Fact check: The video depicts a man, likely St. Simeon Stylites, climbing a pole and locking his thumbs into small holes to prevent…

Verdict: misleading — Trust Score 25/100

The Instagram post from @zackdfilms presents an animated story about St. Simeon Stylites, depicting him as a pole-sitting stuntman who sets world records, faces police intervention, and dies in a car accident. While St. Simeon Stylites was a real historical figure known for living on a pillar for decades as an ascetic, the specific events and modern-day consequences described in the video are entirely fictional and not supported by historical records. The video is an animated dramatization, not a factual account of his life. refuted by 5 sources.

Platform
instagram
Source author
zackdfilms — see all fact-checks of this account
Original post
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DchBbahCC6b/?igsi=c21wYWo3N2RncHB1
Verified on
August 26, 2026
Verification ID
Bqj7_K8fqIX2FZPgU9QQJw

Original content reviewed

Platform: INSTAGRAM Author: @zackdfilms --- Caption/Description --- He Sat On A Pole For Weeks 😮 Published: 2026-08-26T20:01:49.000Z ---VERIFICATION_SUMMARY--- Platform: INSTAGRAM Author: @zackdfilms Person shown on screen (from video analysis): likely St. Simeon Stylites What the video shows (from video analysis): A man climbs a pole and locks his thumbs into small holes to prevent himself from falling off if he sleeps. He stays on the pole for 12 days, then 49 days, setting a world record. People eventually lose interest, and police threaten to cut down the pole if he doesn't get down. He ends up broke, living in a boarding house, but keeps a bag of ropes ready for another stunt. His work dries up, and as he carries a scrapbook of his memories, he is hit by a car and dies. --- HOW TO VERIFY THIS (provenance-first) --- 1. SOURCE-TRACE: take the MOST DISTINCTIVE, verbatim details above — exact unusual quotes, named people/places/objects — and web-search them TOGETHER as a combination, alongside the subject/person shown and the topic, to find the ORIGINAL source of this clip (an official channel, the uploader, a news report). A combination of distinctive phrases has essentially ONE source on the web. 2. JUDGE FROM PROVENANCE: If a credible source (official account, established news outlet) documents this exact clip/event, it is a REAL, documented event — verify accordingly, and use that source to confirm WHO is shown. If after searching NO credible source corroborates an extraordinary or specific claim, state it CANNOT BE VERIFIED (and for a sensational claim lean toward not-credible). Do NOT default to "verified" on tangential, generic facts. 2b. PARTIAL PROVENANCE IS A RED FLAG, NOT A PASS: finding news coverage of the BACKGROUND event (the place, the deployment, the crisis) while NO source documents the SPECIFIC scene the video depicts is the signature of a synthetic/satirical video grafted onto a real news moment — today's most common misinformation format. W

Claims analyzed (5)

  1. misleading: The video depicts a man, likely St. Simeon Stylites, climbing a pole and locking his thumbs into small holes to prevent himself from falling off if he sleeps.
    Historical accounts of St. Simeon Stylites describe him living on a pillar as an ascetic practice, not as a stunt involving locking his thumbs into holes. This detail appears to be a fictional embellishment for dramatic effect.
  2. false: The man stays on the pole for 12 days, then 49 days, setting a world record.
    St. Simeon Stylites is historically recorded as living on a pillar for approximately 37 to 39 years, not 12 or 49 days. The Guinness World Records acknowledges his feat as the longest pole-sitting record. The durations mentioned in the video are significantly shorter and do not align with historical accounts of St. Simeon Stylites.
  3. false: People eventually lose interest, and police threaten to cut down the pole if he doesn't get down.
    Historical accounts of St. Simeon Stylites indicate that he gained significant fame and attracted many followers, including emperors, who sought his advice and prayers. There is no historical record of police threatening to cut down his pillar or public interest waning in this manner. This element is a modern, fictional addition to the narrative.
  4. false: He ends up broke, living in a boarding house, but keeps a bag of ropes ready for another stunt.
    St. Simeon Stylites was a revered ascetic and saint, not a stuntman who ended up broke in a boarding house. His life was dedicated to religious devotion, and he died on his pillar. These details are entirely fictional and contradict historical records.
  5. false: His work dries up, and as he carries a scrapbook of his memories, he is hit by a car and dies.
    St. Simeon Stylites died in 459 AD while still on his pillar, not in a car accident. The concept of his 'work drying up' and dying in a car accident is a modern, fictional narrative element that has no basis in historical fact.

Sources consulted (5)

Related verifications

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