Viral video of Santa Claus drone show for Christmas at Dubai’s Burj Khalifa

RATING JUSTIFICATION

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, the iVerify Pakistan team conducted a keyword and reverse image search to find the original source.

Multiple accounts and users across social media platforms shared a video on December 26, 2025, allegedly showing a drone show of Santa Claus at Dubai’s Burj Khalifa for Christmas celebrations. However, no such festivities occurred and the video was created by a virtual effects artist in December 2023.

HOW IT STARTED

On Dec 26, an Emirati user on X shared a video of a drone show of Santa Claus at Burj Khalifa with the following: “This is how Dubai celebrates Christmas.”

The post racked up 34.8 million views and 41,000 likes.

Tech mogul and Billionaire Elon Musk also shared the same video on X, gaining 17.4m views and 181,000 likes.

Influencer Mario Nawfal also shared the same video with the caption “Dubai said, ‘You think your Christmas lights are impressive?’ Of course, Dubai couldn’t just do a normal tree lighting. This is honestly awesome and exhausting at the same time. Most people can’t even get their rooftop lights to work, and Dubai is doing this.”

The video gained 105,000 views.

Russian media outlet RT also shared the same video with a similar context on X. The post gained 9,000 views.

The same video was widely shared by multiple users on X, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here; collectively gaining more than 340,000 views.

The same video was also widely shared on Instagram, as can be seen here, here and here.

Another Emirati account shared the same video with the same context on Facebook. The video gained 614,000 views. Other shares on Facebook can be seen here and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in the matter.

A keyword search conducted to corroborate whether any such drone show event occurred at Burj Khalifa tower for Christmas 2025 yielded no news reports from credible mainstream Emirati, Arab or international news outlets, or any footage that showed the alleged event from multiple views and vantage points.

A reverse image search yielded an Instagram post dated Dec 22, 2023, wherein the same video was shared with the caption: “Christmas is here, drone show in Dubai. This is what 4000 drones look like”.

The same video with a similar claim was found to be shared in December 2023 by multiple accounts on different social media platforms, as can be seen here, here, here and here.

A keyword search to check whether any such event occurred in December 2023 again led to a lack of official reporting or different views and videos of the drone show.

Further investigation led to a January 20, 2024, Instagram post by UAE-based Tunisian virtual effects artist Fawez Zayati, who explained that he was the original creator of the video and his process of making it.

He said that the original video gained 18m views, but he later took it down due to the misinformation that was being spread, with people continuing to believe it.

The VFX artist also responded to Musk in a story on Instagram, saying: “Hey Elon Musk, my dear friend, I created this video two years ago, it’s fake. If you want I can do you next, instead of Santa.”

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a viral video shows a drone show of Santa Claus at Dubai’s Burj Khalifa for Christmas 2025 celebrations is false.

No such festivities occurred and the video was originally made by a UAE-based VFX artist in December 2023.

EVIDENCE AND REFERENCES

Dec 22, 2023, Instagram post:

https://archive.fo/WkTJP

Jan 20, 2024, Instagram post:

https://www.instagram.com/fawezzayati/reel/C2U7uaBSHfg/