That time my uncle's old VHS tape had a before-and-after that fooled me for a decade

I was digging through some old boxes in my dad's garage last Saturday and found a VHS tape labeled 'Family Reunion 1998.' I popped it in an old player I still keep around and watched a clip of my uncle Bill doing this ridiculous magic trick where he made a coin disappear. The tape cut out for a second, then came back with him holding the coin again. For years I thought he was some kind of amateur magician. But last week I watched it again and noticed something weird. The lighting in the room changed between cuts, like someone had moved a lamp. The shadows on the wall were totally different. That's when I realized it wasn't real magic, it was just a badly edited video where he probably dropped the coin and picked it up off camera. The before-and-after difference was just a 3 second splice. Has anyone else ever found a fake video in their family's old home movies that they thought was real for years?

3 comments

3 Comments

emma_wells832d ago

23 seconds is way too specific for something that old.

young.thomas2d ago

That whole thing about the lighting change blowing the cover is wild dude, I watched it twice and still didn't catch that. @jessem59 you're totally right that we just trusted our relatives back then because VHS was so grainy you couldn't spot the clues. Makes me wonder if my dad's fishing stories on tape are actually real or just more sneaky edits lol.

jessem592d ago

That lighting change is the kind of detail most people would miss for years. I bet your uncle didn't even realize he left that clue in the tape. It makes me wonder how many other old family videos have hidden mistakes like that, stuff we just accepted because VHS quality was so bad and we trusted our relatives.