Fact Check: Video of 99-year-old atheist Walter Briggs getting baptized is not real

A video claiming to show 99-year-old former atheist Walter Briggs being baptized as a Christian is entirely fake.

In December 2025, a clip circulated online suggesting it documented the story of Walter Briggs, a 99-year-old man converting to Christianity. The video appeared on the YouTube channel When God Spoke To Me with the title, "99-Year-Old Atheist Goes Viral for His Baptism He Finally Tells All," and was shared across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and other platforms.

The video opens with an elderly man introducing himself as Walter Briggs and claiming he went viral after being baptized. Subsequent scenes depict a pastor performing the baptism. However, careful analysis revealed multiple inconsistencies that exposed the clip as entirely fabricated using artificial intelligence (AI).

Indicators of Fabrication

• The elderly mans skin appeared unnaturally smooth and shiny, a common sign of AI-generated visuals.
• His mouth movements did not consistently match the spoken words.
• During the baptism scene, the person performing it refers to "Briggs" as "Mr. Henry," with no explanation for the name discrepancy.
• Small AI tool logos appeared at different timestamps in the video, including Google Gemini, and icons likely covering watermarks from the OpenAI Sora 2 model.

The YouTube description included statements implying authenticity but also revealed the video was dramatized: "This is a dramatized Christian storytelling video using fictional characters. It's shared for spiritual reflection and encouragement, not as a record of real events."

Channel and Production Details

The When God Spoke To Me channel was created on October 5, 2025, and had over 28,000 subscribers and 11 million views at the time. The channel, along with associated social media pages and the domain whengodspoketome.com, appeared focused on creating spiritually-themed fictional content. Attempts to access the website were unsuccessful, suggesting it had not yet launched.

Other videos from the channel similarly featured fictional stories of elderly individuals claiming miraculous religious experiences, resembling glurgesentimental stories presented as true but largely fabricated.

Conclusion

The video of Walter Briggs being baptized is entirely false and generated with AI. It was produced for storytelling and promotional purposes rather than documenting real events. Audiences encountering this clip online should recognize it as fictional content rather than factual reporting.

Author: Zoe Harrison