Pakistani politician praises airplane's ‘narrow escape’, doesn’t realise it’s a clip from a video game

The increased blurring of our reality with an increasingly convincing virtual world throws up plenty of quandaries.

For some years now, actors have been copyrighting their likeness in preparation for the arrival of widespread deepfakes, while some sections of the internet advise preparing for a possible political meltdown in an era of #FakeNews 2.0.

While the use of increasingly powerful graphics and imaging technology for nefarious political ends is undoubtedly a terrifying thought (as if the real things politicians say aren’t scary enough), sometimes this confusion can have fairly hilarious results.

Enter one politician named Khurram Nawaz Gandapur, who took to Twitter to praise a pilot’s miraculous "presence of mind" as he narrowly avoided certain disaster in the form of an oil tanker stretched out across the runway.

No sooner have the plane’s wheels graced the tarmac than the machine is once again airborne, in what certainly appears to be a miraculous display of guts and quick thinking.

The only problem being that it took place in a game of Grand Theft Auto V.

Clearly awed, the secretary general of Pakistan Awami Tehreek took to Twitter to congratulate the pilot's "miraculous save" in a situation "which could have ended in a great disaster".

The clip had been shared to Youtube on 20 June by The UiGamer, who has amassed millions of views with clearly labelled videos of plane stunts on Grand Theft Auto V.

Needless to say, people were very amused by both Mr Tehreek's comments, and by the reaction of those who agreed with his misinterpretation.

While it's fair to point out that perhaps the politician's eyesight isn't what it used to be, at least someone will be celebrating the small, if very amusing, gaffe.

More: Pakistani politician accidentally live-streams a press conference with the cat filter