Chinese Paraglider's 'Accidental' 8,000m Flight Marred by AI Video Doubts and Unauthorised Ascent Claims

BEIJING, China – A sensational claim by a Chinese paraglider, Peng Yujiang, 55, of surviving an accidental ascent to over 8,000 meters (27,800 feet) has come under intense scrutiny, with parts of his viral flight video now believed to be AI-generated and experts challenging the "accidental" nature of his flight. The incident, widely reported by state media, has led to a six-month suspension for Peng and his support team.

The Extraordinary Claim and Viral Footage

Peng Yujiang initially claimed he was testing new equipment at 3,000 meters above sea level in China's Qilian mountains on May 24, 2025, when a powerful updraft, described as a "cloud suck," propelled him an additional 5,000 meters higher into a cloud formation. The footage, captured by a camera mounted on his glider, quickly went viral after being posted on Douyin, China's version of TikTok. It depicted Peng's face and body covered in ice crystals, highlighting the extreme conditions. He recounted the terrifying ordeal to China Media Group, stating, "It was terrifying... Everything was white. I couldn't see any direction. Without the compass, I wouldn't have known which way I was going. I thought I was flying straight, but in reality, I was spinning." He also mentioned narrowly surviving due to thin oxygen and temperatures potentially dropping to -40C at an altitude slightly below Mount Everest's peak.

Doubts Emerge: AI-Generated Content and Inconsistencies

However, the authenticity of the video was swiftly questioned. US broadcaster NBC noted that the logo of an artificial intelligence company had been cropped out of the footage. A review by California-based digital security firm GetReal, consulted by Reuters, concluded that the first five seconds of Peng's video likely contained AI-generated images.

Further inconsistencies were highlighted by GetReal and paragliding enthusiasts: Peng's legs appeared to be dangling without the insulating cocoon shown later in the video, and his helmet inexplicably changed from white to black. Reuters subsequently removed the CCTV package featuring Peng's flight from its online marketplace, Reuters Connect, citing a violation of its partner content policy regarding AI-generated elements.

Unauthorised Flight and Expert Skepticism

Beyond the video's veracity, the nature of Peng's flight itself has been challenged. The Gansu Aeronautical Sports Association reported that Peng had not registered any flight plans, as he claimed he only intended to test secondhand equipment on the ground. This lack of authorization led to his six-month ban from flying. His friend, Gu Zhimin, who posted the composite video to Douyin without permission, also received a six-month grounding. The association stated that any record broken by Peng's flight would not be officially counted due to its unregistered status.

While five expert paragliders interviewed by Reuters conceded that it was physically possible for Peng to have reached the claimed altitude of 8,589 meters (28,179 feet) and survived – noting the current planned flight record of 8,407 meters by French pilot Antoine Girard in 2021, and German paraglider Ewa Wiśnierska's survival of an accidental 9,946m updraft in 2007 – four of them challenged his assertion that the flight was an unavoidable accident.

Experts pointed to several factors undermining Peng's "accidental" claim:

Storm Cloud Formation: Daniel Wainwright, an Australian flight instructor, stated that storm clouds "don't just appear above your head and hoover you into space. They build over a period of time. He shouldn’t have been flying."

Specialized Gear: Brad Harris, president of the Tasmanian Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, noted that the specialized heavy mittens shown in the video were "not things you would normally wear or have ready if you were just ground-handling to test a wing," suggesting Peng might have intended a high-altitude flight to avoid sanctions for entering restricted airspace.

Pilot Control: Godfrey Wenness, a former paragliding distance world record holder, suggested that a veteran paraglider could have managed to reverse the extreme ascent, implying Peng was either "inexperienced or he was trying to (keep climbing)."

Flight Data and Official Stance Despite the doubts surrounding the video and the flight's intent, Wenness believed Peng likely hit the claimed altitude based on flight data he posted and then deleted from XContest, a paragliding website. This data, he noted, is transferred from a GPS in a "tamper-proof" format, leading him to conclude confidence "that the actual flight did occur."

Chinese authorities initially praised Peng's survival, with a sports bureau official quoted by Sixth Tone saying, "A normal person cannot be exposed at 8,000 metres without oxygen [so] this is not something that can be done voluntarily." However, the ongoing investigation and the pending regulation from Beijing requiring all AI-generated content to be labeled as such from September underscore the growing concerns about digital authenticity in media.