On March 31, 2015, at around 1 PM eastern time (9 PM in Germany), German news outlet Bild posted an article claiming they had received a cell phone video of the final moments of the Germanwings flight, which was crashed by the co-pilot in the French Alps.  Bild writes (in their English translation):

Paris – A video emerged from on-board Germanwings flight 4U9525. German newspaper BILD and French magazine „Paris Match“ were able to view it.

– Video shows last seconds of death flight 4U9525, BILD

Paris Match, the French magazine which also claimed to see the video, describes it (from their English translation):

Its origin – a cell phone – was clear.  The scene was so chaotic that it was hard to identify people, but the sounds of the screaming passengers made it perfectly clear that they were aware of what was about to happen to them.  One can hear cries of “My God” in several languages.  Metallic banging can also be heard more than three times, perhaps of the pilot trying to open the cockpit door with a heavy object.  Towards the end, after a heavy shake, stronger than the others, the screaming intensifies.  Then nothing.

– EXCLUSIVE: THE FINAL MOMENTS BEFORE THE CRASH, Paris Match

Neither organization posted the video, but rather descriptions of what the video showed.

When @cnnbrk posted the story, it was retweeted over 500 times, and the conversation began to pick up steam on Twitter.  However, not all Twitter users were convinced, even before reports began to spread that French officials were denying the existence of this video.  Continue reading to learn about how TwitterTrails allows users to trace the increasing doubt about the Germanwings cell phone video.

Continue reading Twitter’s increasing doubts about the Germanwings cell phone video →