Fact Check: Viral video of 'fitness freak ghost' swinging on gym equipment was a prank

A rather otherworldy seeming video from a park in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, left the netizens baffled. The clip, which has now gone viral, shows gym equipment swinging on its own with police officials standing beside it and recording the so-called paranormal activity.

Ever since the video made it to social media platforms, all sorts of claims were made by those sharing it. Unable to find a logical explanation behind the automatic movement of the shoulder press machine, the Internet instantly attributed it to a "fitness freak ghost".

Soon, there were alterations in the site of the incident as well with a WhatsApp forward claiming that it happened in the Japanese Park located in Rohini, New Delhi.

The truth behind 'ghost exercising'

Even though the year 2020 has presented before us all kinds of unimaginable situations, an unearthly phenomenon like this seemed a little far off from reality.

As the video garnered more and more views and people jumped to conclusions, the authorities swung into action to solve the mystery. After conducting a thorough investigation, the Jhansi Police took to Twitter to clarify that it was not a paranormal activity but a prank.

They revealed that someone had put excessive grease on the equipment, which made it swing on its own for a few seconds.

The swing was over greased and so it kept moving on its own. Some miscreants made a video of it and then put it all over social media. Currently, we are looking for the culprit and would also like to clarify that there is no ghost. It's all a rumour," a tweet by the Jhansi Police read.

Further, Additional Superintendent of Police Rahul Srivastav also confirmed via micro-blogging website that the unnatural movement of gym equipment was nothing more than mischief and that the wrongdoer will soon be put behind the bars.

"Jhansi Police got a tip-off about an open gym being used by ghosts! Team laid siege and soon found the real ghosts - Some mischievous person made a video of moving swing and shared on social media. Miscreants will b hosted in a 'haunted' lockup soon," said Srivastav.