Old video of opening ceremony of the Gotthard base rail tunnel in Switzerland shared as CERN event

The video shows the ceremony for the opening of the Gotthard base rail tunnel in Switzerland. It dates back to 2016.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world and is located near Geneva, Switzerland. It came into the attention of media after the discovery of the God particle by researchers at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) the most powerful particle accelerator in the world.  The European Commission’s annual flagship research and innovation event brings together policymakers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and the public to debate and shape the future of research and innovation in Europe and beyond. The fifth edition of the event took place on 20 and 21 March 2024 in Brussels.

Against this backdrop, a video, claiming to show the opening ceremony of the CERN, where the participants are performing what appears to be a kind of dance is going viral on social media. The users shared the video with a claim like this, “The CERN opening ceremony was so demonic. Why would they perform a “bride of Baphomet” séance while opening a scientific lab machine that tries to recreate the “God particle”? I’m sure these people have humanity’s best interest in mind as they plan to relaunch on Monday”.

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Fact Check

We began our investigation using reverse image search with the key frames of the video and the results led us to a YouTube video uploaded by Daily mail on 14 March, 2018. The caption states “Abstract performance to celebrate Switzerland’s rail opening”. The viral excerpt can be seen from the 01:25 mark. 

The description states, “The Swiss have put on one of the most bizarre opening ceremonies in history to mark the completion of the world’s longest tunnel at a fairground in Erstfeld, in the north of the country. Famed for their trains, organisers roped in more than 600 dancers, acrobats and dramatic actors and even composed the new route’s very own theme tune as they pulled out all the stops for inauguration”.

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Upon further search, we found several news reports of this event from June 2016, including the Guardian, and the BBC. As per reports, it is the world’s longest rail tunnel running for 35 miles (57km) and the first low-level flat route through the Alps. The opening ceremony represented different aspects of Swiss culture.

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Conclusion

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be False. The viral video shows the ceremony for the opening of the Gotthard base rail tunnel in Switzerland. It dates back to 2016. It has no link to CERN.