Kiran Bedi gets roasted for posting 'NASA' video of sun chanting Om

Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi has been a prodigious user of Twitter. Be it information on her official programmes, public interest messages, 'feel good' messages or even political barbs, Bedi has never shied away from using her Twitter handle. And 12 million followers attest to her popularity on the platform.

But on Saturday, Bedi got more than what she would have bargained for as Twitter users slammed her for posting what appeared to be a fake video. Bedi shared a video titled NASA Recorded Sound of Sun. The nearly minute-long video starts with a loud sound that is similar to the Hindu holy chant 'Om'. This is followed by an explanation on the Om voice that claims, "In 6th century BC, Pythagoras heard the sound of the sun and described it as a deep, resonant hum... How did the ancient Hindus know this ancient mantra if it could not be heard by the human ear?.."

The explanation ends abruptly; interestingly, the voice sounded like a digital 'text-to-speech' software solution than an actual human. The video concludes with images of god Shiva.

NASA has done considerable research on various aspects of the sun, including its sounds. This has been shared on Youtube and other social media platforms. In fact, NASA's website has a page 'Sounds of the Sun', which shows a humming vibration. “The sun is not silent. The low, pulsing hum of our star's heartbeat allows scientists to peer inside, revealing huge rivers of solar material flowing around before their eyes—er, ears."

By 12pm, Bedi's tweet had attracted over 11,000 likes and 3,700 retweets. The vast majority of the tweets were critical. While some users made fun of the incident using Bedi's association with the BJP, others were innovative in drawing a connection with Koi Mil Gaya, the Hrithik Roshan movie on extraterrestrials.