Stand up for the facts!
Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.
I would like to contribute
No, missing ‘Santiago Flight 513’ didn’t land after 35 years with skeletons on board
If Your Time is short
-
This account was first published in 1989 by Weekly World News, a tabloid known for publishing fiction as if it were fact.
-
We searched using Google, Newspapers.com and the Nexis news archive and found no credible reports or information supporting claims that "Santiago Flight 513" had landed in Brazil after 35 years. We also found no evidence or credible reports that a plane landed carrying 92 skeletons on board.
The story goes like this: Brazil-bound Santiago Airlines Flight 513 departed from West Germany Sept. 4, 1954, and reached its destination 35 years later on Oct. 12, 1989. By that point, though, the plane’s passengers were skeletons.
An image styled to look like a newspaper’s front page recounted this tale on Facebook.
"Did plane missing for 35 years fly through time warp?" read a question along the top of the image shared Nov. 4. Beneath that, a much larger headline font proclaimed: "1950s airliner lands with 92 skeletons on board."
The image showed an article written by "Irwin Fisher," that quoted "paranormal researcher Dr. Ceslo Attelo" as having said that the flight "almost certainly entered a time warp and just flew out."
Along with the image, the Facebook poster wrote, "Santiago Flight 513: The missing plane that landed after 35 years with 92 skeletons on board!"
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)
(Screenshot from Facebook)
If the story of Santiago Flight 513 sounds too outlandish to be believed, that’s probably because the tale is fictional.
Featured Fact-check
A flight’s reappearance after 35 years would be newsworthy — as would a plane arriving at its destination carrying human remains rather than passengers. However, when we searched using Google, Newspapers.com and the Nexis news archive, we found no credible reports or information supporting claims that "Santiago Flight 513" had landed in Brazil in 1989 after 35 years. We also found no evidence or credible reports that a plane landed carrying 92 skeletons on board.
Other details recounted in the image posted on Facebook do not withstand scrutiny. For example, we found no evidence that "Santiago Airlines" ever existed.
This time-warp tale has also been debunked repeatedly.
In 2019, Snopes reported that a tabloid known for pushing fiction, Weekly World News, first published this story. Using a Google Books search, we found that Weekly World News had in November 1989 printed the same newspaper-style image shared to Facebook.
In 2007, The Washington Post reported that Weekly World News "covered events that seemed to occur in a parallel universe, a fevered dream world where pop culture mixed with urban legends, conspiracy theories and hallucinations."
The University of Pennsylvania’s library resource The Online Books Page, an index of books freely available online, described Weekly World News as an "illustrated American publication of weird and curious stories."
"While presented as news, the stories do not necessarily reflect reality," The Online Books Page said.
We rate a Facebook post’s claim that Santiago Flight 513 "landed after 35 years with 92 skeletons on board" Pants on Fire!
PolitiFact Staff Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
Our Sources
Facebook post, Nov. 4, 2024
Google newspaper search, accessed Nov. 8, 2024
Google newspaper search, accessed Nov. 8, 2024
Google Books search, accessed Nov. 8, 2024
Snopes.com, Did Santiago Flight 513 Disappear in 1954 Only to Land in 1989? Dec. 17, 2019
The Washington Post, All the News That Seemed Unfit to Print, Aug. 7, 2007
The Online Books Page, Weekly World News, accessed Nov. 8, 2024
Newschecker, Viral Story Of Time-Travelling Santiago Flight 513 Is A Work Of Fiction, Nov. 15, 2023
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
More by Madison Czopek
No, missing ‘Santiago Flight 513’ didn’t land after 35 years with skeletons on board
Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!
In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.