Claim
The viral WhatsApp Message quotes a BBC report which states Astronaut Sunita Williams during her long, enduring overstay at the International Space Station (ISS) started reading the Quran. She spent her time at the ISS with fellow astronaut, Barry Wilmore.
Furthermore, we found a similar post on Facebook.
Fact Check
The message claims a BBC news report about Sunita Williams and her fellow astronaut during their long, enduring overstay at the ISS. This alleged report claims about Williams’s newfound closeness to the Quran.
For verification of the report, DFRAC did a keyword search. This led us to a BBC news live-blog report, ‘Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams return to Earth after nine unplanned months in space’. This comprehensive report has every detail of their stay at ISS and the technical issues that led them to stay put at ISS. But there is no mention of Sunita Williams reading the Quran and getting mesmerized.
The viral post on Facebook is in Malayalam. The translated text is the same as the viral message.
Lastly, we couldn’t find any news reports, as the claimant’s post suggests about a new department at NASA to study supernatural powers of the Quran.
Conclusion
Hence, the claim made regarding Sunita Williams’s fondness of the Quran is fake.
No news reports were published by the BBC news reporting about this kind of development about Williams during her stay at the ISS.
Both, the viral message and Facebook post are Fake.
