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Featured era: 2012
Golden Eagle Snatches Kid
“A park, a toddler, and a bird that was never there.”
- Featured era
- 2012
- Peak era
- 2012
- Company
- Normand Archambault, Loïc Mireault and Félix Marquis-Poulin (Centre NAD)
- Category
- Viral Videos
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On Video
The "Golden Eagle Snatches Kid" hoax video
Plays from YouTube when you press play. Views, length and date from YouTube, October 2026.
About This Video
- From:
- MrNuclearCat
- Added:
- December 18, 2012
- Length:
- 1:00
More Videos4 videos
What Was It?
"Golden Eagle Snatches Kid" appeared to show a large bird of prey swooping down in a Montreal park, grabbing a toddler and lifting the child briefly off the ground before letting go. It was uploaded to YouTube on the evening of December 18, 2012, and quickly went viral.
The clip was a hoax. Three animation and digital design students at Montreal's Centre NAD, Normand Archambault, Loïc Mireault and Félix Marquis-Poulin, made it as a class project, adding the bird with computer animation.
Sharp-eyed viewers on Reddit and Twitter had already spotted problems, such as a wing that vanished for a frame and a shadow that arrived late, and bird experts doubted the species. The school confirmed the hoax the next day, assuring Montrealers there was no danger of being snatched by a royal eagle.
Things You Probably Forgot
- Frame-by-frame debates on Reddit
- The wing that vanished for a single frame
- The same students' earlier escaped-penguin video
- Bird experts arguing over the species
The Story
- 2012 The video was uploaded to YouTube on the evening of December 18.
- 2012 On December 19, Centre NAD confirmed it was a student animation project.
Its Legacy
The video is still on YouTube. It is remembered as a lesson in how convincing a few seconds of student animation can be, and in checking before sharing.
Memories
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