Brecht Castel Profile picture
Jul 21 β€’ 20 tweets β€’ 23 min read
πŸ”οΈProbably you have seen this breathtaking video of an avalanche. 😲 Everyone survived.

Where was it shot? πŸ“

Let’s do some #GeoLocation 🌍! πŸ§΅πŸ‘‡ 1/…

#OSINT πŸ”Ž
#Verification πŸŽ₯
#HowToOSINT 🧐

There are NO street signs, logos, number plates, trees or any other visual indications 🫀... except πŸ”οΈπŸ”οΈ.

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 πŸ‘‡: knack.be/factcheck/fact… 2/…
πŸ₯³Luckily 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 πŸ“„ 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" πŸŸͺ. 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. πŸ‘€

Finding this lake would be easier than finding some very similar mountains in the avalanche video. πŸ€”5/...
@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 Over to Twitter.

Maybe someone has already geolocated this footage? πŸ™

Well, I found a very interesting analysis by @EtienneBerthie2 of this avalanche with a quick search. πŸ”Ž
@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 πŸ›°οΈ images were used.

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

labo.obs-mip.fr/multitemp/kyrg…
@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 Seems like a very good source! πŸ‘†

Unfortunately these coordinates are not mentioned in the article. 😒

BUT I found a way around. πŸ‘‡8/...
@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 The analysis includes a link to a map πŸ—ΊοΈ 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) πŸŸ₯ in the URL. 9/...
@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 We enter these coordinates in the search bar of Google Earth Pro. πŸŸ₯

It does indeed show a glacier. πŸŸͺ

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). βœ…

We are getting closer. πŸŽ‰

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 πŸŸ₯at the same side of the lake. And now we have to compare the β›°οΈπŸ—»β›°οΈ! 12/...
@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 @PeakVisor_app You can import a photo in Peak Visor (the screenshot with the lake) πŸŸ₯, 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 πŸ‘‡

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. πŸ˜ƒ

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? πŸ‘©β€πŸ«

1) To try something new in #OSINT all you need is a good TUTORIAL. Thanks a bunch @Istihbarat1800L πŸ™
2) Peak Visor is the best tool around to match up mountains. πŸ—»β›°οΈπŸ—»
3) #Geolocation can be done in non urban areas, but it's definetly harder.πŸ“πŸ˜“ 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… πŸ™

Older 🧡🧡underneath this tweet: 19/END
@Istihbarat1800L @Sector035 @EtienneBerthie2 @PeakVisor_app πŸŽ‰TUTORIAL FREE TO DOWNLOAD: t.me/cyb3rw4rr10rz/…

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

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More from @brechtcastel

Jul 18
216K views for a video of "Vatican Burning". πŸ‡»πŸ‡¦πŸ”₯

Fact or fiction? Investigate! πŸ‘‡πŸ§΅ 1/...

#OSINT πŸ”Ž
#Verification πŸŽ₯
#GeoLocation 🌍
#HowToOSINT 🧐
We can start with Reverse Image Search, but a very simple Google search for news about "Rome" and a "fire" might be a kick start too. 2/...
This brings us to an article by πŸ‡§πŸ‡ͺ newspaper @destandaard with the title "Rome burns for the fourth time in a month: coincidence or malice?".

That article also included a tweet with the same video. However, there is NO mention of the Vatican City. 3/..

standaard.be/cnt/dmf2022071…
Read 13 tweets
Jul 12
Footage of violence spreads like wildfire.πŸ”₯πŸ”ž

Often it’s used to blame a group of people: Ukrainian refugees in this case.

How to investigate such videos? I have 4⃣ easy steps for you. πŸ§΅πŸ‘‡ 1/...

#OSINT πŸ”Ž
#Verification πŸŽ₯
#GeoLocation 🌍
#HowToOSINT 🧐
We see a brawl in broad daylight on a public road. There are heavy blows, and when two cars with perpetrators drive off, someone is left lying on the ground, apparently unconscious.

It would be 'Ukrainians' in 'Austria'. 2/...
πŸ”Ž1⃣ Find location

In the video, we see a flag of the United Kingdom πŸ‡¬πŸ‡§, but the images are usually located in the Austrian capital Vienna πŸ‡¦πŸ‡Ή.

We also see a statue of a horse on top of a building πŸŸ₯. 3/...
Read 29 tweets
Jul 1
This photo collage got 22K likes on #Instagram: it shows a swimming pool 🏊 in #Kharkiv πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ before and after Russian shelling πŸ‡·πŸ‡Ί.

"Is this supposed to be the same place before and after?" πŸ€”

Let's find oud! πŸ§΅πŸ‘‡ 1/...

#OSINT πŸ”Ž
#Verification πŸ“Έ
#GeoLocation 🌍
#HowToOSINT 🧐
We upload the image in Yandex. That search engine suggests that we are indeed seeing a swimming pool in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv πŸŸ₯.

Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine, close to the Russian border and has been under attack since the beginning of the war. 2/...
On a Ukrainian website with info about swimming pools in Kharkiv, we found the same photo. βœ…

We also find an address: Alchevskyh Street 50 A. We search for that address on Google Maps and indeed we end up at the sports complex of the Polytechnic Institute. πŸ—ΊοΈ 3/...
Read 18 tweets
Jun 29
1/ Zin in een #podcast? πŸ”Š

In dit 🧡een overzicht van de journalistieke audio die ik maak. πŸ‘‡ Veel luisterplezier! 🎧 Image
2/ Met @lorevonck van @WerkgroepVerder ging ik op stap om te luisteren hoe nabestaanden omgaan met #zelfdoding. Dankzij @destandaard.

[Op zoek naar hulp? zelfmoord1813.be]

πŸ”Škerekewere-ds.github.io/assets/ds_19.0… Image
@lorevonck @WerkgroepVerder @destandaard 3/ Ook zelf ben ik nabestaande. Over mijn vader maakte ik de podcastreeks #Kerekewere met dank aan @destandaard en @pascaldecroos.

In afl. 1 hoor je Yvo, een computervriend van mijn vader.

[Op zoek naar hulp? zelfmoord1813.be]

πŸ”Š omny.fm/shows/kerekewe… Image
Read 8 tweets
Jun 20
11.8 M people have seen this video on #TikTok. 😲

A quiet scene at a beach πŸ–οΈ with a huge explosion in the background. πŸ”₯

What do we see? Investigate! πŸ§΅πŸ‘‡ 1/...

#OSINTπŸ”Ž
#Verification πŸ“½οΈ
#GeoLocation 🌍
#HowToOSINT 🧐
πŸ”ŠThe woman filming curses while a man seems to say "he almost choked".

The caption of the video is Π΄ΠΎΠ±Ρ€ΠΎ ΠΏΠΎΠΆΠ°Π»ΠΎΠ²Π°Ρ‚ΡŒ Π² БСрдянск, meaning "Welcome to Berdyansk".

Berdyansk is a port city in Ukraine. πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦

You can watch the video here: tiktok.com/@thdsml/video/…

2/...
The video raises speculation.

According to some YouTube users, the explosion is the work of Ukrainian resistance fighters. πŸͺ–

A Facebook post suggests that the video shows a "Russian military cargo ship being hit by Ukrainians". 🚒

What's true? πŸ€” 3/...
Read 24 tweets
Jun 16
We all have seen Ukrainian tractors πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ dragging Russian tanks πŸ‡·πŸ‡Ί.

Where do they go? πŸ€”

We traced the β€œV5” in this #TikTok. It reveals France πŸ‡«πŸ‡· breaking the arms embargo against Russia.

Investigate! πŸ§΅πŸ‘‡ 1/…

#OSINTπŸ”Ž
#Verification πŸ“½οΈ
#GeoLocation 🌍
#HowToOSINT 🧐 Image
The TikTok video with this BMD-4, a landing combat vehicle, was shot west of Kyiv.

@sammy7000 from @GeoConfirmed found the location with Google Streetview. πŸ“βœ…

How? πŸ“ΊπŸ‘‡2/…
@sammy7000 @GeoConfirmed The tractor with the β€œV5” drove away from the besieged towns of #Irpin and #Bucha in a southerly direction.

Russian vehicles with a β€œV” entered Ukraine from Belarus and fought around Irpin and Bucha.

You can check on this map from @Cen4infoRes . 3/…

maphub.net/Cen4infoRes/ru…
Read 20 tweets

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