NBC10 Boston’s Pete “almost as big as me” Bouchard has created quite a splash for another comment that’s landed flat on social media.
Bouchard, after the NASA astronauts who were stuck in space for 9 months finally returned to Earth, said the SpaceX splashdown had “strong hints of AI enhancement.”
The chief meteorologist at NBC10 quickly faced criticism from online followers, and he deleted his post that questioned the dolphins suddenly surfacing.
Then he put out a new Facebook post Tuesday night about the splashdown involving Elon Musk’s company.
“I’m no conspiracy theorist, but that splashdown today had strong hints of AI enhancement in the drone footage,” Bouchard posted. “Lighting looked cinematic. Was it the camera?”
“This doesn’t take anything away from the brave astronauts or remarkable scientists involved in returning a capsule from space,” he added. “It’s a remarkable feat and a heroic moment for our country.”
Bouchard later updated his post for clarification.
“My original post was simply commenting on how visually appealing and perfect the landing looked using the drone,” he wrote. “I was curious about the technology and the camera the crew used to capture the scene.”
His Bluesky post still included a mention about the dolphins.
“I know I won’t feed the conspiracy theorists on this platform, but that splashdown today had strong hints of AI enhancement,” he posted on Bluesky. “And the pod of dolphins that just happened to surface?”
“Totally realistic at reentry, then when they cut to the drone footage at sea level when the parachutes deployed, the lighting looked off,” he added. “Maybe the camera settings?”
Bouchard, who has more than 11,000 followers on Facebook, was slammed online for his post.
” ‘I’m no conspiracy theorist’ but I have a conspiracy theory,” someone posted. “You can’t make this up.”
“Did you see it live? Dolphins were very real!!!” another user wrote. “Go watch it again and all of it. No AI at all.”
Bouchard then admitted that the dolphins “could be real, but there’s no denying the parachutes and capsule have a cinematic look to them. (Compared to the footage at the very beginning of reentry.) Maybe it’s the camera on the drone?”
He reiterated that the splashdown definitely happened, “but it had the air of some enhancement or tinkering of the raw video.”
Fellow meteorologist Ryan Breton wrote that his Facebook post would play better with those on Bluesky.
“Not sure how this became so political,” Bouchard responded.
Astronaut Suni Williams, a Needham native, was one of the astronauts who had been stuck in space for the last nine months.
Back when Bouchard was with WHDH 7News, he went viral over his infamous “almost as big as me” comment.
He was reporting on the snowfall around the region, and the highest snow total for a community was 9 inches.
Bouchard said during that viral broadcast, “The biggest amount that I could find — almost as big as me — about 9 inches.”
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