The TikTok account named "bejevete" published a video on January 18th with content in Albanian, claiming that an old soda machine, located in Seattle, USA, was a gateway to the past.
After verification of the facts conducted by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that this car was located in this city, but that it was not known who left it or who filled it with drinks.
Also, in this video material, it is claimed that there was another element that, as it is written, made this machine even more mysterious, which was the fact that the carbonated drinks that citizens received had old carbonated drink packaging or logos, which had been transformed into a tourist attraction.
However, this conspiratorial claim made through this video is not found in any other media article reporting on the features of this car.
Link to the video material published on TikTok by the "bejevete" account:
In this video, a conspiracy theory has been raised regarding the existence and functioning of this vending machine. This theory is related to the mysticism surrounding the machine's ability to return people to the past. However, this claim is not proven through the footage presented in the video.
The publisher of this video, after research by hibrid.info, has been found to have fabricated a story, using images of this car. In fact, the story of this car appears to be completely different.
After researching online search engines, hibrid.info managed to find an article published in August 2015 that explains the original story about this old soda machine, published by the online medium "Seattletimes.com". (see here)
In the content of this article, there is a link that sends to Twitter, where a photo is seen published in 2014 by the account named "saeofdoom". In this image, two people are seen filling this car with drinks, or servicing it (here), thus removing doubts regarding the question of "who is filling it".
It should be noted that in June 2018 this drinks machine was removed. (see here)
In addition to TikTok, the aforementioned account has also shared this video on the "Youtube" platform. (see here)
Analyze:
The TikTok account "bejevete" has published a video about an old soda machine, which was in service from 2001 to 2018 in Seattle, USA, claiming that it was a gateway to the past.
Many conspiracy theories and urban legends were created about this machine, as the drinks that came out of it had old packaging or logos.
During the research conducted by hibrid.info, no article was found that raised the same dubious claim, namely time travel. The only question that was raised was related to the dilemma of how this vending machine is being filled with drinks, but which has been clarified in previous articles and publications.
Based on the working methodology, hibrid.info evaluates this video material as a "Conspiracy Theory".
Reasoning:
"Conspiracy theories" are media reports that disseminate a false or unverifiable description of a phenomenon, event, or person, presenting it as part of or the result of a secret plan ("conspiracy"). A characteristic of these reports is that they present a series of claims, presented as facts, between which cause-effect relationships are established, without providing any credible evidence.