After a video of Chinese paraglider Peng Yujiang went viral online, many viewers were amazed by his claim that a sudden updraft carried him nearly five miles into the sky. However, evidence suggests some parts of the footage were generated by artificial intelligence (AI)– raising doubts about how true his story really is.

What Peng Claimed Happened

Peng Yujiang, a paraglider from China’s Gansu province, said he launched from about 3,000 meters in the Qilian Mountains on May 27, 2025. He told reporters that a powerful “thermal updraft” (a column of rising air) suddenly lifted him up to 8,000 meters—almost as high as Mount Everest’s summit (8,848 meters). 

According to Peng, he experienced intense cold and near-zero oxygen. At 8,000 meters, temperatures can drop below –40 °C and there is very little oxygen. Peng said he nearly froze and felt short of breath, but at the time he could still speak briefly by radio. When he regained his senses, he managed to steer his wing back down and landed safely. He suffered frostbite on his hands and face. 

A video shared by Peng’s friend (Gu Zhimin) showed a hooded figure in a white paragliding suit, covered in frost, as the wing gilded near a snowy mountain ridge. The footage quickly spread on WeChat, Weibo, and TikTok, also got millions of views.

Why Experts Doubt about the Video

After the video went viral, AI specialists and some paragliding pilots pointed out that suggested parts of the footage were digitally created. In some frames, the wing’s shadow did not match with the sun’s direction. For example, when Peng’s wing twisted, its colored panels cast no shadow on the snow, even though the pilot was clearly under bright sunshine. 

1. Signs of AI-Generated Footage

 The  Red, green, and yellow stripes appeared to shift color suddenly in a few seconds—something unlikely to happen with real fabric in natural light. In a correct launch, the front of the wing faces into the wind. The experienced paragliders noted that the wing looked “backwards” during takeoff. In this video, the wing’s appeared reversed—indicating the video was altered or incorrectly generated. 

Also,the snowy peaks and clouds behind Peng looked artificially smooth and lacked fine details, which often happens when the footage can be generated by AI.Because of these red flags, some AI analysts ran parts of the video through image-detection tools and concluded that certain frames were likely synthesized by generative AI software.

2. Questions About Altitude and Survival

Flying from 3,000 meters to 8,000 meters is a 5,000 meter vertical climb—far beyond what a typical paraglider can achieve just on thermals(A“thermal” is a column of warm air that rises from the ground). For a paraglider to rise 5,000 meters in one updraft, is usually too dangerous to ride— as they are accompanied by hail, lightning, and extreme turbulence.

 Although, at 8,000 meters, the air pressure is only about a third of sea level, and oxygen levels are extremely low. Even with an oxygen tank, surviving more than a few minutes risks severe hypoxia (lack of oxygen). Peng did not mention any supplemental oxygen which was also required for mountain climbers for survival.

Because of the improbabilities, paragliding experts said that the footage might show someone slowed or composited into high-altitude stock images.

Official Response and Investigation

Peng had not filed a flight plan or obtained permission to fly in that airspace above 3,000 meters— so he violated local air safety regulations.  For misleading the public, Officials said they found convincing evidence that parts of the viral video were AI-generated.

 For that reason they were ordered to remove the footage from social media on May 29. Also the Gansu Provincial Paragliding Association announced Peng Yujiang and Gu Zhimin were both suspended from all paragliding activities for six months on May 30, 2025.

The association clarified that even if Peng did ascend to a record height, it would not count as an official record because it was not verified by flight tracking devices or an accredited paragliding judge.

Peng publicly accepted the ban but insisted “My life was truly in danger that day.” He claimed that he only used AI to enhance the video for publicity after landing safely.