Fact check: No, Dubai did not have a giant Santa drone show near Burj Khalifa for Christmas
Dubai, a multicultural city, is known for its larger-than-life celebrations including massive fireworks shows and impressive drone shows that leave spectators in awe. So, it comes as no surprise when a video of thousands of drones creating a giant Santa Claus next to Burj Khalifa appears on social media, captioned, "Here's how Dubai celebrates Christmas." With over 36 million views now, the clip has also been shared by Elon Musk, the owner of the social media platform X. Social media users quickly jumped in to talk about how inclusive and tolerant the city is, reminding others how a "peaceful coexistence" and "mutual respect across cultures and religions is possible". It, however, is fake. What is the video?The short 3-second clip has been widely shared across platforms and shows the figure of Santa Claus created with drones, moving its hands up and down. What leaves most viewers stumped, however, is how real the video looks. The clip seems to have been shot from under the Burj Khalifa, near the Souk Al Bahar area next to the Dubai Mall. The angle looks like it has been filmed using a phone — like many tourists in the area often do. People can be seen walking normally, adding a layer of 'authenticity' to the clip. Watch the clip, below:❤️ https://t.co/uZ9jiEfXhr— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 26, 2025 It's fake, here's how we knowAs impressive as it may seem, the clip was not real and has been created using VFX in 2023. The video has been created by a UAE-based VFX artist, Fawez Zayati. In a story on Instagram, the artist said, "Hey Elon Musk, my dear friend, I created this video 2 years ago, its fake."He cheekily added, "If you want I can do you next, instead of Santa." Want to know how he did it? Watch below: View this post on Instagram The video first started circulating in 2023, garnering over 18 million views on the artist's page. However, it came with a lot of backlash, he said in another video detailing how he created the 'Santa Claus drone show'. Despite clearly mentioning in the caption that the video was created with VFX and noting in his bio that he is a VFX artist, the video received a fair amount of negative engagement for causing confusion. Zayati then decided to take down the VFX video to avoid more confusion, with a word of advice. "Take a moment, before you share."Age of misinformationWith technology making rapid progress, it has now become far easier to create misleading videos and share them with a large number of people. Recently, Meta and X, among other massive tech giants dismantled their fact-checking teams. Instead moving to rely on AI to fact-check and inform social media users of the nature of content they are consuming. X has relied heavily on Community Notes, a reader-based fact-checking platform which helps identify misleading posts, putting the onus of flagging the posts on the reader themselves. However, there is concern for a lack of credibility in the 'notes' left by readers. Experts have earlier said that this shift could "significantly undermine public confidence" and make it difficult "for users to discern truth from fiction". In this regard, Musk's heart comment has acted as a stamp of approval on the video, causing users to believe the video is real, given that the city is known to be tolerant. UAE: Meet the man who grows beard to be ‘natural’ Santa by ChristmasChristmas in Dubai: 10 winter wonderlands where you can meet Santa in 2025
Dubai, a multicultural city, is known for its larger-than-life celebrations including massive fireworks shows and impressive drone shows that leave spectators in awe.
So, it comes as no surprise when a video of thousands of drones creating a giant Santa Claus next to Burj Khalifa appears on social media, captioned, "Here's how Dubai celebrates Christmas." With over 36 million views now, the clip has also been shared by Elon Musk, the owner of the social media platform X.
Social media users quickly jumped in to talk about how inclusive and tolerant the city is, reminding others how a "peaceful coexistence" and "mutual respect across cultures and religions is possible".
It, however, is fake.
What is the video?
The short 3-second clip has been widely shared across platforms and shows the figure of Santa Claus created with drones, moving its hands up and down.
What leaves most viewers stumped, however, is how real the video looks.
The clip seems to have been shot from under the Burj Khalifa, near the Souk Al Bahar area next to the Dubai Mall. The angle looks like it has been filmed using a phone — like many tourists in the area often do. People can be seen walking normally, adding a layer of 'authenticity' to the clip. Watch the clip, below: ❤️ https://t.co/uZ9jiEfXhr— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 26, 2025
It's fake, here's how we know
As impressive as it may seem, the clip was not real and has been created using VFX in 2023.
The video has been created by a UAE-based VFX artist, Fawez Zayati. In a story on Instagram, the artist said, "Hey Elon Musk, my dear friend, I created this video 2 years ago, its fake."
He cheekily added, "If you want I can do you next, instead of Santa."
Want to know how he did it? Watch below:
The video first started circulating in 2023, garnering over 18 million views on the artist's page.
However, it came with a lot of backlash, he said in another video detailing how he created the 'Santa Claus drone show'. Despite clearly mentioning in the caption that the video was created with VFX and noting in his bio that he is a VFX artist, the video received a fair amount of negative engagement for causing confusion.
Zayati then decided to take down the VFX video to avoid more confusion, with a word of advice.
"Take a moment, before you share."
Age of misinformation
With technology making rapid progress, it has now become far easier to create misleading videos and share them with a large number of people.
Recently, Meta and X, among other massive tech giants dismantled their fact-checking teams. Instead moving to rely on AI to fact-check and inform social media users of the nature of content they are consuming.
X has relied heavily on Community Notes, a reader-based fact-checking platform which helps identify misleading posts, putting the onus of flagging the posts on the reader themselves.
However, there is concern for a lack of credibility in the 'notes' left by readers. Experts have earlier said that this shift could "significantly undermine public confidence" and make it difficult "for users to discern truth from fiction".
In this regard, Musk's heart comment has acted as a stamp of approval on the video, causing users to believe the video is real, given that the city is known to be tolerant.
What's Your Reaction?
