Wild claims that an alien-like species has emerged from a tiny meteorite have taken the internet by storm.
A man named Kin, located in Panama, flooded social media with footage he claimed showed the rock sprouting a small organism that quickly grew into a giant, oily mass of moving tentacles.
The silver-colored lump, which some have said looks like a painted potato, was quickly covered over with black limbs that seemed to react to light.
While countless people on social media said they still believe his story was legitimate, UFO researcher and filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee told the Daily Mail he is confident it is an easy-to-build, Hollywood-style fake.
‘My first impression was that it is a B-movie kind of thing, using special effects,’ Lee said after studying the TikTok videos.
Lee also revealed how he believes Kin was able to make it seem like the supposed alien tentacles were moving and pulsing, saying that they are likely a clever prop made of Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a silicone polymer.
As for the ‘meteorite’ itself, a trick of the camera and a high-quality editing app may be responsible for making it look like the rock could burn through tree leaves but not harm human skin.
‘In short: no alien, just silicone and solvent doing their thing,’ Lee said.
A series of TikTok videos which have each been viewed millions of times appeared to show an unknown organism growing around a meteorite. A screengrab from the video pictured above
The mass of tentacles was allegedly growing out of control, but UFO researcher and filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee believes the whole thing is a well-crafted hoax. A screengrab from the video pictured above
Lee also noted he recently spoke to someone claiming to be Kin’s friend, who believed the growing social media star may not have been prepared for all the attention he received.
‘His friend told me he was scared and needed help. What I suspect is that the hoax has got out of hand.’
As for how the tentacles seen in Kin’s videos have been moving, Lee detailed how the ‘wiggling’ effect is likely created by using hexane, a common solvent.
The filmmaker noted that PDMS soaks up all the hexane, causing it to swell. As the hexane evaporates, however, parts of the material shrink back at different times, creating a snapping movement in the polymer shapes.
According to Lee, this is how someone could make it look as if a mass of tentacles were breathing or crawling around a table on their own.
Since Kin first posted about finding a meteorite in the Pedregal district of Panama on August 29, he has recorded 39 videos about the alleged alien, and his social media following has grown to more than 231,000 people.
Several of his updates have received as many as 10.9million views. Before posting about the meteorite, the majority of Kin’s posts received between 1,000 and 100,000 views.
‘Who else just opened TikTok and immediately searched him for another update,’ one of his followers said in the comments of Kin’s latest video.
Lee said the tentacles seen in the TikTok videos (pictured) were likely a combination of Polydimethylsiloxane and hexane, a silicone polymer and a solvent
Since late August, Kin has documented how the strange substance quickly outgrew its container, claiming the organism was growing out of control when exposed to light.
Kin told his online followers how he was forced to move the mass to a locked safe and keep all the lights off in the room.
But Lee said there is one key that makes him believe the entire Panama meteorite alien is fake: As far as he knows, no one from the government has come to assess the potential biological threat of a so-called organism from space.
‘I think if it was real, somehow the CIA or [its] equivalent would have been there in a flash and quarantined the whole apartment block,’ the UFO researcher said.
To this point, there has been no independent confirmation that the object Kin said he recovered from a fiery crater is a meteorite, nor any verification from scientists regarding the makeup of the substance growing around it.
In a new video posted late Monday night, Kin again showed off the alleged organism but said he did not wish to give an interview to journalists as requests for comment have grown.
Many of Kin’s supporters online have claimed that the Panama resident shouldn’t speak to anyone out of fear for his safety and unconfirmed claims of a government cover-up.
However, others have said in Kin’s TikTok comments that his refusal to speak to the media is more evidence that the videos would be debunked after an investigation by reporters.
Kin did not respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
The meteorite, allegedly recovered in Panama, appeared to burn tree leaves (pictured) but was then bare-handedly picked up by a man named Kin
Skeptics have also pointed out that an image of the supposed crater where Kin pulled the meteorite from appeared to have several matchsticks in it, suggesting the hole had been intentionally set on fire.
Others noted that Kin was able to pick up the meteorite with his bare hands without any issues, despite the object appearing to burn through multiple tree leaves.
‘There’s a clear jump cut before he handles the rock bare-handed. Note the object singes a leaf on contact in one segment, but he touches it unscathed in the next without explanation or protective gear,’ Lee explained.
The filmmaker added that, if this is truly a hoax, Kin most likely used the CapCut app, which is owned by TikTok, along with silicon props and animatronics to create the appearance of movement.
‘I would suspect that this person’s day job is in films of some kind or editing. I think I’d like to make a film with this chap fiction, of course.’
