Short verdict: The viral video showing a person on the Chicxulub rim is an AI-generated simulation, not real footage. The poster admitted the clip was simulated but incorrectly suggested the impact occurred on dry land. Scientific evidence indicates the asteroid struck the Yucatán through shallow seawater about 66 million years ago, producing massive tsunamis and contributing to a mass extinction. Geological features today — including sinkholes called cenotes — and numerical models support the submerged-impact scenario.
Fact Check: Viral Clip of a Man on the Chicxulub Rim Is an AI Simulation, Not Real Footage
Short verdict: The viral video showing a person on the Chicxulub rim is an AI-generated simulation, not real footage. The poster admitted the clip was simulated but incorrectly suggested the impact occurred on dry land. Scientific evidence indicates the asteroid struck the Yucatán through shallow seawater about 66 million years ago, producing massive tsunamis and contributing to a mass extinction. Geological features today — including sinkholes called cenotes — and numerical models support the submerged-impact scenario.
03:46 PM, 11/19/2025Science
A video circulating online that appears to show a person standing on the rim of the Chicxulub crater is not authentic footage of the impact site — it is an AI-generated simulation. The account that posted the clip acknowledged in the comments that the scene was simulated, but also suggested the region was dry at the time of impact; that detail contradicts the scientific record.
What the post showed
The clip, shared on social media, was presented as a depiction of the Chicxulub crater soon after the asteroid impact about 66 million years ago. The poster later replied in comments:
This is an AI simulation of what it may have looked like 66 million years ago. And at the time he speculated, there was no water in the region.
What scientists say
Scientific evidence accumulated since the crater’s discovery in 1990 indicates the asteroid struck the Yucatán Platform through shallow seawater. The impact — from an object roughly 10 kilometres (about six miles) across — released energy equivalent to billions of nuclear bombs, ignited widespread fires, hurled dust and aerosols into the atmosphere, and helped trigger a global chain of environmental effects that contributed to the extinction of roughly three-quarters of Earth’s species, including non-avian dinosaurs.
Because the object struck through shallow water, models show it generated massive tsunamis. Numerical simulations from agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) illustrate how waves radiated from the impact and how ancient coastlines would have been affected.
Geological evidence at the site today
Today the Chicxulub structure is partly submerged and partly overlain by tropical forest. The crater rim influences regional groundwater flow; diverted water has dissolved limestone in places and produced numerous sinkholes known locally as cenotes. These geological signatures, along with geophysical surveys and drill cores, support the submerged-impact scenario.
Bottom line
The viral clip is an AI-generated visualization, not real footage of the Chicxulub crater. While the simulation may be visually compelling, the poster’s claim that the impact occurred on dry land is inconsistent with peer-reviewed research and modeling that indicate the asteroid struck through shallow seawater and generated large tsunamis. When evaluating dramatic historical reconstructions online, check for source attribution and whether the author identifies the material as a simulation.
Sources and further reading: scientific literature on the Chicxulub impact; NOAA tsunami simulations; geological studies of cenotes and regional groundwater flow.