth Pro. 🟥

It does indeed show a glacier. 🟪

And we see a lake. 🟨10/...

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 The shape of the lake 🟨 in the video on Instagram (right) corresponds to the lake in Google Earth (left). ✅

We are getting closer. 🎉

Remember, we want to find the point of view (POV), not the location of the lake or the glacier.

Where was this guy standing? 11/...

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 Over to a tool called Peak Visor (@PeakVisor_app): peakvisor.com

This is much more accurate than Google Earth when it comes to mountains.

We put the location 🟥at the same side of the lake. And now we have to compare the ⛰️🗻⛰️! 12/...

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 @PeakVisor_app You can import a photo in Peak Visor (the screenshot with the lake) 🟥, so you can make an overlay with the mountains in the tool.

You can adjust by using some arrows 🟩, until you have a good match with the skyline of the picture. 13/...

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 @PeakVisor_app This is the closest I got: 41.948877356825875 77.83925934703564 👇

To quote Millis' tutorial: "it takes a lot of patience to play with the points to the nearest location" and "this is a long process and sometimes can be [...] exhausting, but one picture is worth millions!" 14/.

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 @PeakVisor_app Now we can simply turn around and also match the mountains from the avalanche. 🤯1

#Geolocation? 🏁15/...

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 @PeakVisor_app Another quote from Millis: "Sometimes the location will be found within half an hour to an hour and in some cases also lasted 3 months, it's all a matter of practice, training, and thinking outside the box and the element that I think is most important is knowing the area." 16/..

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 @PeakVisor_app Just TRY it yourself. It's really fun and less difficult than I thought it would be. 😃

I'll give you a challenge to start with!

This is a picture I took myself years ago. Also in #Kyrgyzystan. Can you find the spot? Good luck! (I don't have the grid myself. 🫣) 17/...

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 @PeakVisor_app What have we learned? 👩‍🏫

1) To try something new in #OSINT all you need is a good TUTORIAL. Thanks a bunch @Istihbarat1800L 🙏
2) Peak Visor is the best tool around to match up mountains. 🗻⛰️🗻
3) #Geolocation can be done in non urban areas, but it's definetly harder.📍😓 18/.

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 @PeakVisor_app Did you learn something from this #OSINT for #FactChecking?

Follow me (@brechtcastel) and check out my channel on #YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCMBPt… 🙏

Older 🧵🧵underneath this tweet: 19/END

@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 @PeakVisor_app 🎉TUTORIAL FREE TO DOWNLOAD: t.me/cyb3rw4rr10rz/…

If you don't have LinkedIn, you can downlaod the Geolocation Guide by Eyran Millis here: 👇20/...