Doubts raised over Chinese paraglider’s claim of accidental 8,000-metre flight

Peng Yujiang says updraft took him nearly as high as Mount Everest but parts of flight video appear to be AI-generated

A Chinese paraglider's story of being accidentally propelled more than 8,000 metres high by an updraft has been thrown into doubt after it emerged that parts of a video of the flight appear to have been AI-generated.

Peng Yujiang, who has been banned from the activity for six months, said he began from an elevation of about 3,000 metres in the Qilian mountain range in northern China, where he intended to test some secondhand equipment he bought without making a proper flight, according to an investigative report by the Gansu Provincial Aviation Sports Association.