Fact Check

Is This a Real Video of a Man Riding a Hoverboard in Traffic?

A drone-powered hoverboard? Gliding through city traffic?

by Alex Kasprak, Published May 3, 2021 Updated July 2, 2024


A video shows a man riding a drone-powered hoverboard through traffic.

Image courtesy of Screencapture / Twitter


Claim:
A video shows a man riding a drone-powered hoverboard through city traffic.
Rating:
True

About this rating


In April 2021, video of what appeared to be a man riding a hoverboard at night on a street alongside other cars went viral on FacebookTwitter and YouTube:

This video was genuine and showed a prototype for a hoverboard named the SkySurfer Aircraft. A previous version of this fact check speculated that it showed an Omni Hoverboard, a product responsible for earlier hoverboard demonstrations that have gone viral.

In a statement to Snopes, SkySurfer Aircraft founder and CEO Hunter Kowald claimed they were "the first and only to market" this sort of device, and that "the product is currently available for sale."

Because the video showed a prototype for a real product and was not the result of special effects, claims describing the video as authentic are True. 


By Alex Kasprak

Alex Kasprak is an investigative journalist and science writer reporting on scientific misinformation, online fraud, and financial crime.


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