A UK documentary examining possible connections between Muammar Gaddafi and the IRA apparently confused video game play with actual IRA footage of a helicopter being shot down.
In the documentary Exposure — Gaddafi and the IRA, aired Monday night in the UK, a voice can be heard saying, “With Gaddafi’s heavy machine guns it was possible to shoot down a helicopter as the terrorists own footage of 1988 shows.”
On the screen viewers witness shaky footage of what appears to be a heavy machine gun mounted into the bed of a camouflage-painted pick-up truck. The words IRA film 1988 are displayed over the video. In the footage, viewers see a group of men in balaclavas standing around the vehicles as it fires at a distant helicopter.
“This was what the security forces feared most,” the voice continues. “It may have been a lucky hit, but for the Army and crew once was enough. No one died in this attack…”
That’s probably because the footage actually came from ARMA 2, a tactical shooter released for the computer by developers Bohemia Interactive Studios in 2009.
The mix-up was caught by a number of viewers, and ARMA 2 gameplayers, who pointed out the issue on the developer’s website this morning. While the page for the player that lets you watch the Monday night show is still active, the video no longer plays.
We’ve contacted both ITV and Bohemia for comment and will update this story when he hear back.
ITV fakes terrorist footage using ARMA II [Bohemia Interactive Forums, via PC Gamer]
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